Ben - Gottfried Benn

German poet. Born in Mansfeld, West Prussia, as the son of a pastor. Except for the time he served as a military doctor in both world wars, he opened a skin and venereal disease clinic in the downtown area of ​​Berlin. In his first collection of poems, "The Morgue" (1912), he sang about corpses, which were taboo in the traditional world of poetry, with a sarcastic and cold-hearted eye, and made a sensational appearance as a representative poet of Expressionism. In his collection of stories, "Doctor Renne" (1916), and his collections of poems, "Flesh" (1917), "Rubble" (1924), and "Split" (1925), he sang of disgust for ugly reality and rational and functional civilization, while also singing of a self-absorbed immersion in a mythical and primitive world. He made extensive use of medical and technical terminology and foreign words, and opened up a unique poetic realm that aimed for a shocking effect through unexpected associations of ideas. He attempted to contrast the power of artistic form with modern nihilism, and in the process, he was inclined towards Nazism for a time. After a short time, he realized his mistake, gave up writing, and joined the Wehrmacht, calling it "an aristocratic form of exile." After World War II, he attracted new attention with his Static Poems and his collection of essays The World of Expression (1949). In his collections of poems, Distilled (1953) and Finale (1955), he aimed for "absolute poetry" that incorporates the hallucinations and fascination caused by the sound of words into a solid form. He gained worldwide fame as the greatest poet after George and Rilke, and had a great influence on the younger generation. His other works include his autobiography A Double Life (1950), the essay Problems of Lyric Poetry (1951), and the plays Three Old Men (1949) and Voices Behind the Curtain (1953).

[Yamamoto Masaru]

"The Collected Works of Gottfried Benn, 3 volumes (1977, Shakai Shisosha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ドイツの詩人。西プロイセンのマンスフェルトに牧師の子として生まれる。両世界大戦に軍医として従軍の時期を除き、ベルリンの下町で皮膚・性病科医院を開業。処女詩集『死体置場(モルグ)』（1912）で従来の詩の世界ではタブーとされた死体を、皮肉な目で冷酷非情に歌い、表現主義の代表詩人としてセンセーショナルに登場。小説集『医師レンネ』（1916）や詩集『肉』（1917）、『瓦礫(がれき)』（1924）、『分裂』（1925）などでは醜悪な現実と合理主義的機能主義的文明に対する嫌悪を歌う一方、神話的原初的な世界への自己陶酔的な没入を歌う。医学、技術の専門用語、外来語を多用し、意想外な観念連合によるショッキングな効果をねらう独自の詩境を開く。現代のニヒリズムに芸術形式の力を対置しようとし、その過程でナチズムに傾斜する時期があった。短期間ののちに誤りを悟って筆を折り、「貴族的形式の亡命」と称し国防軍に身を投じる。第二次大戦後、『静学的詩集』、評論集『表現の世界』（1949）で新たに注目を集め、詩集『蒸溜(じょうりゅう)』（1953）、『終曲』（1955）などで、ことばの響きによる幻覚と魅惑を確固たる形式に組み込む「絶対詩」を目ざし、ゲオルゲ、リルケ以後の最大の詩人として世界的名声を得、若い世代にも多大の影響を与えた。ほかに自伝『二重生活』（1950）、エッセイ『叙情詩の諸問題』（1951）、戯曲『三人の老人』（1949）、『幕の背後の声』（1953）などがある。

［山本　尤］

『『ゴットフリート・ベン著作集』全三巻（1977・社会思想社）』

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