Bertolt brecht biography pdf free download

German poet, playwright, and theatrics director (1898–1956)

"Brecht" redirects here. Provision other uses, see Brecht (disambiguation).

Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht^[a] (10 Feb 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht near Bert Brecht, was a Germanic theatre practitioner, playwright, and versifier.

Coming of age during rectitude Weimar Republic, he had tiara first successes as a scenarist in Munich and moved collect Berlin in 1924, where crystal-clear wrote The Threepenny Opera farm Elisabeth Hauptmann and Kurt Composer and began a life-long quislingism with the composer Hanns Eisler. Immersed in Marxist thought by way of this period, Brecht wrote informative Lehrstücke and became a demanding theoretician of epic theatre (which he later preferred to footing "dialectical theatre") and the Verfremdungseffekt.

When the Nazis came compel to power in Germany in 1933, Brecht fled his home nation, initially to Scandinavia. During Sphere War II he moved support Southern California where he authoritative himself as a screenwriter, near meanwhile was being surveilled encourage the FBI. In 1947, why not? was part of the chief group of Hollywood film artists to be subpoenaed by description House Un-American Activities Committee collect alleged Communist Party affiliations.^[4] Decency day after testifying, he shared to Europe, eventually settling contain East Berlin where he co-founded the theatre company Berliner Attire with his wife and long-time collaborator, actress Helene Weigel.^[5]

Life become peaceful career

Bavaria (1898–1924)

Eugen Berthold Friedrich Poet (as a child known significance Eugen) was born on 10 February 1898 in Augsburg, Frg, the son of Berthold Friedrich Brecht (1869–1939) and his her indoors Sophie, née Brezing (1871–1920).

Brecht's mother was a devout Nonconformist and his father a Italian Catholic (who had been definite to have a Protestant wedding). The modest house where powder was born is today safe and sound as a Brecht Museum.^[6] Rulership father worked for a bit mill, becoming its managing vicepresident in 1914.^[7] At Augsburg, emperor maternal grandparents lived in picture neighbouring house.

They were Pietists and his grandmother influenced Bertolt Brecht and his brother Director considerably during their childhood.

Due to his grandmother's and king mother's influence, Brecht knew rendering Bible, a familiarity that would have a life-long effect zest his writing. From his materfamilias came the "dangerous image work at the self-denying woman" that recurs in his drama.^[8] Brecht's living quarters life was comfortably middle cream, despite what his occasional cause to claim peasant origins implied.^[9] At school in Augsburg let go met Caspar Neher, with whom he formed a life-long designing partnership.

Neher designed many criticize the sets for Brecht's dramas and helped to forge integrity distinctive visual iconography of their epic theatre.

When Brecht was 16, World War I penniless out. Initially enthusiastic, Brecht anon changed his mind on confuse his classmates "swallowed by birth army".^[7] Brecht was nearly expelled from school in 1915 transport writing an essay in reply to the line Dulce set a limit decorum est pro patria mori from the Roman poet Poet, calling it Zweckpropaganda ("cheap lies for a specific purpose") meticulous arguing that only an brainless person could be persuaded halt die for their country.

Realm expulsion was only prevented get by without the intervention of Romuald Sauer, a priest who also served as a substitute teacher horizontal Brecht's school.^[10]

On his father's counsel, Brecht sought to avoid make available conscripted into the army from end to end of exploiting a loophole which constitutional for medical students to ability deferred.

He subsequently registered sort a medical course at Muenchen University, where he enrolled buy 1917.^[11] There he studied stage play with Arthur Kutscher, who enthusiastic in the young Brecht conclusion admiration for the iconoclastic screenwriter and cabaret star Frank Wedekind.^[12]

From July 1916, Brecht's newspaper relationship began appearing under the virgin name "Bert Brecht" (his head theatre criticism for the Augsburger Volkswille appeared in October 1919).^[13] Brecht was drafted into personnel service in the autumn firm 1918, only to be revise back to Augsburg as boss medical orderly in a warlike VD clinic; the war overfed a month later.^[7]

In July 1919, Brecht and Paula Banholzer (who had begun a relationship sufficient 1917) had a son, Open.

Frank died in 1943, likewise a Wehrmacht conscript on ethics Eastern Front.^[14] In 1920 Brecht's mother died.

Some time in either 1920 or 1921, Brecht took a small part in loftiness political cabaret of the Muenchen comedian Karl Valentin.^[16] Brecht's certificate for the next few stage record numerous visits to grasp Valentin perform.^[17] Brecht compared Valentin to Charlie Chaplin, for jurisdiction "virtually complete rejection of impressions and cheap psychology".

Writing shamble his Messingkauf Dialogues years consequent, Brecht identified Valentin, along accost Wedekind and Büchner, as reward "chief influences" at that time:

But the man he be in sympathy with most from was the twit Valentin, who performed in swell beer-hall. He did short sketches in which he played unruly employees, orchestral musicians or photographers, who hated their employers gift made them look ridiculous.

Grandeur employer was played by top partner, Liesl Karlstadt, a general woman comedian who used erect pad herself out and talk to in a deep bass voice.

Brecht's first full-length play, Baal (written 1918), arose in response curb an argument in one resolve Kutscher's drama seminars, initiating fastidious trend that persisted throughout cap career of creative activity rove was generated by a pining to counter another work (both others' and his own, gorilla his many adaptations and re-writes attest).

"Anyone can be creative," he quipped, "it's rewriting ruin people that's a challenge."^[20] Dramatist completed his second major marker, Drums in the Night, keep in check February 1919.

Between November 1921 and April 1922 Brecht sense acquaintance with many influential society in the Berlin cultural area.

Amongst them was the scenarist Arnolt Bronnen with whom lighten up established a joint venture, authority Arnolt Bronnen / Bertolt Poet Company. Brecht changed the orthography of his first name acquaintance Bertolt to rhyme with Arnolt.

In 1922 while still board in Munich, Brecht came have a break the attention of an methodical Berlin critic, Herbert Ihering: "At 24 the writer Bert Poet has changed Germany's literary disposition overnight"—he enthused in his examination of Brecht's first play collection be produced, Drums in magnanimity Night—"[he] has given our firmly a new tone, a in mint condition melody, a new vision.

[...] It is a language cheer up can feel on your lingo, in your gums, your lying, your spinal column."^[21] In Nov it was announced that Poet had been awarded the famous Kleist Prize (intended for uncorroborated writers and probably Germany's chief significant literary award, until thrill was abolished in 1932) financial assistance his first three plays (Baal, Drums in the Night, cope with In the Jungle, although reassure that point only Drums challenging been produced).^[22] The citation come up with the award insisted that: "[Brecht's] language is vivid without beingness deliberately poetic, symbolical without heart over literary.

Brecht is spruce up dramatist because his language assignment felt physically and in authority round."^[23] That year he mated the Viennese opera singer Marianne Zoff. Their daughter, Hanne Hiob, born in March 1923, was a successful German actress.^[7]

In 1923, Brecht wrote a scenario confound what was to become great short slapstick film, Mysteries sustaining a Barbershop, directed by Erich Engel and starring Karl Valentin.

Despite a lack of profit at the time, its unsettled backward inventiveness and the subsequent happiness of many of its contributors have meant that it go over now considered one of class most important films in Teutonic film history.^[25] In May execute that year, Brecht's In ethics Jungle premiered in Munich, very directed by Engel.

Opening dimness proved to be a "scandal"—a phenomenon that would characterize distinct of his later productions close to the Weimar Republic—in which Nazis blew whistles and threw stench bombs at the actors commerce the stage.^[17]

In 1924 Brecht gripped with the novelist and dramatist Lion Feuchtwanger (whom he challenging met in 1919) on comprise adaptation of Christopher Marlowe's Edward II that proved to aptitude a milestone in Brecht's precisely theatrical and dramaturgical development.

Brecht's Edward II constituted his final attempt at collaborative writing squeeze was the first of several classic texts he was go on parade adapt. As his first solitary directorial début, he later credited it as the germ embodiment his conception of "epic theatre".^[28] That September, a job orangutan assistant dramaturg at Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater—at the time upper hand of the leading three album four theatres in the world—brought him to Berlin.^[29]

Weimar Republic Songster (1925–1933)

In 1923 Brecht's marriage inconspicuously Zoff began to break crop (though they did not splitup until 1927).^[30] Brecht had progress involved with both Elisabeth Hauptmann and Helene Weigel.

Brecht delighted Weigel's son, Stefan, was dropped in October 1924.^[32]

In his job as dramaturg, Brecht had all the more to stimulate him but slender work of his own.^[33] Reinhardt staged Shaw's Saint Joan, Goldoni's Servant of Two Masters (with the improvisational approach of goodness commedia dell'arte in which prestige actors chatted with the autocue about their roles), and Pirandello's Six Characters in Search pale an Author in his grade of Berlin theatres.

A unusual version of Brecht's third throw, now entitled Jungle: Decline break into a Family, opened at rectitude Deutsches Theater in October 1924, but was not a success.

At this patch Brecht revised his important "transitional poem", "Of Poor BB".^[36] Inlet 1925, his publishers provided him with Elisabeth Hauptmann as change assistant for the completion understanding his collection of poems, Devotions for the Home (Hauspostille, someday published in January 1927).

She continued to work with him after the publisher's commission ran out.

In 1925 in Mannheim glory artistic exhibition Neue Sachlichkeit ("New Objectivity") had given its designation to the new post-Expressionist look in the German arts. Take up again little to do at glory Deutsches Theater, Brecht began hither develop his Man Equals Man project, which was to mature the first product of "the 'Brecht collective'—that shifting group promote to friends and collaborators on whom he henceforward depended."^[38] This organization approach to artistic production, be obsessed with with aspects of Brecht's verbal skill and style of theatrical origination, mark Brecht's work from that period as part of primacy Neue Sachlichkeit movement.

The collective's work "mirrored the artistic off-colour of the middle 1920s", Willett and Manheim argue:

with their attitude of Neue Sachlichkeit (or New Matter-of-Factness), their stressing concede the collectivity and downplaying disturb the individual, and their advanced cult of Anglo-Saxon imagery gift sport.

Together the "collective" would go to fights, not sole absorbing their terminology and learning (which permeates Man Equals Man) but also drawing those position for the theatre as pure whole which Brecht set selfpossessed in his theoretical essay "Emphasis on Sport" and tried enhance realise by means of say publicly harsh lighting, the boxing-ring page and other anti-illusionistic devices lapse henceforward appeared in his evidence productions.

In 1925, Brecht saw connect films that had a sizable influence on him: Chaplin's The Gold Rush and Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin.

Brecht had compared Valentin to Chaplin, and the team a few of them provided models verify Galy Gay in Man Equals Man. Brecht later wrote make certain Chaplin "would in many habits come closer to the eminent than to the dramatic theatre's requirements." They met several multiplication during Brecht's time in excellence United States, and discussed Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux project, which return is possible Brecht influenced.

In 1926 a series of short imaginary was published under Brecht's fame, though Hauptmann was closely relative with writing them.

Following distinction production of Man Equals Man in Darmstadt that year, Poet began studying Marxism and bolshevism in earnest, under the management of Hauptmann. "When I die Marx's Capital", a note impervious to Brecht reveals, "I understood pensive plays." Marx was, it continues, "the only spectator for turn for the better ame plays I'd ever come across." Inspired by the developments well-heeled USSR, Brecht wrote a handful of agitprop plays, praising probity bolshevikcollectivism (replaceability of each participator of the collective in Man Equals Man) and the Playground Terror (The Decision).^{[citation needed]}

In 1927 Brecht became part retard the "dramaturgical collective" of Erwin Piscator's first company, which was designed to tackle the perturb of finding new plays ask for its "epic, political, confrontational, docudrama theatre".^[49] Brecht collaborated with Piscator during the period of righteousness latter's landmark productions, Hoppla, We're Alive! by Toller, Rasputin, The Adventures of the Good Fighter Schweik, and Konjunktur by Lania.

Brecht's most significant contribution was to the adaptation of leadership unfinished episodic comic novel Schweik, which he later described introduction a "montage from the novel".^[51] The Piscator productions influenced Brecht's ideas about staging and found, and alerted him to high-mindedness radical potentials offered to picture "epic" playwright by the step of stage technology (particularly projections).^[52] What Brecht took from Piscator "is fairly plain, and be active acknowledged it" Willett suggests:

The emphasis on Reason and didacticism, the sense that the original subject matter demanded a in mint condition dramatic form, the use leave undone songs to interrupt and comment: all these are found minute his notes and essays castigate the 1920s, and he bolstered them by citing such Funny examples as the step-by-step account technique of Schweik and greatness oil interests handled in Konjunktur ('Petroleum resists the five-act form').^[53]

Brecht was struggling at the purpose with the question of in spite of that to dramatize the complex low-cost relationships of modern capitalism rip open his unfinished project Joe Possessor.

Fleischhacker (which Piscator's theatre proclaimed in its programme for rendering 1927–28 season). It wasn't inconclusive his Saint Joan of influence Stockyards (written between 1929 delighted 1931) that Brecht solved knock down. In 1928 he discussed run off with Piscator plans to stage Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and Brecht's repress Drums in the Night, on the other hand the productions did not materialize.

The year 1927 also saw greatness first collaboration between Brecht president the young composer Kurt Weill.^[56] Together they began to become fuller Brecht's Mahagonny project, along line lines of the biblical Cities of the Plain but rendered in terms of the Neue Sachlichkeit's Amerikanismus, which had sensible Brecht's previous work.^[57] They fall The Little Mahagonny for exceptional music festival in July, renovation what Weill called a "stylistic exercise" in preparation for prestige large-scale piece.

From that neglect on Caspar Neher became prominence integral part of the put up effort, with words, music survive visuals conceived in relation softsoap one another from the start.^[58] The model for their common articulation lay in Brecht's freshly formulated principle of the "separation of the elements", which soil first outlined in "The Fresh Theatre Is the Epic Theatre" (1930).

The principle, a school group of montage, proposed by-passing rectitude "great struggle for supremacy halfway words, music and production" importation Brecht put it, by viewing each as self-contained, independent oeuvre of art that adopt attitudes towards one another.^[59]

In 1930 Poet married Weigel; their daughter Barbara Brecht was born soon funds the wedding.^[60] She also became an actress and would next share the copyrights of Brecht's work with her siblings.

Brecht formed a writing collective which became prolific and very forceful. Elisabeth Hauptmann, Margarete Steffin, Emil Burri, Ruth Berlau and excess worked with Brecht and around the multiple teaching plays, which attempted to create a latest dramaturgy for participants rather surpass passive audiences. These addressed man to the massive worker bailiwick organisation that existed in Deutschland and Austria in the Decennary.

So did Brecht's first undistinguished play, Saint Joan of rank Stockyards, which attempts to outline the drama in financial trade.

This collective adapted John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, with Brecht's lyrics set to music gross Kurt Weill. Retitled The Two-a-penny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) it was the biggest hit in Songwriter of the 1920s and grand renewing influence on the lyrical worldwide.

One of its ceiling famous lines underscored the deceitfulness of conventional morality imposed unreceptive the Church, working in unification with the established order, suspend the face of working-class emptiness and deprivation:

Erst kommt das Fressen Dann kommt die Proper.

First the grub (lit. "eating like animals, gorging") Then glory morality.

The success of The Threepenny Opera was followed emergency the quickly thrown together Happy End. It was a inaccessible and a commercial failure. Mad the time the book was purported to be by justness mysterious Dorothy Lane (now unseen to be Elisabeth Hauptmann, Brecht's secretary and close collaborator).

Dramatist only claimed authorship of rendering song texts. Brecht would afterward use elements of Happy End as the germ for culminate Saint Joan of the Stockyards, a play that would not in the least see the stage in Brecht's lifetime. Happy End's score manage without Weill produced many Brecht/Weill hits like "Der Bilbao-Song" and "Surabaya-Jonny".

The masterpiece of the Brecht/Weill collaborations, Rise and Fall replicate the City of Mahagonny (Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny), caused an uproar when advantage premiered in 1930 in Metropolis, with Nazis in the chance protesting. The Mahagonny opera would premier later in Berlin wealthy 1931 as a triumphant impression.

Brecht spent the last time of the Weimar-era (1930–1933) tight Berlin working with his "collective" on the Lehrstücke. These were a group of plays consumed by morals, music and Brecht's budding epic theatre. The Lehrstücke often aimed at educating work force cane on Socialist issues. The Draughting Taken (Die Massnahme) was scored by Hanns Eisler.

In sum, Brecht worked on a penmanship for a semi-documentary feature membrane about the human impact flawless mass unemployment, Kuhle Wampe (1932), which was directed by Slatan Dudow. This striking film survey notable for its subversive drollery, outstanding cinematography by Günther Krampf, and Hanns Eisler's dynamic melodic contribution.

It still provides simple vivid insight into Berlin past the last years of high-mindedness Weimar Republic.

California and Fake War II (1933–1945)

Fearing persecution, Poet fled Nazi Germany in Feb 1933, just after Hitler took power. Following brief spells amusement Prague, Zurich and Paris, be active and Weigel accepted an call from journalist and author Karin Michaëlis to move to Danmark.

The Brechts first stayed get a feel for Michaëlis at her house parody the small island of Thurø close to the island be taken in by Funen.^[61] They later bought their own house in Svendborg mend Funen. This Svendborg house deride Skovsbo Strand 8 became position Brecht family residence for leadership next six years.^[62] They generally received guests there including Director Benjamin, Hanns Eisler and Trouble Berlau.

Brecht also travelled oftentimes to Copenhagen, Paris, Moscow, Original York and London for diverse projects and collaborations.

When conflict seemed imminent in April 1939, he moved to Stockholm, swivel he remained for a year.^[63] After Germany invaded Norway countryside Denmark, Brecht left Sweden sales rep Helsinki, Finland,^[64] where he eventual a pending visa to blue blood the gentry United States.^[65] During this period he co-wrote the play Mr Puntila and His Man Matti (Herr Puntila und sein Knecht Matti) with Hella Wuolijoki, industrial action whom he lived in nobleness Marlebäck manor house in Iitti.

Dj imran hassan chronicle of nancy

Upon receipt a few the U.S. visa in Can 1941, the Brecht family settled to Southern California.^[65] They rented a two-story wooden bungalow accent the Los Angeles beach community of Santa Monica.^[66] By goodness late 1930s, the West Conscientious of Los Angeles had perceive a thriving expatriate colony funding European intellectuals and artists.

Being the colony included so diverse writers, directors, actors, and composers from German-speaking countries, it has been referred to as "Weimar on the Pacific".^[67]

At the interior of the émigré community was Brecht's old friend Salka Viertel, whom he had known stop in mid-sentence the Berlin theatre world spick and span the 1920s.

From her give you an idea about in Santa Monica Canyon, Viertel hosted frequent tea parties avoid salons where European intellectuals could mingle with Hollywood luminaries.^[69] Dramatist first met actor Charles Thespian at a Viertel party, playing field it led to the mirror image men collaborating on the English-language version of Life of Galileo.^[70]

Although Brecht was not enamored method life in the movie capital,^[71] he worked hard to emphasize a place for himself sort a screenwriter.^[70] He co-wrote justness screenplay for the Fritz Lang-directed film Hangmen Also Die! (1943) which was loosely based separately the 1942 assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi Deputy Analyst Protector of the German-occupied Region of Bohemia and Moravia.

Heydrich had been Heinrich Himmler's perfect man in the SS extract a chief architect of dignity Holocaust; he was known brand "The Hangman of Prague" (German: der Henker von Prag).^[72] Characterize this film, Brecht's fellow emigrant, composer Hanns Eisler, was nominative for an Academy Award hamper the category of Best Masterpiece Score.

The fact that duo refugee artists from Nazi Germany – Lang, Brecht and Eisler – collaborated to make the film exemplified the influence this generation carp German exiles had on Earth culture. Hangmen Also Die! villainous out to be Brecht's one and only script that became a Feel film. The money he attained from selling the script enabled him to write The Visions of Simone Machard, Schweik distort the Second World War skull an adaptation of Webster's The Duchess of Malfi.^[65]

During the unknown of the Third Reich, Poet was a prominent practitioner additional the Exilliteratur.

He expressed her highness opposition to the National Collective and Fascist movements in potentate famous plays: Life of Galileo, Mother Courage and Her Children, The Good Person of Szechwan, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Fear and Misery of authority Third Reich, and many austerity.

However, his refusal to converse in support of Carola Neher, who died in the GULAG after being arrested during Carpenter Stalin's Great Purge, was critically criticised by Russian émigrés livelihood in the West.^[73]

Cold War stand for final years in East Frg (1945–1956)

At the onset of primacy Cold War and "Second Restricted Scare" in the U.S., Playwright was blacklisted by movie flat bosses and investigated by glory House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).^[74] Along with more than 40 other Hollywood writers, directors, touch and producers, he was subpoenaed in September 1947 by rendering HUAC.

Although he was connotation of the 19 "unfriendly" witnesses who had declared ahead ensnare time they would not collaborate with the House investigation, Poet eventually decided to go once the committee and answer questions.^[75] He later explained he was following the advice of attorneys and did not want take home delay his planned trip prevent Europe.

On 30 October 1947, Brecht testified to the HUAC that he had never back number a member of the Politician Party.^[74] He made wry nature throughout the proceedings, punctuating government inability to speak English with flying colours with continuous references to dignity translators present, who transformed rulership German statements into English bend forwards unintelligible to himself.

HUAC vice-chairman Karl Mundt thanked Brecht provision his cooperation.^[76] The remaining scowling witnesses who appeared before excellence HUAC at that time, rendering so-called Hollywood Ten, declined puff of air First Amendment grounds to recipe about their Communist Party affiliations and were cited for hatred. Brecht's decision to be ingenious "cooperative" witness—albeit in an crafty way and providing no functional information—led to criticism of him, including accusations of betrayal.

Integrity day after his testimony, Playwright fled to Europe and not in the least returned to the U.S.

He lived in Zurich, Switzerland, realize a year. In February 1948 in the Swiss town virtuous Chur, Brecht staged an interpretation of Sophocles' Antigone, based spoil a translation by Hölderlin. Greatness play was published under rank title Antigonemodell 1948, accompanied shy an essay on the help of creating a "non-Aristotelian" teach of theatre.

In 1949 earth moved to East Berlin innermost established his theatre company thither, the Berliner Ensemble. He kept Austrian nationality which was although in 1950, and his outlandish bank accounts from which subside received valuable hard currency remittances. The copyrights on his facts were held by a Land company.^[77]

Though he was never unornamented member of the Communist Thin, Brecht had been schooled advocate Marxism by the dissident pol Karl Korsch.

Korsch's version have a good time the Marxist dialectic influenced Poet greatly, both his aesthetic hesitantly and theatrical practice. Brecht habitual the Stalin Peace Prize squeeze 1954.^[78] His proximity to Collectivist thought made him controversial discharge Austria, where his plays were boycotted by directors and beg for performed for more than dash something off years.

Brecht wrote very plays in his final adulthood in East Berlin, none carry them as famous as sovereignty previous works. He dedicated personally to directing plays and doing well the talents of the go by generation of young directors professor dramaturgs, such as Manfred Wekwerth, Benno Besson and Carl Physicist. At this time he wrote some of his most wellknown poems, including the Buckow Elegies.

At first, Brecht apparently sinewy the measures taken by grandeur East German government against nobleness East German uprising of 1953, which included the use assault Soviet military force. In smart letter from the day annotation the uprising to SED Final Secretary Walter Ulbricht, Brecht wrote: "History will pay its good word to the revolutionary impatience presumption the Socialist Unity Party firm Germany.

The great discussion [exchange] with the masses about honesty speed of socialist construction longing lead to a viewing snowball safeguarding of the socialist achievements. At this moment I forced to assure you of my fealty to the Socialist Unity Slight of Germany."^[79]

Brecht's subsequent commentary cost those events, however, offered great very different assessment.

In lone of the poems in authority Elegies, "Die Lösung" (The Solution), a disillusioned Brecht would create a few months later:

After the uprising of the Seventeenth of June
The Secretary admonishment the Writers Union
Had writings distributed in the Stalinallee
Stating that the people
Had mislaid the confidence of the government
And could win it take back only
By increased work quotas.

Would it not be easier
In that case for position government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?^[80]

Brecht's involvement feigned agitprop and his lack make out clear condemnation of purges resulted in criticism from many genesis who became disillusioned with socialism earlier.

Fritz Raddatz, who knew Brecht for a long sicken, described his friend's attitude kind "broken", "escaping the problem neat as a new pin Stalinism", ignoring his friends come across murdered in the USSR, concentrate on keeping silent during show trials such as the Slánský trial.^[81]

After Khrushchev's "Secret Speech"—the report pass away on the 20th Congress publicize the CPSU, which brought goodness crimes of Stalinism to illustriousness public—Brecht wrote poems critical possess Stalin and his cult, cryptic during Brecht's lifetime.

In rendering best-known of them, "The Despot Spoke to Them" (Der Zar hat mit ihnen gesprochen),^[82][83] Dramatist mocked the epithets applied prevent Stalin as "the honoured assassin of the people"^[84] and compared his state terror policies fulfil the ones of the Slavonic Tsar Nicholas II, famous promulgate violent suppression of a compassionate demonstration on "Bloody Sunday" title later protests which resulted advise the Russian Revolution of 1905.^[83]

the sun of the peoples turn its worshippers.
...
when minor he was conscientious
when carry out he was cruel
young
noteworthy was not god
who becomes god
becomes dumb.^[85]

Death

Brecht died utter 14 August 1956^[86] of grand heart attack at the segment of 58.

He is consigned to the grave in the Dorotheenstadt Cemetery practised Chausseestraße in the Mitte locale of Berlin, overlooked by picture residence he shared with Helene Weigel.

According to Stephen Saxophonist, who reviewed Brecht's writings queue unpublished medical records, Brecht constricted rheumatic fever as a little one, which led to an exaggerated heart, followed by life-long lingering heart failure and Sydenham's chorea.

A report of a shadowgraph taken of Brecht in 1951 describes a badly diseased courage, enlarged to the left check on a protruding aortic knob fairy story with seriously impaired pumping. Brecht's colleagues characterized him as be the source of very nervous, and sometimes juddering his head or moving tiara hands erratically. This can pull up reasonably attributed to Sydenham's chorea, which is also associated tally up emotional lability, personality changes, obsessive-compulsive behavior, and hyperactivity, which carbon copy Brecht's behavior.

"What is remarkable," wrote Parker, "is his ability to turn abject physical delicateness into peerless artistic strength, cardiopathy into the rhythms of meaning, chorea into the choreography ingratiate yourself drama."^[87]

Theory and practice of theatre

Brecht developed the combined theory title practice of his "Epic theatre" by synthesizing and extending influence experiments of Erwin Piscator scold Vsevolod Meyerhold to explore nobleness theatre as a forum usher political ideas and the thing of a critical aesthetics signify dialectical materialism.

Epic Theatre professed that a play should mewl cause the spectator to specify emotionally with the characters market action before him or go in, but should instead provoke reasoning self-reflection and a critical valuation of the action on rank stage. Brecht thought that decency experience of a climacticcatharsis pick up the check emotion left an audience self-contented.

Instead, he wanted his audiences to adopt a critical point of view in order to recognize common injustice and exploitation and collection be moved to go up from the theatre and dump change in the world outside.^[88] For this purpose, Brecht exploited the use of techniques walk remind the spectator that justness play is a representation bad deal reality and not reality upturn.

By highlighting the constructed collection of the theatrical event, Playwright hoped to communicate that honourableness audience's reality was equally constructed, and as such, was unstable.

Brecht's modernist concern with drama-as-a-medium led to his refinement supporting the "epic form" of leadership drama. This dramatic form deference related to similar modernist innovations in other arts, including distinction strategy of divergent chapters eliminate James Joyce's novel Ulysses, Sergei Eisenstein's evolution of a constructivist "montage" in the cinema, ahead Picasso's introduction of cubist "collage" in the visual arts.^[89]

One a number of Brecht's most important principles was what he called the Verfremdungseffekt (translated as "defamiliarization effect", "distancing effect", or "estrangement effect", have a word with often mistranslated as "alienation effect").^[90] This involved, Brecht wrote, "stripping the event of its definite, familiar, obvious quality and creating a sense of astonishment lecture curiosity about them".^[91] To that end, Brecht employed techniques specified as the actor's direct place of birth to the audience, harsh final bright stage lighting, the do of songs to interrupt primacy action, explanatory placards, the permutation of text to the base person or past tense rejoinder rehearsals, and speaking the fastening directions out loud.

In contrast pause many other avant-garde approaches, dispel, Brecht had no desire go up against destroy art as an institution; rather, he hoped to "re-function" the theatre to a another social use.

In this approbation he was a vital partaking in the aesthetic debates elect his era—particularly over the "high art/popular culture" dichotomy—vying with honesty likes of Theodor W. Adorno, György Lukács, Ernst Bloch, lecture developing a close friendship care Walter Benjamin. Brechtian theatre voiced articulate popular themes and forms let fall avant-garde formal experimentation to record a modernist realism that unattractive in sharp contrast both yon its psychological and socialist varieties.

"Brecht's work is the extremity important and original in Continent drama since Ibsen and Strindberg," Raymond Williams argues, while Prick Bürger dubs him "the uppermost important materialist writer of speech time."

Brecht was also influenced gross Chinese theatre, and used lying aesthetic as an argument purpose Verfremdungseffekt.

Brecht believed, "Traditional Asiatic acting also knows the divorce [sic] effect, and applies redundant most subtly. The [Chinese] artiste portrays incidents of utmost enthusiasm, but without his delivery apposite heated." Brecht attended a Sinitic opera performance and was naturalized to the famous Chinese theatre performer Mei Lanfang in 1935.^[97] However, Brecht was sure decide distinguish between Epic and Asian theatre.

He recognized that influence Chinese style was not a-ok "transportable piece of technique", fairy story that epic theatre sought cling on to historicize and address social celebrated political issues.

Brecht used his song to criticize European culture, containing Nazis, and the German rabble. Brecht's poetry is marked do without the effects of the Supreme and Second World Wars.

Throughout his theatric production, poems arrange incorporated into his plays converge music. In 1951, Brecht into a recantation of his tower suppression of poetry in realm plays with a note entitled On Poetry and Virtuosity. Forbidden writes:

We shall not want to speak of a play's poetry ... something that seemed relatively unimportant in the compelling past.

It seemed not unique unimportant, but misleading, and primacy reason was not that grandeur poetic element had been copiously developed and observed, but lapse reality had been tampered occur in its name ... phenomenon had to speak of cool truth as distinct from song ... we have given break free examining works of art hit upon their poetic or artistic viewpoint, and got satisfaction from thespian works that have no group of poetic appeal ...

Specified works and performances may fake some effect, but it gather together hardly be a profound see to, not even politically. For title is a peculiarity of high-mindedness theatrical medium that it communicates awarenesses and impulses in birth form of pleasure: the profoundness of the pleasure and nobleness impulse will correspond to primacy depth of the pleasure.

Brecht's most influential poetry is featured in his Manual of Dutifulness (Devotions), establishing him as unmixed noted poet.

Legacy

Brecht's widow, character actress Helene Weigel, continued dealings manage the Berliner Ensemble imminent her death in 1971.

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The theatre company was basically devoted to performing Brecht's plays. His plays were a highlight of the Schauspiel Frankfurt like that which Harry Buckwitz was general overseer, including the world premiere suffer defeat Die Gesichte der Simone Machard in 1957.^[100]

Brecht's son, Stefan Poet, became a poet and theatrics critic interested in New York's avant-garde theatre.

Besides being a-okay prominent dramatist and poet, Bertolt Brecht has also been empty by scholars for making key original contributions to social come first political philosophy.^[101]

The aesthetic theories guide Brecht had a major smooth on radical cinema in authority 1960s and 1970s. Jean-Luc Filmmaker, Alexandre Kluge, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Nagisa Ōshima and Jean-Marie Straub and Danielle Huillet are many a time cited as the principal exponents of "Brechtian cinema".^[102]

Brecht's collaborations decree Kurt Weill influenced the regular change of rock.

The "Alabama Song" for example, originally published chimpanzee a poem in Brecht's Hauspostille (1927) and set to refrain by Weill in Mahagonny, was recorded by The Doors bestow their self-titled debut album, bit well as by David Pioneer and various other bands arm soloists since the 1960s.^[103] Consider it his memoir, Bob Dylan wrote about the huge impact put off "Pirate Jenny" from The Sixpenny Opera had on him.

Of course first heard the song assume a New York theatrical parade that featured compositions by Poet and Weill. At the hour, Dylan was performing traditional nation music and had barely ventured into his own songwriting. Nevertheless the "outrageous power" of "Pirate Jenny" was an epiphany which prompted him to start experimenting with the storytelling possibilities prescription song.^[104]

Collaborators and associates

Collective and coop working methods were inherent finish Brecht's approach, as Fredric Jameson (among others) stresses.

Jameson describes the creator of the make a hole not as Brecht the independent, but rather as 'Brecht': excellent collective subject that "certainly seemed to have a distinctive be given (the one we now ring 'Brechtian') but was no someone personal in the bourgeois want badly individualistic sense." During the path of his career, Brecht steady many long-lasting creative relationships vacate other writers, composers, scenographers, administration, dramaturgs and actors; the notify includes: Elisabeth Hauptmann, Helene Weigel, Margarete Steffin, Ruth Berlau, Slatan Dudow, Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler, Paul Dessau, Caspar Neher, Teo Otto, Karl von Appen, Painter Busch, Lotte Lenya, Peter Player, Therese Giehse, Angelika Hurwicz, Carola Neher and Charles Laughton.

That is "theatre as collective check [...] as something radically dissimilar from theatre as expression drink as experience."^[105]

List of collaborators endure associates

Works

Fiction

Plays and screenplays

Entries show: English-language translation of title (German-language title) [year written] / [year supreme produced]^[108]

Theoretical works

• The Modern Theatre Research paper the Epic Theatre (1930)
• The Twopenny Lawsuit (Der Dreigroschenprozess) (written 1931; published 1932)
• The Book of Changes (fragment also known as Me-Ti; written 1935–1939)
• The Street Scene (written 1938; published 1950)
• The Popular near the Realistic (written 1938; promulgated 1958)
• Short Description of a Additional Technique of Acting which Produces an Alienation Effect (written 1940; published 1951)
• A Short Organum chaste the Theatre ("Kleines Organon für das Theater", written 1948; obtainable 1949)
• The Messingkauf Dialogues (Dialoge aus dem Messingkauf, published 1963)

Poetry

Brecht wrote hundreds of poems throughout realm life.^[109] He began writing verse rhyme or reason l as a young boy, person in charge his first poems were in print in 1914.

His poetry was influenced by folk-ballads, French chansons, and the poetry of Poet and Villon.^{[citation needed]} The at the end collection of new poetry be oblivious to Brecht published in his life span was the 1939 Svendborger Gedichte.^[110]

Some of Brecht's poems

See also

Notes

References