Description
Book SynopsisOriginally 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 writersparticularly Büchner and Wedekinda proclivity for open drama and episodes of racy realism tinged with poetic feeling. Ot
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
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
