This paper attempts an overview of biography as practiced in the context of sub-Saharan Africa. It traces the numerous forms that biography has taken, particularly from the 1970s.
The political significance of collective ‘microbiography’ is discussed, as well as more extended treatments of particular groups, from the members of one family to those of a profession.
The range of individuals who have attracted biographical attention is also explored, from the very famous to the almost-forgotten. The focus is largely confined to political and social biography, although the wide range of works on artistic, literary and other cultural figures is noted.
Examples are drawn from a wide range of regions of sub-Saharan Africa, although the writer’s background means that a strong English-medium and Southern African bias is evident.
Important matters relating to the writing of biography, such as the relationship between writer and subject, and the larger relationship between biography and history, are raised. It is argued that while such matters are not confined to the African case – indeed, these are matters that preoccupy biographers everywhere – they have a specific resonance in this setting.