Franz Xaver Kroetz The Construction of a Political Aesthetic [Hardcover]

Franz Xaver Kroetz -- banana-cutter, hospital orderly, fledgling actor and, more significantly, Germany's most popular contemporary dramatist of the seventies and early eighties. This study, which situates Kroetz's aesthetics in a political context, focuses on four plays that mark crisis points in his development of a political aesthetic. The breaks in otherwise very successful aesthetic models occur as Kroetz responds to changing social conditions.All those interested in Kroetz, as well as in broader aesthetic questions, will find that this book makes important breakthroughs.

'Well worth recommending to students of post-1945 drama. At the same time, it is considerably more than just a students' introduction.' MLR

This is a useful study about a controversial playwright... The ... argument is ... solid and convincingly presented. AUMLA

'Mattson's book is a valuable contribution to studies of modern German drama; not only because it provides an extended case-study of one author's work but it also continues and applies highly interesting and productive arguments and ideas on dramatic form.' Theatre Research International

Michelle M. Mattson Assistant Professor of Germanic Studies,Columbia University