Frank Wedekind

German poet and playwright. Born in Hanover. The conflict between his father, who made a fortune traveling around the world, and his mother, a young actress in the United States, cast a deep shadow over his life and work. He led a dissolute literary life, changing jobs frequently, such as as a company's publicity manager, a journalist, and a circus secretary, but eventually he entered the theater world, writing works while performing on stage as a vaudeville performer and actor. He was even accused of insulting the emperor for a satirical poem he published at the end of the 19th century. In his early years, he was close to the naturalist group, but he quickly parted ways with them, and thereafter he consciously wrote works that were in opposition to them. His talent lies in his strong wildness and black humor, and he used his fundamental sexuality as a weapon to continue to expose the hypocrisy and pettiness of domesticated petty bourgeois society. Behind his works, we can also see the modern problem of the impossibility of mutual understanding through words. In terms of theatrical style, he has an important place in the lineage that originated with Büchner and continued from later Expressionism to modern theater. He was a writer greatly admired by Brecht, and his main works include "Spring Awakening" (1891), "The Spirits of the Earth" (1895), "Marquis de Kuyt" (1900), and "Pandora's Box" (1904), and many of his satirical poems are also worth seeing.

[Mitsunori Yoshiyasu]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ドイツの詩人、劇作家。ハノーバー生まれ。世界を巡って財をなした父と、以前アメリカで女優をしていた若い母との確執は、生活にも作品にも深い影を残している。会社の宣伝部長、ジャーナリスト、サーカス団の秘書など転々と職をかえて放埒(ほうらつ)な文士生活を送っていたが、やがて演劇界に身を投じ、寄席(よせ)芸人、俳優として舞台に立ちながら作品を書いた。19世紀末に発表した風刺詩のために皇帝侮辱罪に問われたこともある。初期には自然主義グループに近づいていたが、早々に決別し、以後意識的にもそれと相敵対する作品を書いた。その本領は強靭(きょうじん)な野性とブラック・ユーモアにあり、根源的な性を武器として、飼い慣らされた小市民社会の偽善と矮小(わいしょう)性を暴き続けた。作品の裏に、ことばによる相互理解の不能性という現代的問題もうかがわれる。劇形式のうえではビュヒナーに発し、後の表現主義から現代演劇に連なる系譜のなかに重要な位置を占める。ブレヒトが敬愛してやまぬ作家で、おもな作品に『春のめざめ』（1891）、『地霊』（1895）、『カイト侯爵』（1900）、『パンドラの箱』（1904）などがあり、風刺詩にもみるべきものが多い。

［吉安光徳］

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