Max Frisch, Homo faber

Judith Ricker-Abderhalden (University of Arkansas)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.2: German-language Writing and Culture: Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, 800-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 1957

Places

Switzerland (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Homo faber. Ein Bericht [Homo Faber: A Report] is the second major novel by Max Frisch, the most celebrated Swiss writer of the twentieth century. Often linked with its predecessor Stiller [I'm not Stiller, 1954], it extends what would become a hallmark of Frisch's literary corpus: the characters' quest for an authentic, individual identity. Unique in Homo faber, however, and what gives this novel its distinctive character, is the extent to which that individual identity is both defined by and threatened by modern technology. Whereas Stiller is Frisch's prototype of the artist, struggling to escape the confines of a pedestrian society, Walter Faber is the quintessential technocrat, an engineer with …

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1625 words

Citation: Ricker-Abderhalden, Judith. "Homo faber". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 February 2005 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13980, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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