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Literary biopics: a literary biographer’s perspective

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The Writer on Film

Abstract

There is a surprisingly plain psychological truth enfolded somewhere in our conversations about literary authorship. We want to meet the author, see the author, hear from the author. When I tell my 16-year-old son that I once met W.H. Auden, I rise in his estimation. Auden thereby makes more sense to him. Something mysterious, something extra-textual has been transmitted, across the years, from Auden to me, from me to my son. How does this happen? Why that lingering desire for the author?

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Notes

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© 2013 Judith Buchanan

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Wall, G. (2013). Literary biopics: a literary biographer’s perspective. In: Buchanan, J. (eds) The Writer on Film. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137317230_8

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