Adalbert Stifter, Witiko. Eine Erzählung [Witiko. A Narrative]

Duncan Smith (Brown University)

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 1865 - 1867

Places

Czech Republic (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Since its publication in three volumes between 1865-67, Adalbert Stifter's historical epic Witiko has had a rough reception by critics and readers alike. It was not subjected to the bitter sarcasm of Friedrich Hebbel who had offered the crown of Poland to anyone who could honestly say he had read the entirety of Stifter's Bildungsroman (q.v.), Der Nachsommer [Indian Summer, 1857, q.v.]; yet neither was it received with any acclaim by his readers. The text was largely ignored in its own time, and in the decades after the author's death it was included in the canon of forgotten or ignored works of German language literature. It is above all the style, peculiarly …

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1452 words

Citation: Smith, Duncan. "Witiko. Eine Erzählung". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 September 2006 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=15114, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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