Karl Kraus (writer)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"Intercourse with a woman is sometimes a satisfactory substitute for masturbation. But it takes a lot of imagination to make it work" (1907) by Karl Kraus “In the early years of this century,” writes Hartl, “Sigmund Freud and Karl Kraus were something like dioscuri, twin-like in their bearing and destiny, and far ahead of their time in their moral and other views”.--Karl Kraus and the Critics (1997) by Harry Zohn "Karl Kraus, an Austrian satirist, was the subject of a book written by noted libertarian author Thomas Szasz. The book Anti-Freud: Karl Kraus's Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry, originally published under the name Karl Kraus and the Soul Doctors (1976), portrayed Kraus as a harsh critic of Sigmund Freud and of psychoanalysis in general. Other commentators, such as Edward Timms, author of Karl Kraus – Apocalyptic Satirist, have argued that Kraus respected Freud, though with reservations about the application of some of his theories, and that his views were far less black-and-white than Szasz suggests." --Sholem Stein |
Related e |
Featured: |
Karl Kraus (April 28, 1874 – June 12, 1936) was an Austrian writer and journalist, known as a satirist, essayist, aphorist, playwright and poet. He is regarded as one of the foremost German-language satirists of the 20th century, especially for his witty criticism of the press, German culture, and German and Austrian politics.
Selected works
- Die demolierte Literatur [Demolished Literature] (1897)
- Eine Krone für Zion [A Crown for Zion] (1898)
- Sittlichkeit und Kriminalität [Morality and Criminal Justice] (1908)
- Sprüche und Widersprüche [Sayings and Contradictions] (1909)
- Die chinesische Mauer [The Wall of China] (1910)
- Pro domo et mundo [For Home and for the World] (1912)
- Nestroy und die Nachwelt [ Nestroy and Posterity](1913)
- Worte in Versen (1916–30)
- Die letzten Tage der Menschheit (1918)
- Weltgericht [World Court] (1919)
- Nachts [At Night] (1919)
- Untergang der Welt durch schwarze Magie [The End of the World Through Black Magic](1922)
- Literatur (Literature) (1921)
- Traumstück [Dream Piece] (1922)
- Die letzten Tage der Menschheit: Tragödie in fünf Akten mit Vorspiel und Epilog [The Last Days of Mankind: Tragedy in Five Acts with Preamble and Epilogue] (1922)
- Wolkenkuckucksheim [Cloud Cuckoo Land] (1923)
- Traumtheater [Dream Theatre] (1924)
- Epigramme [Epigrams] (1927)
- Die Unüberwindlichen [The Insurmountables] (1928)
- Literatur und Lüge [Literature and Lies] (1929)
- Shakespeares Sonette (1933)
- Die Sprache [Language] (posthumous, 1937)
- Die dritte Walpurgisnacht [The Third Walpurgis Night] (posthumous, 1952)
Some work has been re-issued in recent years:
- Die letzten Tage der Menschheit, Bühnenfassung des Autors, 1992 Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-22091-8
- Die Sprache, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37817-1
- Die chinesische Mauer, mit acht Illustrationen von Oskar Kokoschka, 1999, Insel, ISBN 3-458-19199-2
- Aphorismen. Sprüche und Widersprüche. Pro domo et mundo. Nachts, 1986, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37818-X
- Sittlichkeit und Krimininalität, 1987, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37811-2
- Dramen. Literatur, Traumstück, Die unüberwindlichen u.a., 1989, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37821-X
- Literatur und Lüge, 1999, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37813-9
- Shakespeares Sonette, Nachdichtung, 1977, Diogenes, ISBN 3-257-20381-0
- Theater der Dichtung mit Bearbeitungen von Shakespeare-Dramen, Suhrkamp 1994, ISBN 3-518-37825-2
- Hüben und Drüben, 1993, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37828-7
- Die Stunde des Gerichts, 1992, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37827-9
- Untergang der Welt durch schwarze Magie, 1989, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37814-7
- Brot und Lüge, 1991, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37826-0
- Die Katastrophe der Phrasen, 1994, Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-37829-5
Works in English translation
- The Last Days of Mankind: a Tragedy in Five Acts (1974), an abridgement tr. Alexander Gode and Sue Allen Wright
- In These Great Times: A Karl Kraus Reader (1984), ed. Harry Zohn, contains translated excerpts from Die Fackel, including poems with the original German text alongside, and a drastically abridged translation of The Last Days of Mankind.
- Anti-Freud: Karl Kraus' Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry (1990) by Thomas Szasz contains Szasz's translations of several of Kraus' articles and aphorisms on psychiatry and psychoanalysis.
- Half Truths and One-and-a-Half Truths: selected aphorisms (1990) translated by Hary Zohn. Chicago ISBN 0226452689.
- Dicta and Contradicta, tr. Jonathan McVity (2001), a collection of aphorisms.