Peter Weiss

Peter Weiss (November 8 1916 - May 10 1982) was a German writer, painter and artist. He was born in Neubabelsberg near Berlin and passed away in Stockholm, Sweden.

Related Topics:
November 8 - 1916 - May 10 - 1982 - German - Writer - Painter - Artist - Neubabelsberg - Berlin - Stockholm - Sweden

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Weiss' most well known work is the play Marat/Sade (1963). It studies the power in society through two extreme and extremely different historical persons, Jean-Paul Marat, a brutal hero of the French Revolution, and the Marquis de Sade, for whom sadism was named. The play is considered a classic, and is still performed, although less regularly.

Related Topics:
Marat/Sade - 1963 - Jean-Paul Marat - French Revolution - Marquis de Sade - Sadism

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In Marat/Sade, Weiss uses a technique which, to quote from the play itself, speaking on the play within a play within itself (and no, that is not a confused statement): "Our play's chief aim has been to take to bits great propositions and their opposites, see how they work, and let them fight it out."

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Weiss also wrote prose. His work consists of short and intense novels with Kafkaesque details and feelings, often with autobiographical background.

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• Från ö till ö (1944) (German: Von Insel zu Insel)(From Island to Island)
• De besegrade (1948) (German: Die Besiegten) (The Defeated)
• Der Vogelfreie (1948) (published as Dokument I in Swedish (1949) and in German as Der Fremde (The Foreigner) under the pseudonym Sinclair (1980))
• Duellen (1951) (German: Das Duell)(The Duel)
• Der Schatten des Körpers des Kutschers (1952) (The Shadow of the Coachman's Body)
• Abschied von den Eltern (1960) (Leavetaking)
• Fluchtpunkt (1961) (Vanishing Point)
• Das Gespräch der drei Gehenden (1962) (The Conversation of the Three Walkers)
• Die Ästhetik des Widerstands (I-1975, II-1978, III-1981) (The Aesthetics of Resistance, Vol. I)

Weiss also directed some experimental films.

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