As a satirist living in Vienna at the beginning of the century, Klaus's literary achievements made him a legend. Brecht said of Klaus: "When the era died by his own hand, he was that hand." In other words, it was his sharp and compassionate articles that buried his own era.
But when he was alive, he was not really understood. When commenting on his work, he once said, "Maybe my work will wait until the day when it is out of date." Professor Zuo En, the English translator of Klaus' aphorism, pointed out two reasons when talking about the difficulty of crossing the border of German-speaking countries in his works.
First, most of his works are deeply rooted in Vienna and Europe of his time. For today's readers, it is difficult to appreciate without a lot of notes; The second and main reason is that, in the words of Eric Heller, "Klaus is not writing in words; Through his hand, the beautiful, profound and accumulated moral experience in German is presented in the form of personality. In this sense, Klaus, as an impassioned judge, made his works a harsh testimony against his times. " ①
Karl kraus was born in a Bohemian town not far from Prague on April 28th, 874. His father is a wealthy Jewish manufacturer. Three years later, his family moved to Vienna, where Klaus spent his whole life. Like Freud of his contemporaries, Klaus is full of love-hate feelings for Vienna. In Europe at the turn of the century, Klaus's situation is quite typical: he was born in a wealthy Jewish family in Central Europe and had a strict father who made a fortune on his own, but refused to follow his father's footsteps in business and chose a literary career unreasonably. At least Kafka, Zweig, Benjamin and Franz Werfel are similar to Klaus? ②。
Klaus studied at the University of Vienna, but he dropped out of school to study drama and didn't get a degree. Lacking sufficient acting talent, he turned to journalism and literature. However, his imitation ability provides rich expressive force for his writing. He himself once said that he may be the first writer to experience his works as an actor.
Klaus has been writing drama reviews, book reviews and other articles for various newspapers and magazines since 1892. He refused to become a "cultural celebrity" in Vienna's literary world because he developed a cynical attitude from his youth. He turned down an editorial position offered by NeueFreiePresse, one of Vienna's most prestigious newspapers, and then started his own magazine DieFackel. The first issue of Torch magazine was published on 1 April, 8991day, less than one month before his 25th birthday.
According to Klaus himself, the purpose of the magazine is to "eliminate the cliches in German". He invited a group of writers to write for Torch, including Heinrich Mann, Strindberg, Oscar Kokoshka and others. Nevertheless, these writers' articles never exceed one-third of the total content of the magazine, and most of the pages are still borne by Klaus alone. 19 1 1 years later, until Klaus died in 1936, he became the only author of Torch. He once wrote: "I no longer have any collaborators. I was very jealous of them before, because the readers they drove away were exactly the people I wanted to leave to clean up for myself. " It can be seen that Torch magazine, as a satirical publication, is out-and-out, and it never tries to please readers. It is worth mentioning that Torch magazine has always had a relatively stable readership, so Klaus moved to write: "The most uncoordinated companion of Torch magazine is its readers."
Klaus started writing at the end of 19. During that period, the century-long rapid development of European history and culture began to come to an end. Although Kaiser Wilhelm II tried to save the decline of Austro-Hungarian Empire by removing Bismarck at that time, it was still difficult to prevent the disintegration of Prussia Dynasty which ruled Germany for nearly 600 years. Klaus wrote a series of bitter satires, mocking William II and his government, describing the empire as a "testing ground for destroying the world". Most of the articles he wrote before World War I focused on attacking and satirizing the ugliness of Austrian life. From the prison situation to the corruption and incompetence of government officials, he can't escape his sharp pen.
His first book, The Destruction of Literature, describes how a cafe frequented by Viennese literati was destroyed step by step. This book is full of witty and bitter satire. 1898, he published "The Crown on Mount Zion", mercilessly attacking political Zionism, although his attitude towards his ancestors was considered quite problematic. 19 1 1 year, Klaus secretly converted to Catholicism, but eleven years later, he gave up the Catholic church because he protested against the church's "unhealthy participation in the pseudo-art aimed at attracting tourists-Salzburg Art Festival".
It is worth mentioning that there are two women in his life who have had a profound influence on his life and writing. One is Anne Kama, a young Austrian actress who died of tuberculosis in 190 1. After her death, her relationship with Klaus was attacked by some vulgar tabloids in Vienna, which made Klaus extremely angry and disgusted with the double standards of men and women in Austria. For this reason, he wrote many articles attacking this hypocrisy, and published a long article "Morality and Judicial Justice" in 1902, which comprehensively criticized the incompetence and hypocrisy of the Austrian judicial system. Another woman who had an important influence on him was Baroness, the daughter of a Czech nobleman. From 19 13 to 19 15, Klaus proposed to her more than once, but all of them were rejected. It is said that part of the reason is that she followed the advice of the poet Rilke. But Klaus maintained a close and friendly relationship with her until his death. The association with baroness became the inspiration for Klaus' many poems and aphorisms about women.
The outbreak of World War I was an important turning point in Klaus' writing career. After the war started, after several months of silence, he began to attack his era like an angry chronicler. He pays attention to language first. The most basic form of human civilization is facing destruction in this war. He wrote: "In this war, what really matters is the life and death of language." 19 15 years to 19 17 years, Klaus created a large-scale poetic drama "The End of Man", with 5 acts and 209 acts, plus 10 prologue and 10 ending. The first draft of the play was published in Torch magazine one after another, and part of it was publicly recited by Klaus himself during the war. When he was alive, only the last night, the end of the play, was staged on the stage. The play begins with the voice of a newsboy and ends with the voice of God. There are hundreds of different scenes in the play, such as streets, offices, military roadblocks, schools, cafes, entertainment places, wounded hospitals, railway stations and frontline positions in Vienna and Berlin. There are poets, university professors, prostitutes, politicians, businessmen, soldiers, sycophants, children, priests, journalists, clowns, editors and emperors. Through the dialogues and monologues of the characters, Klaus deeply understands the tragic nature of human existence. According to Professor Zuo En, Klaus "tried to make language a moral indicator of human death"? ⑤。
Klaus' writing after the war is basically a portrayal of his disillusionment. Living in the new postwar Austrian peace system, he found himself a "loyal hater of the motherland". He called Austria and the Republic "parasites left by the empire and revolutionary heads with wigs". For most of the 1920s, Klaus not only debated articles, but also traveled around Europe, reading his poems, essays and plays aloud to the audience. He loved offenbach's music all his life, so he often adapted Aussie's one-act plays into plays and performed them in public with piano accompaniment.
1933 After the Nazis came to power in Germany, Klaus wrote The Third Night in Wapu? 6. Borrow a passage from Goethe's Faust to satirize the Third Reich. He used exaggerated and enlightening language in his book, vividly describing a demon gathering in his time. 1933, Torch magazine was closed for ten months. At the end of the year, the total number 888 was published, with only four pages, which published Klaus' memory of his dead friend Adolf Ruth and his last poem. The sentence at the end of the poem is: "Words have failed, when the world wakes up." Klaus clearly once again strongly felt the danger of language dying out, and the spiritual strength of human beings was so weak in the face of Nazi crazy power expansion. Nevertheless, he did not join the trend of Austrian left-wing intellectuals to join the * * * production party or immigrants at that time, although he did disappoint many of his friends. The readers of Torch are shrinking. Klaus not only didn't complain, but was more gratified, because he always believed that the readers of Torch should not only be those who are eager to hear the horn of the times, but also those who are interested in Shakespeare and Nestero? ⑦ People interested in offenbach and German.
Some people think that Klaus' polemic spirit was greatly weakened in his later years, and he began to retreat into the claustrophobic world of literature and language.
1June, 936 12, Klaus died of heart failure due to long-term physical and mental exhaustion. Death is almost a kind of luck for him, which makes the language master who has always adhered to the humanitarian spirit avoid witnessing Nazi Germany annexing his motherland and almost all Austrians cheering for national subjugation. Of course, he didn't have to face countless other terrorist acts, including burning down his house and the tragic deaths of countless relatives and friends in concentration camps. Most importantly, he also avoided seeing things that would make him more miserable, and human civilization degenerated into hell. German critic Frank Field once said: "... everything seems to have happened according to the satirist's most pessimistic insight and prediction: Buchenwald concentration camp is surrounded by beech trees in Goethe's former residence; When people marched neatly into Auschwitz concentration camp, the band on the other side of the prison was playing offenbach's music. After reading Klaus' works, these evils become easier to understand. " ? ⑧
1Benington in the spring of 994/1Beijing in the winter of 996.
note:
(1) see Eric Heller's karl kraus, the thought of being deprived of inheritance, Farah-Strauss-Kadahai Press, new york, 1957, p. 239.
② Flantz Weffer (1890 ~ 1945), an Austrian novelist, playwright and poet, was born in Prague. His philosophy of fraternity and mysticism are embodied in his lyric poems and expressionist dramas. After Nazi ruled Austria, Feiwei first fled to France, then arrived in the United States, where she died. Besides lyric poetry, he also published and staged many plays, among which Song of Bernadette was once put on the screen.
(3) Heinrich Mann (187 1 ~ 1950), the younger brother of German novelist and writer thomas mann. Contrary to his brother's cold style, Heinrich Mann's works are full of romantic passion and fierce ridicule. His masterpieces include Henry the French King, Small Town and Blue Angel.
④ Oskar Kokoschka (1886 ~1980), an Austrian expressionist painter and writer, is considered as one of the founders of the expressionist movement in the 20th century. During the Nazi regime, all his works were banned, and then he moved to London, England. Kakos Card is famous for its portraits, self-portraits and landscapes. Representative works include Ambassador Meschi, Self-portrait, Jerusalem, Prague Scenery, etc.
⑤ See the preface to the English translation of Selected karl kraus Mottos, page 8.
6. The title "The Third Night" not only borrowed chapters from Goethe's Faust, but also alluded to the Nazi Third Reich, which had usurped the German regime at that time.
⑦ Johann Nepomuk Nesterroy (180 1 ~ 1862), an Austrian playwright and dramatist, made his debut in182/year. Later, he wrote many plays, which established his position as an outstanding satirical and funny playwright.
See Frank Field's The End of Mankind: karl kraus and His Vienna, new york Saint Martin Press, 1967, p. 2 12.