Аннотация: Biography of a human with a past, present and future. A literary note about book by Besma Lahouri "Carla Bruni: Secret Life".
Biography of a human with a past, present and future. A literary note about book by Besma Lahouri "Carla Bruni: Secret Life".
A separate biography book does not exist separately, on its own. It is part of a general, integral, biography composed of all life descriptions devoted to a particular person whose life is interesting to readers.
A general, integral biography absorbs, imbibes a general assessment of the described personality, an approximate circle of topics described, an approximate periodization of life, and many other aspects.
Integral biography contains traditions of a biography descriptions.
For obvious reasons, a general, integral biography appears, as a rule, in relation to that person who is separated from readers by a significant chronological distance.
The author of the book, who writes about a person with past, present and future, about a person to whom a general, integral biography has not yet been compiled, is in a difficult position.
He is forced to reckon with the uncertainty of a future.
How to submit material?
How to give a general assessment of the hero (heroine) of the book?
How to periodize the life of the hero (heroine) of the book?
What biographical topics to consider as essential for description?
These, and many other questions, stand before the author of the biography if the hero (heroine) of the book is a person with past, present and future, a person for whom a general, integral biography has not yet been compiled.
In this sense, an example of a book written by Besma Lahouri is interesting [Besma Lahouri, Carla, une vie secr;te] [Бесма Лаури 'Карла Бруни: Тайная жизнь'].
Here we enter into the realm of speculation, of assumptions.
It can be assumed that the author compiled at least three documents:
1. A table (list) of contents of the book (approximate table of contents),
2. An approximate list of topics to be described,
3. An approximate list of persons with whom the author has planned to conduct interviews.
Surely there were, too, lists of publications intended for use during writing the book, and many other ideas set forth on paper.
As can be assumed, the author conducted conversations - according to her plan - and recorded the contents of these conversations.
She placed the material in accordance with the approximate table of contents of the book and in accordance with the approximate list of topics.
There was a risk to receive a semantic cacophony, an unsystematic material, a text without a sense.
However, it turned out to be a quite readable book - a photograph of biographical reality.
Surely, if the author had taken a photo of a Parisian street today, then tomorrow this street would have looked a little different. This is the peculiarity of any photograph - a reality changes and moves away from the image presented in the photograph.
The book, written by Besma Lahouri, despite the fact that this book describes a person with the past, present and future, - when, still, (perhaps) no integral biography of the main character of the book exist, in the absence of established traditions of biographical description of the heroine, - this book looks very professional and worthy.
One can even feel some kind of a school (system of traditions) of a biographical description that has developed in a French (in the European? in the Western?) literature.
On this subject, we do not have enough material to draw detailed or a final conclusions.
But we can assume: the author of a new biography has at own disposal a common guidelines that allow to more or less confidently move along a creative path and achieve a high-quality result - because a such author is acting in an environment where biographies of people with past, present and future were previously written, where algorithms for creating relevant biographies have been accumulated, where there are people who in some form participated in the writing of a such biographies.
As a result, we see a professional and a worthy book, although a vulnerable for obvious reasons for a critique, for a critical attacks, biographical work, - the book written by Besma Lahouri.
Raising the bar a little, we ask a question: could the author, who loaded into his consciousness and subconscious a significant, huge amount of information, defiantly formulate a forecast (forecasts) regarding the main character of the book?
It's risky, risky ... And it is not politically correct ... And it's too daring...
A professional, worthy book, with understandable and explainable flaws and vulnerabilities for criticism. This book speaks about some aspects of a modern French life even more than about the most main character. And this is very interesting.
April 27, 2020 12:36
Translation from Russian into English: April 27, 2020 13:55.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский 'Биография человека с прошлым, настоящим и будущим. Литературная заметка о книге Бесмы Лаури 'Карла Бруни: Тайная жизнь'.'.