Peter Weiss was a writer whose entire life was dominated by feelings of alienation and deepseated insecurity. As a youth he made frequent attempts to escape from the social conventions into which he w...
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Peter Weiss's play Die Verfolgung und Ermordung Jean-Paul Marats, dargestellt durch die Schauspielgruppe des Hospizes zu Charenton unter Anleitung des Herrn de Sade (1964; translated as The Persecutio...
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In the following essay, Best examines the novels Leavetaking and Vanishing Point as works of confessional literature.
Abschied von den Eltern (tr. Leavetaking) and Fluchtpunkt (tr. Vanishing Point) ar...
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In the following essay, Vance investigates the alienation of the characters in Der Schatten des Körpers des Kutschers, concluding that “the degree to which the characters are self-absorb...
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In the following essay, Garner considers the influence of Bertolt Brecht on Weiss's work and classifies Weiss's dramas as post-Brechtian.
The chief defect of all hitherto existing materi...
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In the following essay, Stephan asserts that Weiss's treatment of the Spanish Civil War in Die Ästhetik des Widerstands allows him to explore “the two central themes that have det...
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In the following essay, Cohen offers a thematic and stylistic overview of Weiss's early work.
Peter Weiss's early life is defined by everything it lacked: familial warmth, friendship, a ...
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In the following essay, Garloff discusses the issues of exile and diaspora in Weiss's work.
Bin inzwischen zu einem ‘deutschsprachigen Autor’ geworden. Sitze in Stockholm, mit dem...
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In the following essay, Cohen examines the critical reaction to The Investigation and elucidates the central themes of the play.
In the mid-1990s a critic referred to The Investigation (Die Ermittlung...
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In the following essay, Berghahn regards The Investigation as “one of the best representations of the Holocaust for the stage” and chronicles the critical controversy surrounding the pla...
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Critical Essay by Peter Weiss
[Because I'm] isolated, not belonging to any country, any city and any language—I have to find a place where I can just be alive as much as possible. And th...
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Critical Essay by Susan Sontag
Theatricality and insanity—the two most potent subjects of the contemporary theater—are brilliantly fused in Peter Weiss' play, The Persecution and ...
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Critical Essay by Gertrud Mander
To my mind there is a strong element of spurious arrogance, of pretentiousness and slickness in everything Peter Weiss has written for and thought about the theatre. H...
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Peter (Ulrich) Weiss
