Lenz (fragment)
Encyclopedia
Lenz is a novella fragment written by Georg Büchner
in Strasbourg
in 1836. It is based on the documentary evidence of Jean Frédéric Oberlin
's diary. Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz
, a friend of Goethe, is the subject of the story. In March 1776 he met Goethe in Weimar
. Later he suffered from mental disorder and was sent to Oberlin's vicarage in the Steintal
. The story is concerned with this last incident. Although left unfinished at the time of Büchner's death in 1837, it has been seen as a precursor to literary modernism
. Its influence on later writers has been immense.
The story has been adapted for the stage as Jacob Lenz, a 1978 chamber opera
by Wolfgang Rihm
.
Georg Büchner
Karl Georg Büchner was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose. He was the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchner. Büchner's talent is generally held in great esteem in Germany...
in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
in 1836. It is based on the documentary evidence of Jean Frédéric Oberlin
Jean Frédéric Oberlin
J. F. Oberlin was an Alsatian pastor and philanthropist. He has been known as John Frederic Oberlin in English, Jean-Frédéric Oberlin in French, and Johann Friedrich Oberlin in German....
's diary. Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz
Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz
Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz was a Baltic German writer of the Sturm und Drang movement.-Life:...
, a friend of Goethe, is the subject of the story. In March 1776 he met Goethe in Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
. Later he suffered from mental disorder and was sent to Oberlin's vicarage in the Steintal
Ban de la Roche
Le Ban de la Roche is the name of an ancient seigneurie and later a county. It is situated in Alsace, France, Département du Bas-Rhin. This small region is referred by its old name, because of its strong identity and it being relatively different from its neighbours although in Alsace;...
. The story is concerned with this last incident. Although left unfinished at the time of Büchner's death in 1837, it has been seen as a precursor to literary modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
. Its influence on later writers has been immense.
The story has been adapted for the stage as Jacob Lenz, a 1978 chamber opera
Chamber opera
Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra.The term and form were invented by Benjamin Britten in the 1940s, when the English Opera Group needed works that could easily be taken on tour and performed in a variety of small...
by Wolfgang Rihm
Wolfgang Rihm
Wolfgang Rihm is a German composer.Rihm is Head of the Institute of Modern Music at the Karlsruhe Conservatory of Music and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Salzburg Festival...
.
Editions in English
- Lenz. Translated by Michael HamburgerMichael HamburgerMichael Hamburger OBE was a noted British translator, poet, critic, memoirist, and academic. He was known in particular for his translations of Friedrich Hölderlin, Paul Celan, Gottfried Benn and W. G. Sebald from German, and his work in literary criticism...
. West Newbury: Frontier Press, 1969. - Lenz. Translated by Richard SieburthRichard SieburthRichard Sieburth is a translator, essayist, editor, and literary scholar. He has gained widespread recognition for his numerous translations from both German and French literature, receiving a number of awards and prizes for his work. Sieburth is considered an authority on literary modernism,...
. Brooklyn: Archipelago Books, 2005. ISBN 0-9749680-2-1. - Complete Works and Letters, pp. 139-162. Translated by Henry J. Schmidt. New York: Continuum, 1986. ISBN 0-8264-0301-8.
- Complete Plays and Prose, pp. 139–166. Translated by Carl Richard Mueller. New York: Hill and Wang, 1963. ISBN 0-8090-0727-4.
External links
- German audiobook at LibriVoxLibriVoxLibriVox is an online digital library of free public domain audiobooks, read by volunteers and is probably, since 2007, the world's most prolific audiobook publisher...
. - Richard Sieburth's English translation at Google Books.