Biography or hagiography?hagiographym nounm [hag-i-og'-ru-fi]
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary recounts two meanings of hagiography, one religious, the other secular:
hagiography • nounAdjectival forms:
1. the writing of the lives of saints.
2. a biography idealizing its subject
- hagiographic [hag-e-o-gra'-fic]
- hagiographical [hag-e-o'-gra'-fi-cal]
LEXICOGRAPHY:
The combining forms hagi- and hagio- derive from the Greek hagi, which means saint.
The writing of the lives of saints; saints' lives as a branch of literature or legend.—OED, 2nd. Ed 1989____________________________________________________________
HAGIOGRAPHY, USED IN ITS SECULAR SENSE:
From the New York Times, Week in Review, The Nation, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007, 2.
—Michael Powell, "Managing Up, Down, and Sideways."Mr. Kennedy's style was witty, and critics note that Mr. Schlesinger tended to render his administration in hagiographic terms.
COMMENT:
Arthur M. Schlesinger's critics use the word hagiography pejoratively, of course, criticizing Schlesinger for ignoring in A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House (1965) the strict factualism of biography and presenting, instead, an idealized image Mr. Kennedy, his colleague and friend.
The book earned Schlesinger the Pulitzer and a National Book Award in 1966.
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HAGIOGRAPHY, IN ITS RELIGIOUS SENSE
Although hagiography was born of the literature of Christianity, the word is used in other religious traditions as well, including Buddhism and Islam.
Following is a story from the BBC about the dramatic change in the market for Baathist hagiographies on the streets of Baghdad following the fall of the Hussein regime:
In Pictures: Baghdad book market
Mutanabbi StreetOne of Baghdad's great traditions is the Friday book market in Mutanabbi Street.____________________________________________________________
Thousands come to browse for books, from well-thumbed paperback novels to imported academic textbooks.
Things have changed since the fall of Saddam Hussein – gone are Baathist hagiographies and the bestsellers are books about Shia Muslim figures.
THE SPECIFIC CONTENT OF HAGIOGRAPHIES
The Encyclopedia Britannica provides a refined definition of the traditional hagiography and a detailed job description of the religious hagiographer:
The literature of hagiography embraces acts of the martyrs (i.e., accounts of their trials and deaths); biographies of saintly monks, bishops, princes, or virgins; and accounts of miracles connected with saints' tombs, relics, icons, or statues. Hagiographies have been written from the 2nd century AD to instruct and edify readers and glorify the saints.The hagiographer has a threefold task: to collect all the material relevant to each particular saint, to edit the documents according to the best methods of textual criticism, and to interpret the evidence by using literary, historical, and any other pertinent criteria.
— Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 13 Oct. 2007.
____________________________________________________________TERMS FROM THE CATHOLIC TRADITION ASSOCIATED WITH THE WORD SAINT:
- Picture of a saint or holy person — icon
- Roman Catholic Official arguing the case against sainting a deceased person — Devil's Advocate, Promoter of the Faith, Promotor Fidei
- Roman Catholic Official arguing the case for sainting a deceased person — Postulator
- A revered object associated with a saint or martyr — relic
- The ring of light around a saint's head in a painting — halo, mandorla, aureole
- To declare a person to be a saint — canonize
- The list or calendar of the saints that are recognized by the Roman Catholic Church — canon
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LEST WE FORGET:
For memorable images and succinct narratives of sinners — souls that this posting has shamelessly neglected — read (or reread) The Inferno by Dante Alighieri (1308-21).
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A FEW FINAL WORDS
The final words of Niccolo Machiavelli — the Carl Rove of 15th century Florentine politics — might help the reader to discern just what kind of life is worth living — one that could be rewarded with one's life story canonized in a respected hagiography, or one notarized by your name being marked in block letters with a Sharpie pen by that-guy-you-don't-get-long-with-at-work on the appropriate page of your local library's copy Dante's Inferno. It's up to you.
Said Niccolo,
I desire to go to hell and not to heaven. In the former I shall enjoy the company of popes, kings and princes, while in the latter are only beggars, monks and apostles.
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