Jakob Wassermann

German novelist. Born in Fürth as the son of a general goods merchant. He became personally acquainted with K. Gutskow, a writer of "Young Germany," and, following the wishes of his father, who was an admirer of Gutskow, he graduated from a vocational school and experienced work and military life. At the request of E. V. Borzogen, he worked in Munich as an editor for the illustrated magazine "Simplicissimus," which featured political satire, and became acquainted with Berlin writers led by O. Brahm. The inner and social conflicts of German Jews, as seen in his debut work "The Jew of Zirndorf" (1897) and the autobiographical essay "My Way as a German and a Jew" (1921), formed the basis of his more than 40 works. His friend T. Mann pointed out the "combination of skill and seriousness" in his narrative style and described him as a narrator of fairy tales living in a foreign land, but he himself considered his literary task to be "to artistically transform human and ethical experiences and make them serve life." He left behind unique neo-romantic works that broke away from naturalism, such as "The Life of Young Renate" (1900), "The Maurice Affair" (1928, adapted into a film, Japanese title: Buried Youth), and the "Undergast" trilogy, which dealt with women's liberation, the Jewish problem, and the distortions of civilized society.

[Yasushi Taniguchi]

"Mori Ogai's translation of 'The Golden Cup' (included in 'Mori Ogai Complete Works 10', 1954, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Shirahata Makoto's translation of 'Lips that have never been kissed' (1956, Masu Shobo)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ドイツの小説家。雑貨商の息子としてフュルトに生まれる。「若いドイツ」の作家K・グツコーと個人的にも知り合い、彼の崇拝者であった父親の希望に添って実業学校を卒業後、実務と軍隊生活を経験。E・v・ボルツォーゲンに請われて、ミュンヘンで政治的風刺を売り物としたイラスト誌『ジンプリチシムス』の編集に携わり、O・ブラームを中心とするベルリンの文士たちとも知り合う。処女作『ツィルンドルフのユダヤ人』（1897）、自伝的評論『ドイツ人およびユダヤ人としてのわが道』（1921）にみられるドイツ系ユダヤ人の内面的・社会的葛藤(かっとう)こそ、40編を超える作品の基調であった。友人T・マンはその語り口の「巧みさとまじめさの融合」を指摘し、異国に住むメルヘンの語り手と評したが、彼自身は「人間的・倫理的体験を芸術的に変容させ、人生に奉仕させること」をもって自己の文学的課題とみなした。女性解放、ユダヤ人問題、文明社会のゆがみを取り上げ、『若いレナーテの生活』（1900）、映画化された『マウリチウス事件』（1928、映画化邦題『埋もれた青春』）、『アンダーガスト』三部作など自然主義を脱した独自の新ロマン主義的作品を残した。

［谷口　泰］

『森鴎外訳『黄金杯』（『森鴎外全集10』所収・1954・岩波書店）』▽『白旗信訳『接吻されたことのない唇』（1956・鱒書房）』

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