Resumen

ORTIZ MONASTERIO, José. The Genre of Biography: Reflections and Personal Experiences. Secuencia [online]. 2018, n.100, pp.85-113. ISSN 2395-8464.  https://doi.org/10.18234/secuencia.v0i100.1573.

The genre of biography is so well-established and extensive that it requires a long-term analysis. Biographies have been written since clay tablets were used to tell the story of Gilgamesh and his anguish about death. It is impossible to understand a 5 000 year old text without reconstructing the horizon of expectations of the time. Netzahualcoyotl was also anxious about death. In a more didactic, moral manner, we can discuss Plutarch’s lives, the model for other biographers for centuries. This essay brings together Mexican and foreign authors to create what could be called “the carousel effect”, where Mexican authors obtain universality. In the second part, I share a number of personal experiences relating to the genre of biography and approaches to a variety of sub-genres, from collective biographies to my work on Vicente Riva Palacio and a literary approach to the life of Vicente Guerrero Saldaña.

Palabras llave : universal biography; Mexican biography; prosopography.