The Slippery Truth of George Buchanan's Autobiography

Autobiography, a genre seemingly one-dimensional and privileged concerning personal historical truth--though always viewed to some degree as selective--becomes plural and unstable when placed under close scrutiny and contextualized within the political stress of the historical moment of writing and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Sixteenth century journal Vol. 39; no. 1; p. 71
Main Author Robinson, Jon
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Chicago University of Chicago Press 01.04.2008
Subjects
Autobiographies
Buchanan, George (1506-1582)
Inquisition
Literary criticism
Writers
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Summary:Autobiography, a genre seemingly one-dimensional and privileged concerning personal historical truth--though always viewed to some degree as selective--becomes plural and unstable when placed under close scrutiny and contextualized within the political stress of the historical moment of writing and the writer's personal pragmatic motives generated by the creation of the text. On 23 August 1550, George Buchanan, after having been held captive and interrogated for over a year by the Portuguese Inquisition, placed before the inquisitors his confession and defense. This article analyzes Buchanan's eloquent letter alongside The Life of George Buchanan, written by himself (1580), the other major primary source of historical detail and facts concerning Buchanan's life, as well as the poems written by Buchanan when he was at the court of James V. to explore the pragmatic adoption of particular rhetorical strategies concerning his own personal history by the writer during different periods of his lifetime. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0361-0160
2326-0726
DOI:10.1086/SCJ20478752