Returning life to society: Biography as a narrative of the whole

Abstract

Biography is a unique form of narration in ethnography and historiography. This article attempts to position Lin Yueh-Hwa’s works within the context of sociological and anthropological debate since the 1920s. In doing so it explores the potential uses of the biographical method in the study of Chinese history and society. Although Lin was a bearer of the biographical tradition of Chinese literature and history, his works were also profoundly influenced by both the narrative method of life history in the United States and social-life studies in France. In addition to these two influential biographical traditions, anthropologists in Britain developed the genealogical approach to investigating sacred kingship. This study regards these three traditions of individual-life biography, social-life studies and genealogy as a “biographic triad”. Relevant works in contemporary Chinese sociology and anthropology are reviewed within this framework. It is conceivable that phenomenological description alone is insufficient when applying the biographical method. One must take into consideration Chinese centralized power and the overall social structure of China. Only by placing “life biography” against society’s ever-changing processes can one turn individual stories into powerful narratives depicting the whole structure of Chinese social life.