Non-Fiction

 
Non-Fiction is frequently defined as it is named; by what it is not.  Non-Fiction is generally understood to be a narrative (usually in prose form) account of actual events and characters.  The genres of non-fiction are many and varied, ranging from newspaper or magazine articles to presidential memoirs.

Among the genres of non-fiction which are traditionally considered "literature" are:

  • autobiography - The autobiography is a narrative retelling of events from someone's own life and times.
  • biography - An account of someone's life and an attempt to portray the essence of that person's character.  As a rule, biographies are written by someone other than the subject of the work.
  • essay - Non-fiction compositions that address a single theme.  Most are relatively brief, but the essay form may extend to book length works.


 

 Some fiction authors rely so heavily on autobiographical events that there works become thinly veiled autobiographies.  For example, events from the life of Roger Waters were the basis for Pink Floyd's classic album (and film) The Wall (1980).

Many "autobiographies" are largely fictional.  A prime example of such a work is Rosseau's posthumously published Confessions.

The biography form can be traced back to Greek and Old-Testament stories about monarchs and heroes.  The most famous early biographer was Plutarch.  His work, Parallel Lives became the standard work in the field.

Among the earliest essayists was Theophrastus (Characters, 3rd century BC), and  Marcus Aurelius (Meditations, 2nd century BC).