The Evolution of the Genre of Biography in English Literature: From Hagiobiography to Geobiography

The article examines the stages of development of the biographical genre in English literature from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 21st century and identifies the origins of the geobiographical genre. There is a gradual transition from schematic biographies of the Middle Ages to literary biographies, in which a deep psychological portrait of the hero is created. An increase in the author’s subjective role is noted: the biographer-historian, whose main task is to compile facts from the hero’s life, is gradually being replaced by the author-creator, who pays attention to the hero’s inner world and offers his own subjective interpretation of the hero’s feelings and actions. The article argues that geobiographical literature went through similar stages in its formation: from works describing the history of the city in chronological order to subjective author’s “life stories”, the purpose of which is to comprehend the soul of the city, its “genius loci”.