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Cover image of Brecht's Tradition
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Brecht's Tradition

Max Spalter

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Originally published in 1967. Literary scholars often acknowledge that Brecht borrowed from a variety of traditions, including Goethe, Schiller, expressionists, naturalists, and realists, all of whom affected his work. However, they tend not to address any single tradition as exclusively Brecht's. From these various literary traditions, Brecht borrowed formal elements only; compared with other writers to whom he is indebted, Brecht exceeds them in cynicism. They do not convey anything like his pitiless debunking attitude, his corrosive anti-romanticism, his hardheaded refusal to idealize or...

Originally published in 1967. Literary scholars often acknowledge that Brecht borrowed from a variety of traditions, including Goethe, Schiller, expressionists, naturalists, and realists, all of whom affected his work. However, they tend not to address any single tradition as exclusively Brecht's. From these various literary traditions, Brecht borrowed formal elements only; compared with other writers to whom he is indebted, Brecht exceeds them in cynicism. They do not convey anything like his pitiless debunking attitude, his corrosive anti-romanticism, his hardheaded refusal to idealize or glorify, and his suspicion of all sentimentalities. This book discusses what the author identifies as the "Brechtian sensibility." Chroniclers of drama have not totally ignored the Brechtian tradition, but too often they are content to note merely that Brecht shared with some writers—particularly Büchner and Wedekind—a proclivity for open drama and episodes of racy realism tinged with poetic feeling. Other critics have not closely studied the various plays of this tradition in order to show how they constitute a distinctive and well-defined species of theater to which Brecht unmistakably belongs.

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Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
286
ISBN
9781421435480
Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. J. M. R. Lenz
Chapter 2. Christian Dietrich Grabbe
Chapter 3. Georg Büchner
Chapter 4. Frank Wedekind
Chapter 5. Karl Kraus
Chapter 6. Bertoly Brecht
Appendix
Bibliogra

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. J. M. R. Lenz
Chapter 2. Christian Dietrich Grabbe
Chapter 3. Georg Büchner
Chapter 4. Frank Wedekind
Chapter 5. Karl Kraus
Chapter 6. Bertoly Brecht
Appendix
Bibliography
Index

Author Bio
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Max Spalter

Max Spalter is professor emeriti of English at College of Staten Island, The City University of New York.