The male cat Murr's view of life - The male cat Murr's view of life

A full-length novel by German romantic writer Hoffmann, in two volumes (1820-22). It is a memoir in which the self-proclaimed male cat Muru writes a memoir of his life and at the same time criticises the everyday life of humans. In writing it, the cat used the same paper from which his owner, the court conductor Kreisler, was writing a draft of a biography he was working on, and so Kreisler's notes ended up being mixed in when the book was printed. It also touches on the artist's way of being and his view of art, and is full of so-called romantic irony, expressing criticism of realism that is lost in the everyday in both its ideas and its method. It is a work with strong autobiographical elements.

[Hajime Fukada]

"Hoffmann Complete Works 7: The Male Cat Mur's View of Life" (translated by Hajime Fukada, 1973, Sodosha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ドイツ・ロマン派の作家ホフマンの長編小説。2巻（1820～22）。自ら名声を誇る牡猫ムルが半生記を綴(つづ)り、かたわら人間の日常性を批評するという趣向の手記で、書くにあたって飼い主の宮廷楽長クライスラーが書きかけていた伝記の下書きの紙を利用したため、クライスラーの手記も混じったまま印刷されてしまったという構成になっている。芸術家なる存在様式や芸術観にも触れており、いわゆるロマン的アイロニーに満ち、日常性に埋没した現実主義への批判が、思想上でも手法上でも表現されている。自伝的要素の濃い作品。

［深田　甫］

『深田甫訳『ホフマン全集7　牡猫ムルの人生観』（1973・創土社）』

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