Hermlin - Stephan Hermlin

A representative poet and writer of the former East Germany. Born in Chemnitz. Joined the Young Communist League in 1931. He continued his illegal activities even during the Nazi era. In 1936, he went into exile abroad and participated in the Spanish Civil War. "Ballads of Twelve Great Cities" (1945) is a collection of poems he wrote while in exile in Switzerland. After the war, he returned to West Germany, but moved to East Germany in 1947, and received the Heine Prize in 1948. He was prominent in public activities, such as holding important positions in the Writers' Union. His works were initially criticized by official critics as "bourgeois formalism," but later he approached socialist realism and won the State Prize twice. His representative works include "Mansfeld Oratorio" (1950). Since the 1960s, he has been active in criticism. His autobiographical "Evening Glow" (1979) was later criticized after the reunification of East and West Germany for containing false descriptions that glorified his own past. On the other hand, it is also said that he worked to relax the censorship system under the former East German government.

[Junzo Aoki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

旧東ドイツの代表的詩人、作家。ケムニッツ生まれ。1931年青年共産同盟に加入。ナチス時代も非合法活動を続けた。36年国外に亡命、スペイン内戦にも参加。『12の大都市のバラード』（1945）はスイス亡命中の詩集である。敗戦後西ドイツに帰国したが、47年東ドイツに移り、48年ハイネ賞を受賞。作家同盟の要職を占めるなど公的活動が目だった。作品は当初公式の批評から「ブルジョア的形式主義」と非難されたが、のち社会主義リアリズムに接近、国家賞を二度受賞した。代表作は、『マンスフェルト・オラトリオ』（1950）など。60年代以降は評論活動が多い。自伝的な『夕映え』（1979）をめぐっては、のちに東西統一後、自身の過去を美化する虚偽の記述があると非難された。しかし一方では、旧東独政権で検閲制度の緩和に努めたともされている。

［青木順三］

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