Adalbert Stifter

Japanese: シュティフター - しゅてぃふたー（英語表記）Adalbert Stifter

Austrian novelist. Born on October 23rd in Oberplan (now Horniplana, Czech Republic), a market town near the source of the Moldau. He spent his childhood up to the age of 13 in the nature of South Bohemia. The year after his father died in an accident (1817), he entered the Benedictine monastery high school in Kremsmünster, Upper Austria, whose motto was "Prayer and Work." In this place, overlooking the Alps to the southwest, he came into contact with the world of classical culture in a humanistic atmosphere cultivated by the spirit of Enlightenment Catholicism since Joseph II.

In 1826, he entered the University of Vienna. His romantic relationship with Fanny Graiple (1828-1833), whom he met during his vacations in his hometown, forced him to confront his true nature, and he repeatedly depicted this experience as a question of passion and destiny in the six volumes of "Studies" (1844-1850). He enrolled in the Faculty of Law, but was drawn to natural science and painting, and after graduating, he devoted himself to training as a painter while working as a private tutor for the children of the upper class (such as Chancellor Metternich), and also exhibited his works at exhibitions. In 1840, by chance, he made his debut as a writer with "Condor". After observing a total solar eclipse in 1842 and experiencing the March Revolution in 1848, he became keenly aware of the gap between nature and human activities, the problem of the animalistic qualities within humans, and the crisis of freedom and moderation. He sought a way to overcome the crisis of himself and the times in "human beings becoming human," and realized the importance of a sense of mission as a writer and the importance of education.

In 1849, he was appointed as an educational administrator in the Upper Austrian city of Linz. As a writer, he published works such as "Various Stones" (1853), "Late Summer" (1857), and "Wittiko" (1865-1867), while also publishing editorials in newspapers such as "What is Freedom?", "Home Education" and "Disorder of Language." He also devoted himself to improving the Realschule (real high school), educational facilities, and preserving cultural assets. He was blessed with no children and outlived his adopted daughter, so he was lonely in his later years. In January 1868, due to the intense pain caused by his liver disease, he attempted suicide by slitting his neck, and died two days later on the 28th. He was buried in the St. Barbara Cemetery in Linz.

[Yasushi Taniguchi]

Main collection of short stories

Study Collection Studio
Thirteen of his works published in magazines, from his debut work "The Condor" in 1840 to "The Carved Fir Tree" in 1846, were revised and compiled into six volumes between 1844 and 1850. These included "The Forest of Tall Trees," known as the "Song of the Forest," "My Great-Grandfather's Bookbinding," which he attempted to revise as his "beloved child" until just before his death, and "Brigidda," which depicts the purification of passion. The basic approach taken in adapting the magazine version to the book version was "overcoming passion and shifting in an ethical direction." The relationship between the two versions is not that of the first draft and the final draft, but rather "the wild rose and the noble rose, which I cannot decide which is the lovelier" (Le Fort), and they are considered to be independent works.

Various stones Bunte Steine
The five works published in magazines and yearbooks between 1843 and 1852 were renamed "Granite" and "Limestone" after stones, just as "Holy Night" was reworked and renamed "Crystal." Together with the newly written "Muscovite," they were compiled into two volumes in 1853. A preface was added to this work, in response to Hebbel's ridicule of "the poet of the beetle and the dandelion," in which he preached reverence for small things. This describes a gentle law that operates not only in nature but also in the human heart and that is the foundation of human culture and history, in other words, "the law that all people desire to be respected as jewels." It goes beyond a simple response and can be seen as a confession of the poet's faith and a criticism of the turbulent and passionate times.

Collection of Stories
Published posthumously in 1869, it contains three works from the 1840s, such as The Woodsman and Count Procopus, four works written in parallel with Wittiko in the 1860s, The Forest Spring and The Senze Kiss, and Pious Words, which was refused publication during his lifetime. Although Stifter was often seen as a boring writer of nature, it was Thomas Mann who recognized that "behind his quiet, heartfelt, and precise descriptions of nature, he had a tendency to be attracted to the outrageous and pathological." It was Nossack who predicted the abnormality of his silence and harmony and pointed out the connection to modern anxiety. "Stifter is an emphatic human writer. His literature starts from humans and aims at humans" (H. Kounisch).

[Yasushi Taniguchi]

"Taniguchi Yasushi's translation of 'My Great-Grandfather's Documents Binding' (1980, Aiiku Publishing)" ▽ "Tezuka Tomio and Fujimura Hiroshi's translation of 'World Literature 14: Various Stones' (1965, Chuokoron-Shinsha)" ▽ "Taniguchi Yasushi, 'Bibliography: Stifter Research Documents in Japan - 1936-1977'" (included in 'German Literature' 61, edited by the Japanese Society for German Literature, 1978, Ikubundo)"

[References] | Witico | Late Summer

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

オーストリアの小説家。10月23日、モルダウの源流に近い市場町オーバープラン（現チェコ領ホルニプラーナ）に生まれる。13歳まで南ボヘミアの自然のなかで幼年時代を過ごす。父親の事故死（1817）の翌年、上部オーストリアのクレムスミュンスターにある「祈りと労働」を標語とするベネディクト会修道院付属高等学校に入学。西南にアルプス連峰を望むこの地で、ヨーゼフ2世以来の啓蒙(けいもう)主義的カトリシズムの精神に培われた人文主義的雰囲気のうちに古典的教養世界と接触する。

　1826年ウィーン大学へ進学。休暇中に故郷で知り合ったファニー・グライプルとの恋愛体験（1828～1833）を通じて自己の本性との対決を迫られ、この体験は情熱と運命の問題として『習作集』6巻（1844～1850）に繰り返し描かれた。法学部に籍を置いたが、自然科学と絵画にひかれ、卒業後も上流階級（宰相メッテルニヒなど）の子弟の家庭教師をしながら画家修業に専心、展覧会にも出品。1840年偶然の機会に『コンドル』で作家としてデビュー。1842年の皆既日食の観察、1848年の三月革命体験を通じて、自然と人間の営みとの隔たり、人間内部の獣的資質の問題、自由と節度の危機を痛感。自己と時代の危機を克服する道を「人間が人間になること」に求め、作家としての使命感と教育の重要性を自覚した。

　1849年、教育行政官として上部オーストリアの町リンツに赴任。作家として『石さまざま』（1853）、『晩夏』（1857）、『ウィティコー』（1865～1867）などを発表するかたわら、「自由とは何か」「家庭教育」「言葉の乱れ」などの論説を新聞に発表し、実科高等学校（レアールシューレ）、教育施設の改善、文化財の保存に尽力した。子供に恵まれず、養女にも先だたれた晩年は孤独であった。1868年1月、肝臓病の激痛のため頸部(けいぶ)を切って自殺を図り、2日後の28日に死亡。リンツ市聖バルバラ墓地に埋葬された。

［谷口　泰］

おもな短篇集

習作集　Studien
　1840年のデビュー作『コンドル』から1846年の『彫りこみのある樅(もみ)の木』まで、雑誌に発表された作品中13編が加筆・改作され、1844年から1850年にかけ6巻にまとめられた。これには「森の雅歌(がか)」といわれる『喬木(きょうぼく)林』、「最愛の子」として死の直前まで改作を試みた『曽祖父(そうそふ)の書類綴(と)じ』、情熱の浄化を描いた『ブリギッダ』などが収録されている。雑誌版より単行本版への改作に際しての基本姿勢は「激情の克服と倫理的方向への転換」にあった。両版の関係は初稿と決定稿ではなく、「いずれがより愛らしいか決めかねる野のバラと高貴なバラ」（ル・フォール）であって、それぞれ独立した作品とみなされる。

石さまざま　Bunte Steine
　1843年から1852年までに雑誌、年鑑などに発表された5編の作品は、『聖夜』が『水晶』と改作・改題されたように、いずれも石にちなんで『みかげ石』『石灰石』などと改められ、新たに書き下ろされた『白雲母(うんも)』とあわせて1853年2巻にまとめられた。これには、ヘッベルの嘲笑(ちょうしょう)「カブトムシとタンポポの詩人」に対する応酬として、小さきものへの畏敬(いけい)を説く前書きが付された。これは、自然のみならず人間の心のうちにあって活動し、人間の文化と歴史を根底において支える穏やかな法則、つまり「すべての人々がそれぞれ宝石として尊ばれることを欲する法則」を述べたもので、単なる応酬を超えて詩人の信仰告白と、激動と熱狂の時代に対する批判とみることができる。

物語集　Erzählungen
　没後1869年に出版。ここには1840年代の作品『森ゆく人』『プロコープス伯』など3編と、1860年代に『ウィティコー』と並行して成立した『森の泉』『ゼンツェ家の接吻(せっぷん)』、生前には掲載を拒否された『敬虔(けいけん)な言葉』など4編が収録された。ともすれば自然描写の退屈な作家とみられた詩人の「もの静かで心のこもった精密な自然描写の背後に、法外なもの、病理学的なものにひかれる傾向」を認めたのはトーマス・マンであり、その静寂と調和の異常さを予感し、現代的不安との関係を指摘したのはノサックであった。「シュティフターは強調的意味で人間の作家である。彼の文学は人間から出発し、人間を目ざしている」（H・クーニッシュ）。

［谷口　泰］

『谷口泰訳『曽祖父の書類綴じ』（1980・愛育出版）』▽『手塚富雄・藤村宏訳『世界の文学14　石さまざま』（1965・中央公論社）』▽『谷口泰「書誌・日本におけるシュティフター研究文献――1936～1977年」（日本独文学会編『ドイツ文学』61所収・1978・郁文堂）』

[参照項目] | ウィティコー | 晩夏

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