Liebesgedichte

by Bertolt Brecht, Werner Hecht (Editor)

Genres: Poetry

128 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1966

About the author

Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director. A seminal theatre practitioner of the twentieth century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the Berliner Ensemble—the post-war theatre company operated by Brecht and his wife and long-time collaborator, the actress Helene Weigel—with its internationally acclaimed productions.

From his late twenties Brecht remained a life-long committed Marxist who, in developing the combined theory and practice of his 'epic theatre', synthesized and extended the experiments of Piscator and Meyerhold to explore the theatre as a forum for political ideas and the creation of a critical aesthetics of dialectical materialism. Brecht's modernist concern with drama-as-a-medium led to his refinement of the 'epic form' of the drama (which constitutes that medium's rendering of 'autonomization' or the 'non-organic work of art'—related in kind to the strategy of divergent chapters in Joyce's novel Ulysses, to Eisenstein's evolution of a constructivist 'montage' in the cinema, and to Picasso's introduction of cubist 'collage' in the visual arts). In contrast to many other avant-garde approaches, however, Brecht had no desire to destroy art as an institution; rather, he hoped to 're-function' the apparatus of theatrical production to a new social use. In this regard he was a vital participant in the aesthetic debates of his era—particularly over the 'high art/popular culture' dichotomy—vying with the likes of Adorno, Lukács, Bloch, and developing a close friendship with Benjamin. Brechtian theatre articulated popular themes and forms with avant-garde formal experimentation to create a modernist realism that stood in sharp contrast both to its psychological and socialist varieties. "Brecht's work is the most important and original in European drama since Ibsen and Strindberg," Raymond Williams argues, while Peter Bürger insists that he is "the most important materialist writer of our time."

As Jameson among others has stressed, "Brecht is also ‘Brecht’"—collective and collaborative working methods were inherent to his approach. This 'Brecht' was a collective subject that "certainly seemed to have a distinctive style (the one we now call 'Brechtian') but was no longer personal in the bourgeois or individualistic sense." During the course of his career, Brecht sustained many long-lasting creative relationships with other writers, composers, scenographers, directors, dramaturgs and actors; the list includes: Elisabeth Hauptmann, Margarete Steffin, Ruth Berlau, Slatan Dudow, Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler, Paul Dessau, Caspar Neher, Teo Otto, Karl von Appen, Ernst Busch, Lotte Lenya, Peter Lorre, Therese Giehse, Angelika Hurwicz, and Helene Weigel herself. This is "theatre as collective experiment [...] as something radically different from theatre as expression or as experience."

There are few areas of modern theatrical culture that have not felt the impact or influence of Brecht's ideas and practices; dramatists and directors in whom one may trace a clear Brechtian legacy include: Dario Fo, Augusto Boal, Joan Littlewood, Peter Brook, Peter Weiss, Heiner Müller, Pina Bausch, Tony Kushner and Caryl Churchill. In addition to the theatre, Brechtian theories and techniques have exerted considerable sway over certain strands of film theory and cinematic practice; Brecht's influence may be detected in the films of Joseph Losey, Jean-Luc Godard, Lindsay Anderson, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Nagisa Oshima, Ritwik Ghatak, Lars von Trier, Jan Bucquoy and Hal Hartley.

During the war years, Brecht became a prominent writer of the Exilliteratur. He expressed his opposition to the National Socialist and Fascist movements in his most famous plays.

Reviews

[V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich habe keine Ahnung, warum die Sammlung verschämt "Liebesgedichte" heißt. Sexgedichte sind das. Triebgedichte. Spaß machen sie trotzdem, nur Liebesgedichte sind sie nun mal wirklich nicht.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genau zwei Gedichte haben mir sehr gut gefallen.

[Zawani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seutas Tali Relah oleh Brecht

Seutas tali relah boleh tersimpul semula
Ia tahan lasak, tapi sudah terputus.

Barangkali kita bertemu semula, tapi sana
Di tempat kau tinggalkan ku
Kau takkan jumpa ku lagi.

Membaca terjemahan puisi Brecht oleh Pauline Fan pada umumnya terasa seperti sebuah percakapan, dengan kata-kata yang bergerak antara kesederhanaan; rasa murung, cinta dan sikap hangat yang tersembunyi.

[Annabel Sewerin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ob das nun Liebesgedichte oder Erotikgedichte sind, sei mal dahingestellt. Fakt ist, dass Brecht Frauen leider viel zu oft als Objekt behandelt und lediglich für seinen Spaß gebraucht. Durch den so häufig auftauchenden Sexismus habe ich diese Sammlung eher ungern gelesen (und habe mich teilweise sehr ekeln müssen), obwohl er doch ein wirklich talentierter Lyriker war und sich auch in diesem Band ein, zwei gelungene Gedichte verstecken.

[Oonagh Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

unglaublich sexistisch, aber manche Gedichte waren voll gut. er schreibt über Sex und Liebe, als ob sie gleich seien. Für mich war diese Sammlung eher erotisch, die meisten waren keine Liebesgedichte im traditionellen Sinne des Wortes

[Flo · Rating 1 out of 5]

1,5*
Es sind höchstens 5 Liebesgedichte drin, der Rest ist nur misogyn und sexistisch.

[Esthër · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sólo diez poemas me resultaron interesantes, pues por lo general escribe sobre hombres que tuvieron o tienen breves idilios con mujeres que cobran por estar con ellos con un lenguaje ni bello ni reflexivo ni profundo. Me quedo con este poema:

"Y corren tiempos oscuros
en la otra ciudad,
pero se mantiene el andar ligero
y la frente sigue lisa.

Dura humanidad, inamovible,
igual a un pueblo de peces hace tiempo congelados;
pero el corazón sigue moviéndose deprisa
y la sonrisa sigue siendo dulce."