An Introduction to the Works of Peter Weiss

Erscheinungsjahr 2003
ISBN: 978-1-57113-232-1
Verlag: Boydell & Brewer

Buch, Englisch, Band 1, 178 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 408 g

Reihe: Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture

A comprehensive introduction to the works and vision of the German writer, director, and political activist.

The plays and prose works of the German writer, director, and political activist Peter Weiss (1916-1982) were immensely influential in the shaping of European Modernism in the second half of the twentieth century. Combining exploratory aesthetic openness with an uncompromising ethical drive, Weiss's literary works, especially the plays Marat/Sade (1964), The Investigation (1968), and Hölderlin (1971), as well as the novel The Aesthetics of Resistance (1975-81) continue to provide vital points of reference for any discussion of culture and politics in our times. Berwald's study serves as a comprehensive introduction to Weiss's work and vision. The introductory chapter outlines Weiss's life and work in exile. Three chapters provide detailed discussions of Weiss's theater work, from his early grotesque plays and the documentary dramas from the 1960s that address Auschwitz, Angola, and Vietnam, to his most complex plays in which intellectuals are staged as outsiders. The subsequent four chapters discuss Weiss's prose works, which include his autobiographical novels from the early 1960s, essays and notebooks on art and politics, and his summum opus, The Aesthetics of Resistance.

Olaf Berwald is Professor of German and Chair of the Department of Foreign Languages at Kennesaw State University.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Berwald, Olaf

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Deutsche Literatur

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction
Subversive Slapstick: The Early Plays Der Turm, Die Versicherung, Nacht Mit Gästen, and MockinpottMockinpott
The Choreography of Documents: Die Ermittlung, Gesang vom Lusitanischen Popanz, and Viet Nam Diskurs
Staging Writers as Outcasts: Marat/Sade, Trotzki im Exil, Hölderlin, Der Prozess, and Der neue Prozess
Scenarios of Stagnation: Early Prose
Autobiography and Fiction: Abschied von den Eltern, Fluchtpunkt, and Rekonvaleszenz
Poetics and Politics: Essays, Open Letters, and Fragments
Perception as Resistance: Die Ästhetik des Widerstands
Works Consulted
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Berwald, Olaf
OLAF BERWALD is Department Chair of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures and Professor of German at Middle Tennessee State University.