Heinrich Böll, Ansichten eines Clowns [The Clown]

Hannelore G. Mundt (University of Wyoming)

Ed. by Jennifer Marston William, Purdue University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1963

Places

Germany (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

“Essentially, it is the story of Theseus and Ariadne: Theseus in the labyrinth, Ariadne cuts off the thread and there he sits. And the labyrinth […] is the political German Catholicism” [Böll, Victor and Renate Matthaei (eds.), Querschnitte: Aus Interview, Aufsätzen und Reden von Heinrich Böll (Köln: Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 1977), pp. 116-17. My translation]. With these words Böll circumscribes the basic plot of Ansichten eines Clowns [The Clown, 1963], the author's first fictional work to become a bestseller. Böll re-casts this Greek myth to provide the framework for a multidimensional narrative. Ansichten eines Clowns is a love story, …

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2435 words

Citation: Mundt, Hannelore G.. "Ansichten eines Clowns". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 January 2009 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11633, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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