03XX Leben und Werk, Gattung und Geschichte

How legitimate is it to use the works of a biographical subject as a source for their life story when writing a biography, and should biographies themselves be used to interpret the works? This paper examines the role of biography in literary studies from three perspectives. First, the term 'biography' is discussed as a designation for a literary genre, addressing questions of biographical worthiness and the terminological and conceptual expansion towards Life Writing in the late 20th century. A brief historical overview of biographical approaches in literary studies follows, providing insight into when and in which literary-theoretical frameworks information about the lives of authors began to be used in the interpretation of their works, and when biographical readings receded into the background. Finally, the paper explores biographies and Life Writing as a subject of research in the 21st century.