Günter Eich

German poet. Born in Löbus on the Oder River. He began writing poetry at an early age, according to his own assessment, as "a late expressionist and nature poet at the same time." However, he gave up writing during the Nazi era and served in the Second World War. He restarted his career as a poet in a prisoner-of-war camp and joined "Group 47." His collection of poems "A Farm in the Middle of Nowhere" (1948) marks the beginning of postwar West German poetry, but his poems "Message from the Rain" (1955), which sought to explore the invisible mystery of things and ultimately the meaning of human existence through self-experience realized in a unique relationship with nature, became one of the pinnacles of modern German poetry. However, it was his numerous radio plays, including "Don't Go to the Elkbeth" (1950), that made him famous among the general public. He elevated radio plays to the level of a pure literary genre. In 1960, he received the Büchner Prize. In his later years, he published a collection of prose essays titled Mole Mochi (1968), in which he explored the possibilities of expression and caused a sensation in the literary world.

[Michio Naito]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ドイツの詩人。オーデル河畔のレーブスに生まれる。彼自身の評価によれば「遅ればせの表現主義者であると同時に自然詩人」として早くから詩作活動に入っていたが、ナチス時代には筆を折り、第二次世界大戦に従軍。捕虜収容所のなかで詩人として再出発し、「グループ47」に加わった。詩集『辺地の農場』（1948）は戦後西ドイツ詩の一起点を示すものであるが、自然との独特な関係のうちに実現される自己経験を通じ事物の不可視の謎(なぞ)を、ひいては人間存在の意味を探ろうとした詩作の成果『雨のたより』（1955）はドイツ現代詩の頂点の一つとなった。しかし彼の名を一般に広めたのは、『エルクベートへ行くな』（1950）をはじめとする数多くの放送劇である。彼は放送劇を純文学のジャンルにまで高めた。1960年にビュヒナー賞を受賞。晩年に散文集『もぐらもち』（1968）を発表して表現の可能性を追究、文学界にセンセーションを巻き起こした。

［内藤道雄］

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