Michael Maar (born July 17, 1960, in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

) is a German literary scholar,

germanist German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German hi ...

and author. For his 1995 doctoral dissertation on

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...

, titled ''Geister und Kunst'', he was awarded the

Johann Heinrich Merck Johann Heinrich Merck (11 April 1741 – 27 June 1791), German author and critic, was born at Darmstadt, a few days after the death of his father, a chemist. He studied law at Gießen, and in 1767 was given an appointment in the paymaster's depar ...

Prize by the

Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung The Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (in English German Academy for Language and Literature) was founded on 28 August 1949, on the 200th birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in the Paulskirche in Frankfurt. It is seated in Darmstadt, ...

. He was himself elected a member of the academy in 2002. He was a Fellow of the

Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin The Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin (german: Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin) is an interdisciplinary institute founded in 1981 in Grunewald, Berlin, Germany, dedicated to research projects in the natural and social sciences. It is modeled ...

from 1997 to 1998, and Visiting Professor at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 2002. From 2005 to 2006 he was a Fellow of the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Stiftung. In 2008, he became a member of the

Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste in München (Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts) is an association of renowned personalities in Munich, Bavaria. It was founded by the Free State of Bavaria in 1948, continuing a tradition established in 1808 by ...

. His 2005 book ''The Two Lolitas'', as well as two articles in the

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

and

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication i ...

the previous year, argued that

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bo ...

's 1955 novel ''

Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humber ...

'' was most likely based on an until-then little known 1916 short story by German author Heinz von Lichberg, also titled ''Lolita'' and featuring an identical theme. The discovery received strong attention by literary critics and the world press. Maar did not himself accuse Nabokov of

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

, but suggested it was a case of

cryptomnesia Cryptomnesia occurs when a forgotten memory returns without its being recognized as such by the subject, who believes it is something new and original. It is a memory bias whereby a person may falsely recall generating a thought, an idea, a tune, ...

, arguing that Nabokov and Lichberg lived in the same part of Berlin for several years in the 1920s and 1930s and that Lichberg's 1916 book (a collection of short stories) was easily available at the time. His father is the author

Paul Maar Paul Maar (; born 13 December 1937) is one of the most important modern German writers for children and young people. He is a novelist, playwright, translator and illustrator. Life Maar was born in Schweinfurt. After the early death of his mo ...

Selected bibliography

English

*''Bluebeard’s chamber; guilt and confession in Thomas Mann'', translated by David Fernbach, London; New York, Verso, 2003. *''The Two Lolitas'', translated by Perry Anderson, London, Verso, 2005.

German

*''Bild und Text: literarische Texte im Unterricht''. Goethe-Institut, München, Ref. 42, Arbeitsstelle für Wiss. Didaktik. Hrsg. von Michael Maar u.

. Lernhinweise von Jutta Weisz. 1988 *''Geister und Kunst.'' Neuigkeiten aus dem Zauberberg. 1995 *''Die Feuer- und die Wasserprobe.'' Essays zur Literatur. 1997 *''Die falsche Madeleine''. Essays. 1999 *''Marcel Proust. Zwischen Belle Époque und Moderne'' (Herausgeber und Kommentar) 1999 *''Das Blaubart-Zimmer.''

und die Schuld. 2000 (Üb. ins Englische: ''Bluebeard’s Chamber.'' Guilt and Confession in Thomas Mann, London 2003) *''Warum

Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bo ...

Harry Potter gemocht hätte.'' 2002, *''Die Glühbirne der Etrusker.'' Essays und Marginalien. 2003 *''Lolita und der deutsche Leutnant.'' Essay. 2005 *''Leoparden im Tempel.'' Zu Andersen, Borges, Canetti, Chesterton, Kafka, Lampedusa, Mann, Musil, Nabokov, Powell, Proust, Woolf. 2007 *''Solus Rex.'' Die schöne böse Welt des

. 2007 *''Hilfe für die Hufflepuffs''. Kleines Handbuch zu

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

. 2008, *''Proust Pharao''. 2009,

Awards

Johann-Heinrich-Merck-Preis Johann-Heinrich-Merck-Preis is a literary prize of Hesse awarded by the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung since 1964. Since 2013 the prize winner receives €20,000. The award is donated by the Merck Group in memory of the German author ...

(1995) *

Ernst-Robert-Curtius-Preis Ernst-Robert-Curtius-Preis was a German literary prize, named after the literary scholar Ernst Robert Curtius. It was founded in 1984, and recognizes outstanding essay writers. The prize was awarded until 2015 at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms- ...

(1995) * Essay-Stipendium der Stiftung Niedersachsen (1998) * (2000) * Essay-Stipendium Baden-Württemberg (2001) *

Heinrich Mann Prize The Heinrich Mann Prize () is an essay prize that has been awarded since 1953, first by the East German Academy of Arts, then by the Academy of Arts, Berlin. The prize, which comes with a €10,000 purse, is given annually on 27 March, Heinrich Ma ...

(2010)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maar, Michael German literary critics Stanford University faculty 1960 births Living people German male non-fiction writers Heinrich Mann Prize winners