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BiographiaLiteraria
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

BiographiaLiteraria,orinfullBiographiaLiteraria
orBiographicalSketchesofMYLITERARYLIFE BiographiaLiteraria
andOPINIONS,isanautobiographyindiscourseby
SamuelTaylorColeridge,whichhepublishedin
1817,intwovolumes.

Ithastwentythree(23)chapters.

Contents
1Structureandtone
2Content
3Criticalreaction
4References
5Bibliography
6Externallinks

Structureandtone
Author SamuelTaylorColeridge

Theworkislongandseeminglylooselystructured, Language English

andalthoughthereareautobiographicalelements,itis Published 1817
notastraightforwardorlinearautobiography.Instead,
itismeditative.

Content
Theworkwasoriginallyintendedasamereprefacetoacollectedvolumeofhispoems,explainingand
justifyinghisownstyleandpracticeinpoetry.Theworkgrewtoaliteraryautobiography,including,
togetherwithmanyfactsconcerninghiseducationandstudiesandhisearlyliteraryadventures,an
extendedcriticismofWilliamWordsworth'stheoryofpoetryasgivenintheprefacetotheLyrical
Ballads(aworkonwhichColeridgecollaborated),andastatementofColeridge'sphilosophicalviews.

InthefirstpartoftheworkColeridgeismainlyconcernedwithshowingtheevolutionofhisphilosophic
creed.AtfirstanadherentoftheassociationalpsychologyofDavidHartley,hecametodiscardthis
mechanicalsystemforthebeliefthatthemindisnotapassivebutanactiveagencyintheapprehension
ofreality.Theauthorbelievedinthe"selfsufficingpowerofabsoluteGenius"anddistinguished
betweengeniusandtalentasbetween"aneggandaneggshell".Thediscussioninvolveshisdefinition
oftheimaginationoresemplasticpower,thefacultybywhichthesoulperceivesthespiritualunityof
theuniverse,asdistinguishedfromthefancyormerelyassociativefunction.

Thebookhasnumerousessaysonphilosophy.Inparticular,itdiscussesandengagesthephilosophyof
ImmanuelKant,JohannGottliebFichte,andFriedrichWilhelmJosephvonSchelling.Beingfluentin
German,ColeridgewasoneofthefirstmajorEnglishliteraryfigurestotranslateanddiscussSchelling,
inparticular.
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Thelaterchaptersofthebookdealwiththenatureofpoetryandwiththequestionofdictionraisedby
Wordsworth.WhilemaintainingageneralagreementwithWordsworth'spointofview,Coleridge
elaboratelyrefuteshisprinciplethatthelanguageofpoetryshouldbeonetakenwithdueexceptions
fromthemouthsofmeninreallife,andthattherecanbenoessentialdifferencebetweenthelanguageof
proseandofmetricalcomposition.AcritiqueonthequalitiesofWordsworth'spoetryconcludesthe
volume.

ThebookcontainsColeridge'scelebratedandvexeddistinctionbetweenimaginationandfancy.
ChapterXIVistheoriginofthefamouscriticalconceptofawillingsuspensionofdisbelief.

Criticalreaction
CriticshavereactedstronglytotheBiographiaLiteraria.Earlyreactionswerethatitwasa
demonstrationofColeridge'sopiatedrivendeclineintoillhealth.Recentreevaluationshavegivenit
morecredit.WhilecontemporarycriticsrecognizethedegreetowhichColeridgeborrowedfromhis
sources(withstraightliftsfromSchelling),theyalsoseeintheworkfarmorestructureandplanning
thanisapparentonfirstglance.

References
Thisarticleincorporatestextfromapublicationnowinthepublicdomain:JamesH.Hanford
(1920)."BiographiaLiteraria".InRines,GeorgeEdwin.EncyclopediaAmericana.

Bibliography
Coleridge,SamuelTaylor.BiographiaLiteraria.(1817)EditedbyNigelLeask.(London:J.M.
Dent,1997)[ISBN0460873326]

Externallinks
BiographiaLiteraria(https://www.gutenberg.org/etext/6081)atProjectGutenberg

Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biographia_Literaria&oldid=671288130"

Categories: WorksbySamuelTaylorColeridge Literaryautobiographies 1817books

Philosophybooks Booksaboutliterarytheory

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