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Peter Handke

ペーター・ハントケ

Pētā Hantuke

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1942-12-06 （Griffen, Reichsgau Carinthia, German Reich (now Austria)）
Nationality
Austrian
Languages
German
Religion
Serbian Orthodox Church
Residence History
Pankow, Berlin → Griffen (birthplace) → Graz (studies) → Düsseldorf → Chaville (near Paris) → Salzburg → United States (residence 1978–1979)

Career

Occupations
novelist, playwright, poet, translator, screenwriter, film director
Active Years
1961-
Affiliations
Grazer Gruppe, Grazer Autorenversammlung, Verlag der Autoren (co-founder), Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (member)
Memberships
Grazer Autorenversammlung (former member), Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (member)
Influenced By
Samuel Beckett
Influenced
W. G. Sebald, Karl Ove Knausgård, Joshua Cohen, Gabriel Josipovici

Education

University of Graz
Period: 1961–1965
Country: Austria
Left studies without obtaining a degree; began publishing while enrolled

Awards

Georg Büchner Prize
1973
Organization: Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung
Result: 受賞
Vilenica International Literary Prize
1987
Organization: Vilenica International Literary Festival
Result: 受賞
Brothers Karić Award
2000
Organization: Brothers Karić Foundation
Result: 受賞
America Award in Literature
2002
Organization: America Awards
Result: 受賞
Honorary Doctor (University of Klagenfurt)
2002
Category: 名誉博士
Organization: University of Klagenfurt
Result: 授与
Honorary Doctor (University of Salzburg)
2003
Category: 名誉博士
Organization: University of Salzburg
Result: 授与
Thomas Mann Prize
2008
Organization: City of Lübeck and Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts
Result: 受賞
Franz Kafka Prize
2009
Organization: Franz Kafka Society
Result: 受賞
Mülheimer Dramatikerpreis
2012
Category: 劇作家賞
Organization: Mülheimer Dramatikerpreis committee
Result: 受賞
International Ibsen Award
2014
Organization: International Ibsen Award committee
Result: 受賞
Nestroy Theatre Prize (Lifetime Achievement)
2018
Category: 生涯業績
Organization: Nestroy Prize committee
Result: 受賞
Nobel Prize in Literature
2019
Organization: The Swedish Academy
Result: 受賞
Order of Karađorđe's Star
2020
Organization: Office of the President of Serbia
Result: 授与
Order of the Republika Srpska
2021
Organization: Republika Srpska authorities
Result: 授与
Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria
2024
Organization: Office of the President of Austria
Result: 授与

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Offending the Audience

1966 experimental play

An experimental play in which performers confront and alternately insult the audience to examine the nature of theatre.

theatre theorylimits of languagerelationship between audience and performers
Translations
  • Offending the Audience

Kaspar

1967 play

A play that uses the story of Kaspar Hauser as an allegory for conformist social pressures and the formation of language/identity.

socializationlanguage and identitypower and conformity
Translations
  • Kaspar

The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick

1970 novel

A novel presenting an ultra-objective, deadpan account of a character in an extreme psychological state; adapted into a film (screenplay by Handke; director Wim Wenders).

lonelinessanxietybreakdown of reality
Adaptations
  • [film] The Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty / Wim Wenders (1972)
Translations
  • The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick

A Sorrow Beyond Dreams

1972 memoir / novella

A memoir reflecting on the author's mother's suicide; a restrained account of family history and personal grief.

lossmemoryfamily history
Translations
  • A Sorrow Beyond Dreams

Repetition

1986 novel

A novel about travel and self-recognition; uses layered narration to question the relationship between self and world.

travelmemoryself-exploration
Translations
  • Repetition

The Left-Handed Woman

1976 novel

A story about marriage and separation, depicting relationships through the passage of time and everyday detail.

separationeveryday lifeself and other
Adaptations
  • [film] The Left-Handed Woman / Peter Handke (1978)
Translations
  • The Left-Handed Woman

The Moravian Night

2008 novel

A long novel interweaving memories of Europe and the writer himself; a meditative work on personal and historical memory.

memoryvision of Europehistory
Translations
  • The Moravian Night

Bibliography

  • Die Hornissen (The Hornets) (1966)
  • The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1970)
  • A Sorrow Beyond Dreams (1972)
  • Repetition (1986)
  • The Moravian Night (2008)

Adaptations

  • The Left-Handed Woman — film adaptation (1978)
  • The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick — film adaptation (1972)
  • Wings of Desire — co-written screenplay (1987)

Translations by Author

  • The Winter's Tale — German translation by Peter Handke (première translation, 1990)

Translations of Works

  • A Sorrow Beyond Dreams — English translation
  • The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick — English translation

Style & Themes

Literary Style
objective, deadpan proseexperimental examination of language and realityconcise and precise description
Recurring Motifs
function and limits of languagememory and losstravel and movementabsurdity within everyday life

Legacy

Considered one of the most influential and original German‑language writers of the late 20th century, Handke's literary achievements—particularly his explorations of language and memory—are widely praised, while his political stances regarding the Yugoslav Wars provoked substantial controversy. The Nobel Prize further cemented his international stature.

Academic Societies

  • Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
  • Grazer Autorenversammlung

Archives

  • Austrian National Library — Literature Archive (holds materials related to Peter Handke)

In Popular Culture

  • Documentary 'Peter Handke: In the Woods, Might Be Late' (2016)

Quotes

  • “for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience.”
    Source: The Nobel Prize in Literature 2019 (The Swedish Academy) (2019)

Trivia

  • In 1999 he returned the prize money of the Georg Büchner Prize in protest of NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia.
  • His attendance and speech at Slobodan Milošević's funeral (2006) and his writings on the Yugoslav Wars have provoked international controversy.