Kraus, Karl

Kraus, Karl
born April 28, 1874, Gitschin, Bohemia
died June 12, 1936, Vienna, Austria

Austrian journalist, critic, playwright, and poet.

In 1899 he founded Die Fackel, a literary and political review, and by 1911 he had become its sole author; he continued to publish it until the year of his death. Believing that language was of great moral and aesthetic importance, he wrote with masterly precision, and his writings exercised wide influence. His works, which are almost untranslatably idiomatic, include Morality and Criminality (an essay collection, 1908), Proverbs and Contradictions (a collection of aphorisms, 1909), and The Last Days of Humanity (a lengthy satirical drama, 1922).

* * *

▪ Austrian writer
born April 28, 1874, Gitschin, Bohemia [now Jičín, Czech Republic]
died June 12, 1936, Vienna, Austria

      Austrian journalist, critic, playwright, and poet who has been compared with Juvenal and Jonathan Swift for his satiric vision and command of language. In German literature he ranks as an outstanding writer of the World War I era, but, because his work is almost untranslatably idiomatic, his talents have not been widely recognized.

      Of Jewish parentage, Kraus attended the University of Vienna but abandoned his studies to earn his living as a writer. In 1899 he founded the literary and political review Die Fackel (“The Torch”), which ceased publication in 1936 with the rise of Nazism in Austria. Kraus never became associated with a particular literary movement or political persuasion.

      Language, to Kraus, was of great moral as well as aesthetic importance, and he relentlessly criticized its dishonest, pretentious, or inexact use as symptomatic of the moral corruption of the age. He himself wrote with masterly precision, notably in such collections of aphorisms as Sprüche und Widersprüche (1909; “Proverbs and Contradictions”) and Nachts (1919; “Nights”) and in such essay collections as Sittlichkeit und Kriminalität (1908; “Morality and Criminality”), Literatur und Lüge (1929; “Literature and Lie”), and Die Sprache (1937; “Language”). His writing occasionally rises to apocalyptic heights, as in the lengthy satirical drama Die letzten Tage der Menschheit (1918; published 1922; “The Last Days of Mankind”), a visionary condemnation of the futility of World War I.

      Kraus was the founder, editor, and from 1911 the sole author of Die Fackel, through which he achieved fame as a scathing critic of Austrian society. He gradually widened the range of his attacks from the Austrian middle classes and the Viennese liberal press to encompass all that he held responsible for what he viewed as the disintegration of the Austrian, and European, cultural traditions. His satire and mode of expression are idiosyncratic and essentially Austrian (even Viennese), but his influence has been far-reaching. He also wrote poetry (Worte in Versen, 9 vol., 1916–30), epigrams (1927), and dramatic parodies. He translated works of William Shakespeare and rediscovered the works of his compatriot Johann Nestroy.

      Kraus's Werke were published in 14 volumes (1952–66).

Additional Reading
Frank Field, The Last Days of Mankind: Karl Kraus and His Vienna (1967); Harry Zohn, Karl Kraus (1971); Edward Timms, Karl Kraus, Apocalyptic Satirist (1986).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • KRAUS, KARL — (1874–1936), Austrian satirist and poet. Born in Bohemia as the last of nine children to Jacob Kraus, a paper manufacturer, and his wife Ernestine née Kantor, Kraus was one of the greatest stylists in the German language and a vitriolic critic of …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Kraus, Karl — (1874–1936)    Like so many leading intellectuals in fin de siècle Vienna, Kraus was not a native of the city, but he was raised there. Born in Bohemia of Jewish extraction, he was baptized a Catholic and remained in the church until 1923. Though …   Historical dictionary of Austria

  • Kraus, Karl — (1874 1936)    Austrian satirist and poet. He was born in a provincial Bohemian town; when he was three his family moved to Vienna. He studied law at the University of Vienna and began writing at the age of 18. He founded a satirical magazine Die …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • Kraus, Karl — (28 abr. 1874, Gitschin, Bohemia–12 jun. 1936, Viena, Austria). Periodista, crítico, dramaturgo y poeta austríaco. En 1899 fundó Die Fackel, revista literaria y política, y en 1911 se había transformado en su único autor; continuó publicándola… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Kraus, Karl —    см. Краус, Карл …   Энциклопедический словарь экспрессионизма

  • Karl kraus — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Kraus. Karl Kraus Naissance …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Karl Kraus — (Fotografie um 1900) Gedenktafel am Geburtshaus …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Karl Doenitz — Karl Dönitz (* 16. September 1891 in Grünau bei Berlin; † 24. Dezember 1980 in Aumühle bei Hamburg) war ein deutscher Marineoffizier (seit 1943 Großadmiral) und Oberbefehlshaber der deutschen Kriegsmarine im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Von Hitler… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Karl Dönitz — als Großadmiral, 1943 Karl Dönitz (* 16. September 1891 in Grünau bei Berlin; † 24. Dezember 1980 in Aumühle bei Hamburg) war ein deutscher Marineoffizier (seit 1943 Großadmiral …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Karl Kraus (Begriffsklärung) — Karl Kraus ist der Name folgender Personen: Karl Kraus (1874–1936), österreichischer Schriftsteller Karl Kraus (Volksliedforscher) (1764–1826), böhmischer Volksliedforscher Karl Kraus (Geodät) (1939–2006), deutsch österreichischer Geodät Siehe… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”