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Bertolt Brecht

べるとると・ぶれひと

Berutoruto Burehito

Aliases: Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht / Bert Brecht
Pen Names: Bert Brecht（Short form used in early newspaper articles and criticism）, Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht（Birth name (used in official records and early biographies)）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1898-02-10 （Augsburg, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire）
Died
1956-08-14 （East Berlin, East Germany） age 58
Nationality
German, Austrian (naturalized)
Languages
German
Religion
Protestant (family background)
Residence History
Augsburg (birth and childhood) → Munich (student years) → Berlin (Weimar years, cultural centre) → Svendborg, Denmark (exile residence) → Santa Monica, Los Angeles (exile) → Zurich (short period) → East Berlin (postwar — final years)

Career

Occupations
playwright, theatre director, poet, screenwriter, theatre theorist
Active Years
1916-1956
Affiliations
Berliner Ensemble, Deutsches Theater (assistant dramaturg)
Influenced By
Ernst Toller, Erwin Piscator, Karl Korsch, Karl Valentin, Karl Marx (intellectual influence)
Influenced
Jean-Luc Godard (cinema influenced by Brechtian techniques), Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Nagisa Ōshima, Several rock/pop musicians (e.g. The Doors, David Bowie)

Education

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Medicine (registered; studied drama informally)
Period: 1917–1918（在籍、学位取得は不明）
Country: Germany
Registered for medical studies to avoid conscription but focused on drama; degree completion unlikely.

Awards

Kleist Prize
1922
Work: Baal; Drums in the Night; In the Jungle of Cities (early plays)
Organization: Kleist Prize committee
Result: 受賞
Stalin Peace Prize
1954
Work: For his body of work
Organization: Soviet Union (awarding body)
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Threepenny Opera

1928 musical drama / epic theatre 96 pages

A musical drama satirizing crime and bourgeois morality in Berlin. Collaboration with Kurt Weill; a major hit with worldwide influence.

critique of capitalismexposure of hypocrisyclass conflict
Adaptations
  • [film] The Threepenny Opera (film) / G. W. Pabst (1931)
  • [stage (opera/musical adaptations)] Various stage adaptations
Translations
  • The Threepenny Opera (various English translations)

Life of Galileo

1943 historical drama / political play 120 pages

Through the figure of Galileo, the play questions power and truth. Brecht worked on English versions during his Hollywood period.

power and truthscience and ethicsindividual vs society
Adaptations
  • [film] Life of Galileo (various film/adaptations)
Translations
  • Life of Galileo (English translations and versions)

Mother Courage and Her Children

1941 war play / epic theatre 116 pages

Set against the Thirty Years' War, the play follows Mother Courage and critiques the economic and moral consequences of war.

commercialization of warrelativization of moralityindividual and society
Adaptations
  • [stage] International stage productions
Translations
  • Mother Courage and Her Children (English translations)

The Caucasian Chalk Circle

1948 parable / epic theatre 80 pages

A parable examining justice and ownership, incorporating elements of Chinese theatre and folk tale.

justiceownershipcommunity
Adaptations
  • [stage] Various stage productions
Translations
  • The Caucasian Chalk Circle (English translations)

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui

1941 satirical play / political drama 88 pages

A satire transposing Hitler's rise into a mafia saga, interrogating manipulation and responsibility in power.

critique of fascismcorruption of powerpolitical satire

Bibliography

  • Baal
  • Drums in the Night
  • The Threepenny Opera
  • Life of Galileo
  • Mother Courage and Her Children
  • The Caucasian Chalk Circle
  • Hauspostille (poems)
  • A Short Organum for the Theatre

Adaptations

  • The Threepenny Opera (1931 film) and numerous stage/film adaptations
  • Hangmen Also Die! (screenplay collaboration, 1943)

Translations of Works

  • The Threepenny Opera — various translations into Japanese, English, etc.
  • Life of Galileo and other plays — English translations and annotated editions

Style & Themes

Literary Style
epic theatre (historicization, distancing)montage-like structuredidactic/political tone
Recurring Motifs
class strugglecritique of powerexposure of bourgeois hypocrisyhistoricization and distancing (Verfremdungseffekt)

Health

  • Rheumatic fever leading to heart disease (enlarged heart)
    子供時代〜生涯を通じて
    Caused chronic heart failure and arrhythmias, impairing health in later life; affected but also fed his creative work.
  • Sydenham's chorea
    生涯にわたって断続的に
    Intermittent neurological symptoms such as tremors and erratic movements; contemporaries noted nervousness and instability.

Legacy

Brecht is one of the most important figures in 20th-century theatre; through epic theatre and defamiliarization techniques he foregrounded the link between drama and politics. His influence persists across film, theatre and music.

Museums

  • Brecht House (Augsburg) Augsburg, Germany
  • Brecht–Weigel Memorial (Chausseestraße, Berlin) Berlin, Germany

Academic Societies

  • International Brecht Society
  • National Brecht study groups

Archives

  • Brecht materials at the Akademie der Künste, Berlin
  • Manuscripts and archives held in various national libraries

In Popular Culture

  • Songs like 'Alabama Song' covered by rock/pop musicians, showing musical influence
  • Continued use of Brechtian techniques (historicization, distancing) in film and theatre

Quotes

  • First comes the grub. Then comes the morality.
    Source: Line from The Threepenny Opera (lyrics/dialogue) (1928)
  • If the government has lost the confidence of the people, wouldn't it be easier for the government to dissolve the people and elect another?
    Source: Poem 'Die Lösung' (Buckow Elegies) (1959)

Trivia

  • Testified before the HUAC in 1947 and left the U.S. the day after.
  • Received the Stalin Peace Prize in 1954.
  • Raised with influences from both Protestant (mother) and Catholic (father) backgrounds.
  • Suffered rheumatic fever in youth, leading to lifelong heart problems and Sydenham's chorea.