Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Die Physiker [The Physicists]

Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah)

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 1962

Places

Switzerland (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

Friedrich Dürrenmatt completed his “Komödie in zwei Akten” (comedy in two acts) Die Physiker [The Physicists] in 1961. The global annihilation of humanity was an imminent threat: in the wake of the Korean war, the frantic armaments race and increasing belligerence had brought the superpowers to several confrontations (the U-2 incident, the Berlin crisis, the Cuba showdown, the Berlin wall etc.) and to the brink of nuclear Armageddon. In an age obsessed with the invention of ever more devastating weapons of mass destruction, the question of the scientists’ responsibility towards humanity at large was very much in the fore of public discourse, especially since the United States had used atomic bombs in 1945 in Japan w…

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1725 words

Citation: Knapp, Gerhard P.. "Die Physiker". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 August 2004 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=15458, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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