Grabbes doppeltes Gesicht

George, Manfred, 1893-1965Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 63K words
Chapters: 7

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Grabbes doppeltes Gesicht by Manfred GeorgeAuthor: George, Manfred, 1893-1965,Language: German, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Aug 28, 2011

Editor's review

This is Manfred Georg's critical study of the German playwright Christian Dietrich Grabbe, and the title "Grabbes doppeltes Gesicht" (Grabbe's Double Face) names its central concern: the distinctive quality in Grabbe's work where realism and the grotesque, satire and tragedy coexist. Georg was himself a journalist and literary critic, and his prose carries the argumentative style of German criticism in the first half of the twentieth century, analyzing the writer's spiritual contradictions through character and dramatic structure rather than cataloguing biographical anecdotes. For readers studying the transformation of German drama after Sturm und Drang, or interested in plays such as Grabbe's Herzog Theodor von Gothland, this book offers a useful interpretive path. As a public-domain e-book, it is in the original German, suited to readers with some German reading ability and familiarity with German literary history, and best read alongside Grabbe's plays.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying the history of German drama and the aftermath of Sturm und Drang
German-reading readers who have already read Grabbe's plays and want critical commentary
Readers interested in the style of German literary criticism in the first half of the twentieth century
Advanced students of German literature needing secondary sources

Not a good fit for

Readers unfamiliar with Grabbe's life and plays, or complete beginners
Readers with limited German reading ability who rely on Chinese translations
Readers expecting a systematic biography or a complete chronology of the writer's life

Reading tips

Read one or two of Grabbe's major plays first, then this book, so the criticism has a foundation.
As you read, trace how the author specifically defines the "double face," distinguishing textual analysis from value judgments.
Compare with chapters on Grabbe in German literary histories to test the period limitations of the criticism.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What exactly does the "double face" refer to?

The title points to two aspects coexisting in Grabbe's writing: on one side, cool realistic observation and satire; on the other, grotesque, exaggerated, even tragic imagination. Georg builds his criticism around this tension, analyzing how the writer presents both tendencies at once in dramatic character and structure rather than assigning a single label.

Can I understand it without having read Grabbe's works?

You can read it, but the gain will be limited. This is a critical study that assumes some familiarity with Grabbe's plays. If you have not encountered the originals at all, it is best to read a major work such as Herzog Theodor von Gothland or Scherz, Satire, Ironie und tiefere Bedeutung first, then return to the criticism.

Is this the original German text, and how difficult is it?

It is a public-domain e-book in the original German, written in the first half of the twentieth century, with syntax reflecting the argumentative tone of criticism of that era and a vocabulary leaning toward literary criticism. Readers with intermediate to advanced German can work through it with a dictionary; beginners should start with a modern introduction to German literary history.

Is it a standard biography of Grabbe?

No. The book focuses on critical interpretation of the writer's creative profile rather than a complete chronological biography. For life and works chronology, consult literary histories or biographical sources; this book is better used as a supplementary text for interpreting the ideas in Grabbe's plays.

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About the author

George, Manfred, 1893-1965 Author · German · 1893–1965

Manfred George (1893–1965) was a German-born American writer and journalist who emigrated to the United States during the Nazi period and thereafter worked for many years in journalism and literary writing. His output combined narrative works with critical and essayistic prose. His representative works include Grabbes doppeltes Gesicht and the novella Der Rebell. The former discusses the German playwright Grabbe, showing his enduring interest in literary history and dramatic figures; the latter presents the theme of rebellion in fictional form with a concise style. Public information about the details of his life and the full range of his work is limited, and existing accounts focus mainly on his exile experience and his dual identity as journalist and writer. Overall, his writing reflects the cultural concerns and literary practice of twentieth-century German-speaking exiled intellectuals in their transatlantic migration.