Ludwig Tieck

German author. Born in Berlin as the son of a rope-maker. One of the leaders of the so-called "Early Romantic" period, he promoted the Romantic literary movement, but in later years pioneered a new genre of short stories. A gifted poet, he produced a wide variety of works, including poetry, short and long stories, fairy tales, and plays, and was also active as a theater director and critic, and was known for translating Shakespeare's works into German.

He grew up under the influence of Enlightenment ideas, but traveled to southern Germany with his schoolmate Wackenroder and rediscovered the Middle Ages, co-authoring "The Thoughts of an Art-loving Monk" (1797), and also wrote an artist novel, "The Wanderings of Franz Sternbard" (1798), modelled on Goethe's "Wilhelm Meister". Around this time, he resonated with Friedrich Schlegel's romantic literary theory, and played a key role in meetings of the "romantic" school, including the Schlegel brothers, Schelling and Novalis, in Berlin and Jena, and became famous for his satirical play "Puss in Boots" (1797) and "Ecbert the Blonde" (1797), a classic example of the so-called Kunstmärchen (original fairy tale). After the group disbanded, he lived in Dresden and on the estates of his aristocratic friends, and published a series of short stories depicting the daily life of ordinary people, such as "Les le vie" (1839), and the historical novel "Vittoria Accolombona" ​​(1840). He was also active in the theater world, and in his later years he was favored by the King of Prussia and spent the rest of his life in Berlin.

He showed a wide range of styles, from the Enlightenment of his early period to Romanticism and then to the civil realism of his later period, and while his wit, irony, and unrestrained imagination are highly praised, some criticize his excessive subjectivity and lack of depth. In Japan, little attention is paid to his works other than those from his Romantic period, but his significance as a man of letters who embodied the fluid literary trends of the 18th and 19th centuries deserves to be reconsidered.

[Nobuoka Yoshio]

"Puss in Boots" (translated by Ohata Sueyoshi) (Iwanami Bunko)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ドイツの作家。ベルリンの綱匠の息子として生まれる。いわゆる「前期ロマン派」の巨頭の1人で、ロマン主義文学運動を推進したが、後年には短編の新しいジャンルを開拓した。才気にあふれ、詩に、長・短編小説に、メルヘンに、戯曲に多彩な創作を繰り広げたほか、劇場監督や評論家としても活躍し、シェークスピアのドイツ語訳の業績も残した。

　幼少のころは啓蒙(けいもう)思想の影響下に育ったが、学友ワッケンローダーと南ドイツを旅して中世を再発見し、『芸術を愛する一修道僧の心情吐露』（1797）を共同で著し、またゲーテの『ウィルヘルム・マイスター』に倣って芸術家小説『フランツ・シュテルンバルトの遍歴』（1798）を書いた。このころフリードリヒ・シュレーゲルのロマン主義文学理論に共鳴し、ベルリンとイエナにあってシュレーゲル兄弟、シェリング、ノバーリスら「ロマン派」の会合の要(かなめ)の役割を務め、風刺劇『長靴をはいた牡猫(おすねこ)』（1797）や、いわゆるクンスト・メルヘン（創作童話）の典型とされる『金髪のエクベルト』（1797）などによって名を馳(は)せた。グループの解体後は友人の貴族の所領やドレスデンに住み、『人生のゆとり』（1839）のような市井の日常に取材した短編シリーズや、歴史長編『ビットーリア・アコロンボーナ』（1840）などを発表し、演劇界でも活躍、晩年はプロイセン王の知遇を得てベルリンで余生を送った。

　初期の啓蒙主義の亜流からロマン主義を経て後期の市民的リアリズムまで幅広い作風をみせたが、その機知とイロニー、奔放な空想力が評価される反面、過度の主観主義や深みの欠如を批判する向きもある。日本ではロマン主義期の作品のほかはほとんど顧みられないが、18世紀から19世紀にかけての流動的な文学思潮を体現する文人としての彼の意義は見直されてよい。

［信岡資生］

『大畑末吉訳『長靴をはいた牡猫』（岩波文庫）』

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