How far are autobiographies useful for recreating history? What are th

1.	How far are autobiographies useful for recreating history? What are their limitations?
Answer» Autobiographies are a great source for formulating history. They give us a description of the past. When we read and interpret autobiographies, we ought to be careful. Autobiographies talk of past things. They are written from memories. Writers of autobiography would want readers to evaluate their lives in a particular way. Autobiography means that a writer is presenting a picture of himself for the readers to evaluate him. Most often writers of autobiographies don’t write those things that will harm their good image. They might also exaggerate the good things. Therefore we have to look for things the writers have not said in their autobiography. We should also find the reason for their silence on certain issues. We should know if the silence was deliberate or accidental. However, the “The Story of My Experiments with Truth”, the autobiography of Gandhi, overcomes some of these limitations of common autobiographies.

How far are autobiographies useful for recreating history? What are their limitations?

Answer»

Autobiographies are a great source for formulating history. They give us a description of the past. When we read and interpret autobiographies, we ought to be careful. Autobiographies talk of past things. They are written from memories. Writers of autobiography would want readers to evaluate their lives in a particular way.

Autobiography means that a writer is presenting a picture of himself for the readers to evaluate him. Most often writers of autobiographies don’t write those things that will harm their good image. They might also exaggerate the good things.
Therefore we have to look for things the writers have not said in their autobiography. We should also find the reason for their silence on certain issues. We should know if the silence was deliberate or accidental.
However, the “The Story of My Experiments with Truth”, the autobiography of Gandhi, overcomes some of these limitations of common autobiographies.

How far are autobiographies useful for recreating history? What are their limitations?

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