Reading a page of a book out of thousands and millions of pages is, for us, like looking through a window on brighter side of the world that is constantly calling us, tempting us to set on a journey with the frigate of a book for more and more adventures...

Modern Literature: Contemporary or Committed
Conversations on contemporary German literature and philosophy-centric view
Interviewer: Abbas Mohebali 


Mohebali: My first question, Mr. Naghed, is that who are the eminent figures of contemporary German literature at the moment, to what class do they belong and who are their audiences? 

Naghed: First of all let us make clear what 'contemporary German literature' means and when, where and how it began. Meanwhile we can also distinguish it from the modern and the new literatures. As you know, there is a big difference between 'modern literature' and 'contemporary literature'. The concept of 'modern literature' signifies all transformations made in the field of literature over a hundred years and as for fiction, it all began with the novel Don Quixote. During the 19th century the Naturalists made a wide use of the term and it became prevalent in the discourse of fiction. We do not tend to discuss different periods of modern literature now. I should only mention that Naturalism was in fact the origin and main cause of modern literature. 

Mohebali: One of the most renowned Naturalist writers in Germany was Gerhart Hauptmann who could win the Nobel Prize for literature in 1912. 

Naghed:  Yes, Hauptmannwas one of the leaders of the literary school of Naturalism and also one of the most important Naturalist playwrights of the 19th Century. His interest in Naturalism is vivid even in his primary works such as in Bahnwärter Thiel. Hauptmann wrote the story in 1888 and in it he discussed the most important problems of the 19th-century society, namely man-machine. He picked up the railway as a symbol of the period that signified industrial development and the machines taking control in order to illustrate how these machines have deranged the natural cycle of human life and dominated over human world. Man in Hauptmann's works is portrayed not only as an active creature capable of thought and will, but also as a passive victim of events and incidents. He does not take action he is actually acted out by something that he cannot fully grasp or understand. 

---

From Knowledge to Wisdom / Page 162

---

Author: Khosro Naghed (1950 - )
Publisher: Qoqnoos / Tehran
Release Date: 2012
ISBN: ‏‫978-964-311-958-4
Language: Persian
Genre: Nonfiction
Category: Articles and Interviews; Literature - Philosophy
215 pages

---

Id : 137848