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Ruth Klüger

ルート・クリューガー

Ruth Klüger

Aliases: Ruth Klueger / Ruth Angress
Pen Names: Ruth Angress（Used as a pen name for some publications）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1931-10-30 （Vienna, Austria）
Died
2020-10-05 （Irvine, California, United States） age 88
Nationality
Austria, United States
Languages
German, English
Religion
Judaism
Residence History
Vienna, Austria → Straubing, Bavaria, Germany → Göttingen, Germany → Irvine, California, United States → United States (worked in several locations as a professor)

Career

Occupations
Professor, Author
Active Years
1952-2020
Affiliations
Cleveland (teaching position), Kansas (teaching position), Virginia (teaching position), Princeton University, University of California, Irvine (Professor, later Professor Emerita)
Influenced By
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Heinrich von Kleist

Education

Philosophisch-theologische Hochschule, Regensburg
Philosophy and History
Period: 1945-1947
Country: Germany
Studied in Germany shortly after World War II
Hunter College
School of Arts and Sciences / English Literature
Degree: M.A.
Period: 1947-1952
Year of Graduation: 1952
Country: United States
Studied English literature after emigrating to the United States; earned an M.A.
University of California, Berkeley
German Literature
Degree: Ph.D.
Period: 1950s–1967
Year of Graduation: 1967
Country: United States
Received a Ph.D. in German literature

Awards

Rauris Literature Prize
1993
Organization: Rauris (Austria)
Result: 受賞
Grimmelshausen Prize
1993
Organization: Grimmelshausen Prize committee (Germany)
Result: 受賞
Lower Saxony State Prize
1993
Organization: State of Lower Saxony
Result: 受賞
Marie Luise Kaschnitz Prize
1995
Organization: Literary organizations (Germany)
Result: 受賞
Andreas Gryphius Prize (honorary prize)
1996
Organization: Andreas Gryphius Prize committee (Germany)
Result: 名誉賞受賞
Heinrich Heine Medal
1997
Organization: Heinrich Heine organizations
Result: 受賞
Austrian State Prize for Literary Criticism
1998
Organization: Austrian government / cultural institutions
Result: 受賞
Prix de la Shoah
1998
Organization: Prix de la Shoah (France)
Result: 受賞
Thomas Mann Prize
1999
Organization: Thomas Mann Prize committee (Germany)
Result: 受賞
Preis der Frankfurter Anthologie
1999
Organization: Preis der Frankfurter Anthologie (Germany)
Result: 受賞
Goethe Medal
2005
Organization: Goethe-Institut
Result: 受賞
Roswitha Prize
2006
Organization: Roswitha Prize committee (Germany)
Result: 受賞
Lessing Prize of the Free State of Saxony
2007
Organization: Free State of Saxony
Result: 受賞
Hermann Cohen Medal
2008
Organization: Hermann Cohen organizations (Germany)
Result: 受賞
Ehrenmedaille of the City of Göttingen
2010
Organization: City of Göttingen
Result: 受賞
Austrian Danubius Donauland Nonfiction Book Prize (for lifetime achievement)
2010
Work: Lifetime achievement
Organization: Donauland / Austrian cultural organizations
Result: 受賞
Theodor Kramer Prize
2011
Organization: Theodor Kramer Prize committee
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Weiter leben: Eine Jugend (Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered)

1992 Memoir / Autobiography

A memoir recounting Klüger's childhood in Vienna and her experiences in Nazi concentration camps. It addresses memory, survival, and a critical view of Holocaust memorial culture.

HolocaustMemorySurvivalIdentityChildhood
Translations
  • English translation by the author: Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered (2001)

Katastrophen: Über die deutsche Literatur

1993 Literary criticism

A collection of essays and criticism on German literature, examining literary works against historical and social backdrops.

German literatureLiterary criticismHistory

Von hoher und niederer Literatur

1995 Literary essays

Essays discussing the distinction and valuation of highbrow and popular literature.

Literary theoryEvaluation

Knigge's Umgang mit Menschen – "Eine Vorlesung"

1996 Lecture / Essay

An essay based on a lecture about social conduct and interpersonal relations.

Social conductEthicsObservation of human behavior

Frauen lesen anders

1996 Essays / Criticism

A collection of writings on how women read differently and the distinctive perspectives they bring.

GenderReading practices

Unterwegs verloren: Erinnerungen

2008 Memoir

A later collection of memories and essays addressing themes of memory, displacement, and loss.

MemoryLossDisplacement

Zerreißproben. Kommentierte Gedichte

2013 Poetry (annotated)

An annotated collection of poems including experimental approaches to form and language.

PoetryLanguage experiment

Gegenwind. Gedichte und Interpretationen

2018 Poetry and interpretations

A volume of poems and their interpretations, marked by a critical perspective.

PoetryCriticismInterpretation

Bibliography

  • Weiter leben: Eine Jugend (1992)
  • Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered (2001)
  • Katastrophen: Über die deutsche Literatur (1993)
  • Von hoher und niederer Literatur (1995)
  • Knigges Umgang mit Menschen (1996)
  • Frauen lesen anders (1996)
  • Unterwegs verloren: Erinnerungen (2008)
  • Zerreißproben. Kommentierte Gedichte (2013)
  • Gegenwind. Gedichte und Interpretationen (2018)
  • Various other essays, criticisms and translations

Translations by Author

  • English translation of Weiter leben by the author: Still Alive (2001)

Translations of Works

  • Weiter leben translated into English as Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered (2001)
  • Also translated into other languages including editions in the UK and France (titles vary by edition)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Frank and critical toneEssayistic and analytical prose
Recurring Motifs
Memory and forgettingSurvival and traumaCritical engagement with historical memory

Legacy

Ruth Klüger was both a Holocaust survivor and an authority on German literature; her memoir Weiter leben is widely read as a study of memory and a critique of memorial culture. She received numerous literary prizes and influenced discourse in both German- and English-speaking contexts.

Academic Societies

  • Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (German Academy for Language and Literature)

In Popular Culture

  • Her memoir is frequently referenced in Holocaust education and memory studies

Quotes

  • My memoir is critical of the museum culture surrounding the Holocaust.
    Source: Still Alive / Weiter leben (2001)

Trivia

  • Deported to Theresienstadt at age 10 and later transferred to Auschwitz and the Christianstadt subcamp of Gross-Rosen.
  • Emigrated to the United States in 1947.
  • Published some works under the name Ruth Angress.
  • Professor Emerita of German Studies at University of California, Irvine.