A Bertolt Brecht Reference Companion

(Hardback)

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This study surveys and assesses Brecht's contribution to the arts. With the centennial of his birth approaching in 1998, Brecht's controversial reception, particulary in the United States, is coming into clearer focus. A significant dramatist of the 20th century, Brecht has been viewed as a proponent of social change, an advocate of a just world defined in terms of socialism and a foe of capitalism. With the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the political and economic milieu of Europe has changed drastically, and socialist writers can now be studied from a fresh perspective. Contributors explore his innovative dramatic theory and theatrical practice. Though best known for his contributions to the stage, Brecht also wrote poetry and prose fiction, which are examined in this work. Brecht's influence is also considered, with chapters on topics such as Brecht and film, the role of music in his works, feminist and marxist approaches to his writings, the problem of translating Brecht into English, and the reception and appropriation of his plays and dramatic theory in various countries. While the chapters are historical in focus, the contributors also demonstrate the continuing relevance of Brecht in general, and the Brechtian theatre of the 1990s.

Reviews

Mews's name is synonymous with Brecht research around the world. His 17 collaborators are also closely associated with the work of Brecht... From such a union one can expect the highest level of scholarship in easily accessible language. This expectation is fulfilled in every way.... Intended as a reference work for English readers, the book is intelligently organized into five sections--theory and practice of theater; poetry and prose; film and music; Marxism and feminism; and Brecht's acceptance in the U.S., Latin America, and Asia--a division that comes very close to covering all aspects of Brecht studies in a way that makes the book very useful to scholars, undergraduate students, and general readers alike.-Choice
"Mews's name is synonymous with Brecht research around the world. His 17 collaborators are also closely associated with the work of Brecht... From such a union one can expect the highest level of scholarship in easily accessible language. This expectation is fulfilled in every way.... Intended as a reference work for English readers, the book is intelligently organized into five sections--theory and practice of theater; poetry and prose; film and music; Marxism and feminism; and Brecht's acceptance in the U.S., Latin America, and Asia--a division that comes very close to covering all aspects of Brecht studies in a way that makes the book very useful to scholars, undergraduate students, and general readers alike."-Choice

Author Bio

SIEGFRIED MEWS is Professor of German at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He served as editor of the monograph series University of North Carolina Studies in the Germanic Languages and Literatures and the quarterly South Atlantic Review. He has published widely on 19th- and 20th-century German and comparative literature, and his edition of Collected Essays on Bertolt Brecht appeared in 1989.