Max Frisch
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Max Rudolf Frisch (; 15 May 1911 – 4 April 1991) was a Swiss playwright and novelist. Frisch's works focused on problems of
identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...
,
individuality An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own need ...
, responsibility, morality, and political commitment. The use of irony is a significant feature of his post-war output. Frisch was one of the founders of
Gruppe Olten The Gruppe Olten (Olten Group) was a club of left-wing Swiss writers who convened at Olten's "Bahnhofbuffet" (Swiss expression for a railway station restaurant) located in the canton of Solothurn in the Swiss plateau. It was founded in the aforeme ...
. He was awarded the 1965 Jerusalem Prize, the 1973 Grand Schiller Prize, and the 1986
Neustadt International Prize for Literature The Neustadt International Prize for Literature is a biennial award for literature sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and its international literary publication, ''World Literature Today''. It is considered one of the more prestigious inte ...
.


Biography


Early years

Frisch was born in 1911 in
Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
, Switzerland, the second son of Franz Bruno Frisch, an architect, and Karolina Bettina Frisch (née Wildermuth). He had a sister, Emma (1899–1972), his father's daughter by a previous marriage, and a brother, Franz, eight years his senior (1903–1978). The family lived modestly, their financial situation deteriorating after the father lost his job during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Frisch had an emotionally distant relationship with his father, but was close to his mother. While at secondary school Frisch started to write drama, but failed to get his work performed and he subsequently destroyed his first literary works. While he was at school he met Werner Coninx (1911–1980), who later became a successful artist and collector. The two men formed a lifelong friendship. In the 1930/31 academic year Frisch enrolled at the
University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...
to study German literature and linguistics. There he met professors who gave him contact with the worlds of publishing and journalism, and was influenced by Robert Faesi (1883–1972) and
Theophil Spoerri Theophil Spoerri (10 June 1890, in La Chaux-de-Fonds – 24 December 1974, in Caux), was a Swiss writer and academic. Family Theophil Spoerri was the son of a Methodist Preacher called Jakob Gottlieb Spoerri and of his wife Maria Eugenie Th ...
(1890–1974), both writers and professors at the university. Frisch had hoped the university would provide him with the practical underpinnings for a career as a writer, but became convinced that university studies would not provide this. In 1932, when financial pressures on the family intensified, Frisch abandoned his studies. In 1936 Max Frisch studied architecture at the ETH Zurich and graduated in 1940. In 1942 he set up his own architecture business.


Journalism

Frisch made his first contribution to the newspaper '' Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' (NZZ) in May 1931, but the death of his father in March 1932 persuaded him to make a full-time career of journalism in order to generate an income to support his mother. He developed a lifelong ambivalent relationship with the NZZ; his later radicalism was in stark contrast to the conservative views of the newspaper. The move to the NZZ is the subject of his April 1932 essay, titled "Was bin ich?" ("What am I?"), his first serious piece of freelance work. Until 1934 Frisch combined journalistic work with coursework at the university. Over 100 of his pieces survive from this period; they are autobiographical, rather than political, dealing with his own self-exploration and personal experiences, such as the break-up of his love affair with the 18-year-old actress Else Schebesta. Few of these early works made it into the published compilations of Frisch's writings that appeared after he had become better known. Frisch seems to have found many of them excessively introspective even at the time, and tried to distract himself by taking labouring jobs involving physical exertion, including a period in 1932 when he worked on road construction.


First novel

Between February and October 1933 he travelled extensively through eastern and southeastern Europe, financing his expeditions with reports written for newspapers and magazines. One of his first contributions was a report on the Prague World Ice Hockey Championship (1933) for the ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung''. Other destinations were
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
,
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
,
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
,
Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...
,
Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
,
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
,
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, Bari, and
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
. Another product of this extensive tour was Frisch's first novel, ''
Jürg Reinhart ''Jürg Reinhart. Eine sommerliche Schicksalsfahrt'' (''"Jürg Reinhart. A fateful summer journey"'') is the first novel of the Swiss writer Max Frisch (1911-1991). It was started during the winter of 1933 and published in Germany by in 1934. Fri ...
'', which appeared in 1934. In it Reinhart represents the author, undertaking a trip through the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
as a way to find purpose in life. In the end the eponymous hero concludes that he can only become fully adult by performing a "manly act". This he achieves by helping the terminally ill daughter of his landlady end her life painlessly.


Käte Rubensohn and Germany

In the summer of 1934 Frisch met Käte Rubensohn, who was three years his junior. The next year the two developed a romantic liaison. Rubensohn, who was
Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
ish, had emigrated from
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
to continue her studies, which had been interrupted by government-led anti-semitism and race-based legislation in Germany. In 1935 Frisch visited
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
for the first time. He kept a diary, later published as ''Kleines Tagebuch einer deutschen Reise'' (''Short Diary of a German Trip''), in which he described and criticised the
anti-semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
he encountered. At the same time, Frisch recorded his admiration for the ''Wunder des Lebens'' (''Wonder of Life'') exhibition staged by
Herbert Bayer Herbert Bayer (April 5, 1900 – September 30, 1985) was an Austrian and American graphic designer, painter, photographer, sculptor, art director, environmental and interior designer, and architect. He was instrumental in the development of the ...
, an admirer of the
Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
government's philosophy and policies. (Bayer was later forced to flee the country after annoying Hitler). Frisch failed to anticipate how Germany's
National Socialism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Naz ...
would evolve, and his early apolitical novels were published by the
Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
(DVA) without encountering any difficulties from the German censors. During the 1940s Frisch developed a more critical political consciousness. His failure to become more critical sooner has been attributed in part to the conservative spirit at the University of Zurich, where several professors were openly sympathetic with Hitler and
Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
. Frisch was never tempted to embrace such sympathies, as he explained much later, because of his relationship with Käte Rubensohn, even though the romance itself ended in 1939 after she refused to marry him.


The architect and his family

Frisch's second novel, '' An Answer from the Silence'' (''Antwort aus der Stille''), appeared in 1937. The book returned to the theme of a "manly act", but now placed it in the context of a middle class lifestyle. The author quickly became critical of the book, burning the original manuscript in 1937 and refusing to let it be included in a compilation of his works published in the 1970s. Frisch had the word "author" deleted from the "profession/occupation" field in his passport. Supported by a stipend from his friend Werner Coninx, he had in 1936 enrolled at the ETH Zurich (''Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule'') to study architecture, his father's profession. His resolve to disown his second published novel was undermined when it won him the 1938 Conrad Ferdinand Meyer Prize, which included an award of 3,000 Swiss francs. At this time Frisch was living on an annual stipend from his friend of 4,000 francs. With the outbreak of
war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
in 1939, he joined the
army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
as a gunner. Although Swiss neutrality meant that army membership was not a full-time occupation, the country mobilised to be ready to resist a German invasion, and by 1945 Frisch had clocked up 650 days of active service. He also returned to writing. 1939 saw the publication of ''From a Soldier's Diary'' (''Aus dem Tagebuch eines Soldaten''), which initially appeared in the monthly journal, ''
Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...
''. In 1940 the same writings were compiled into the book ''Pages from the Bread-bag'' (''Blätter aus dem Brotsack''). The book was broadly uncritical of Swiss military life, and of Switzerland's position in war-time Europe, attitudes that Frisch revisited and revised in his 1974 '' Little Service Book'' (''Dienstbuechlein''); by 1974 he felt strongly that his country had been too ready to accommodate the interests of Nazi Germany during the war years. At the ETH, Frisch studied architecture with William Dunkel, whose pupils also included
Justus Dahinden Justus Dahinden (18 May 1925 - 11 April 2020) was a Swiss architect, teacher and writer about architecture. Life Dahinden was born in Zürich. From 1945 to 1949, he studied architecture at ETH Zürich (ETHZ), graduating in 1956 with his Ph ...
and Alberto Camenzind, later stars of Swiss architecture. After receiving his diploma in the summer of 1940, Frisch accepted an offer of a permanent position in Dunkel's architecture studio, and for the first time in his life was able to afford a home of his own. While working for Dunkel he met another architect, Gertrud Frisch-von Meyenburg, and on 30 July 1942 the two were married. The marriage produced three children: Ursula (1943), Hans Peter (1944), and Charlotte (1949). Much later, in a book of her own, ''Sturz durch alle Spiegel'', which appeared in 2009, his daughter Ursula reflected on her difficult relationship with her father. In 1943 Frisch was selected from among 65 applicants to design the new Letzigraben (subsequently renamed ''Max-Frisch-Bad'') swimming pool in the
Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
district of Albisrieden. Because of this substantial commission he was able to open his own architecture studio, with a couple of employees. Wartime materials shortages meant that construction had to be deferred until 1947, but the public swimming pool was opened in 1949. It is now protected under historic monument legislation. In 2006/2007 it underwent an extensive renovation which returned it to its original condition. Overall Frisch designed more than a dozen buildings, although only two were actually built. One was a house for his brother Franz and the other was a country house for the shampoo magnate, K.F. Ferster. Ferster's house triggered a major court action when it was alleged that Frisch had altered the dimensions of the main staircase without reference to his client. Frisch later retaliated by using Ferster as the model for the protagonist in his play '' The Fire Raisers'' (''Biedermann und die Brandstifter''). When Frisch was managing his own architecture studio, he was generally found in his office only during the mornings. Much of his time and energy was devoted to writing.


Theatre

Frisch was already a regular visitor at the Zürich Playhouse (''Schauspielhaus'') while still a student. Drama in Zürich was experiencing a golden age at this time, thanks to the flood of theatrical talent in exile from Germany and Austria. From 1944 the Playhouse director Kurt Hirschfeld encouraged Frisch to work for the theatre, and backed him when he did so. In '' Santa Cruz'', his first play, written in 1944 and first performed in 1946, Frisch, who had himself been married since 1942, addressed the question of how the dreams and yearnings of the individual could be reconciled with married life. In his 1944 novel '' J'adore ce qui me brûle'' (''I adore that which burns me'') he had already placed emphasis on the incompatibility between the artistic life and respectable middle class existence. The novel reintroduces as its protagonist the artist Jürg Reinhart, familiar to readers of Frisch's first novel, and in many respects a representation of the author himself. It deals with a love affair that ends badly. This same tension is at the centre of a subsequent narrative by Frisch published, initially, by
Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...
in 1945 and titled '' Bin oder Die Reise nach Peking'' (''Bin or the Journey to Beijing''). Both of his next two works for the theatre reflect the
war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
. '' Now they sing again'' (''Nun singen sie wieder''), though written in 1945, was actually performed ahead of his first play ''Santa Cruz''. It addresses the question of the personal guilt of soldiers who obey inhuman orders, and treats the matter in terms of the subjective perspectives of those involved. The piece, which avoids simplistic judgements, played to audiences not just in
Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
but also in German theatres during the 1946/47 season. The NZZ, then as now his native city's powerfully influential newspaper, pilloried the piece on its front page, claiming that it "embroidered" the horrors of
National Socialism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Naz ...
, and they refused to print Frisch's rebuttal. ''The Chinese Wall'' (''Die Chinesische Mauer'') which appeared in 1946, explores the possibility that humanity might itself be eradicated by the (then recently invented) atomic bomb. The piece unleashed public discussion of the issues involved, and can today be compared with
Friedrich Dürrenmatt Friedrich Dürrenmatt (; 5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-g ...
's ''
The Physicists ''The Physicists'' (german: Die Physiker) is a satiric drama/ tragic comedy written in 1961 by Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt. The play was mainly written as a result of the Second World War and many advances in science and nuclear technolo ...
'' (1962) and Heinar Kipphardt's '' On the J Robert Oppenheimer Affair'' (''In der Sache J. Robert Oppenheimer''), though these pieces are all now for the most part forgotten. Working with the theatre director Hirschfeld enabled Frisch to meet some leading fellow playwrights who would influence his later work. He met the exiled German writer,
Carl Zuckmayer Carl Zuckmayer (27 December 1896 – 18 January 1977) was a German writer and playwright. His older brother was the pedagogue, composer, conductor, and pianist Eduard Zuckmayer. Life and career Born in Nackenheim in Rhenish Hesse, he was ...
, in 1946, and the young
Friedrich Dürrenmatt Friedrich Dürrenmatt (; 5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-g ...
in 1947. Despite artistic differences on self-awareness issues, Dürrenmatt and Frisch became lifelong friends. 1947 was also the year in which Frisch met Bertolt Brecht, already established as a doyen of German theatre and of the political left. An admirer of Brecht's work, Frisch now embarked on regular exchanges with the older dramatist on matters of shared artistic interest. Brecht encouraged Frisch to write more plays, while placing emphasis on social responsibility in artistic work. Although Brecht's influence is evident in some of Frisch's theoretical views and can be seen in one or two of his more practical works, the Swiss writer could never have been numbered among Brecht's followers. He kept his independent position, by now increasingly marked by scepticism in respect of the polarized political grandstanding which in Europe was a feature of the early
cold war The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
years. This is particularly apparent in his 1948 play '' As the war ended'' (''Als der Krieg zu Ende war''), based on eye-witness accounts of the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...
as an occupying force.


Travels in post-war Europe

In April 1946 Frisch and Hirschfeld visited post-war Germany together. In August 1948 Frisch visited Breslau/Wrocław to attend an
International Peace Congress International Peace Congress, or International Congress of the Friends of Peace, was the name of a series of international meetings of representatives from peace societies from throughout the world held in various places in Europe from 1843 to 185 ...
organized by
Jerzy Borejsza Jerzy Borejsza (; born Beniamin Goldberg; 14 July 1905 in Warsaw – 19 January 1952 in Warsaw) was a Polish communist activist and writer. During the Stalinist period of communist Poland, he was chief of a state press and publishing syndicate ...
. Breslau itself, which had been more than 90% German speaking as recently as 1945, was an instructive microcosm of the post-war settlement in central Europe. Poland's
western frontier The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...
had moved, and the ethnically German majority in Breslau had escaped or been expelled from the city which now adopted its Polish name as Wrocław. The absented ethnic Germans were being replaced by relocated Polish speakers whose own formerly Polish homes were now included within the newly enlarged
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. A large number of European intellectuals were invited to the
Peace Congress A peace congress, in international relations, has at times been defined in a way that would distinguish it from a peace conference (usually defined as a diplomatic meeting to decide on a peace treaty), as an ambitious forum to carry out dispute ...
which was presented as part of a wider political reconciliation exercise between east and west. Frisch was not alone in quickly deciding that the congress hosts were simply using the event as an elaborate propaganda exercise, and there was hardly any opportunity for the "international participants" to discuss anything. Frisch left before the event ended and headed for
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, notebook in hand, to collect and record his own impressions of what was happening. Nevertheless, when he returned home the resolutely conservative NZZ concluded that by visiting Poland Frisch had simply confirmed his status as a
Communist sympathizer The term ''fellow traveller'' (also ''fellow traveler'') identifies a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization's politics, without being a formal member of that o ...
, and not for the first time refused to print his rebuttal of their simplistic conclusions. Frisch now served notice on his old newspaper that their collaboration was at an end.


Success as a novelist

By 1947 Frisch had accumulated roughly 130 filled notebooks, and these were published in a compilation titled ''Tagebuch mit Marion'' (''Diary with Marion''). In reality what appeared was not so much a diary as cross between a series of essays and literary autobiography. He was encouraged by the publisher
Peter Suhrkamp Peter Suhrkamp (full name ''Johann Heinrich Suhrkamp''; 28 March 1891, Hatten – 31 March 1959, Frankfurt) was a German publisher and founder of the Suhrkamp Verlag. Early years Suhrkamp was a farmer’s son from Kirchhatten, some south-east o ...
to develop the format, and Suhrkamp provided his own feedback and specific suggestions for improvements. In 1950 Suhrkamp's own newly established publishing house produced a second volume of Frisch's ''Tagebuch'' covering the period 1946–1949, comprising a mosaic of travelogues, autobiographical musings, essays on political and literary theory and literary sketches, adumbrating many of the themes and sub-currents of his later fictional works. Critical reaction to the new impetus that Frisch's ''Tagebücher'' was giving to the genre of the "literary diary" was positive: there was a mention of Frisch having found a new way to connect with wider trends in European literature ("Anschluss ans europäische Niveau"). Sales of these works would nevertheless remain modest until the appearance of a new volume in 1958, by which time Frisch had become better known among the general book-buying public on account of his novels. The ''Tagebuch 1946–1949'' was followed, in 1951, by '' Count Öderland'' (''Count Öderland''), a play that picked up on a narrative that had already been sketched out in the "diaries". The story concerns a state prosecutor named Martin who grows bored with his middle-class existence, and drawing inspiration from the legend of Count Öderland, sets out in search of total freedom, using an axe to kill anyone who stands in his way. He ends up as the leader of a revolutionary freedom movement, and finds that the power and responsibility that his new position imposes on him leaves him with no more freedom than he had before. This play flopped, both with the critics and with audiences, and was widely misinterpreted as the criticism of an ideology or as being essentially nihilistic, and strongly critical of the direction that Switzerland's political consensus was by now following. Frisch nevertheless regarded ''Count Öderland'' as one of his most significant creations: he managed to get it returned to the stage in 1956 and again in 1961, but it failed, on both occasions, to win many new friends. In 1951, Frisch was awarded a travel grant by the Rockefeller Foundation and between April 1951 and May 1952 he visited the United States and Mexico. During this time, under the working title "What do you do with love?" (''"Was macht ihr mit der Liebe?"'') on what later became his novel, ''
I'm Not Stiller ''I'm Not Stiller'' (German title: ''Stiller'') is a novel by Swiss author Max Frisch, which was published in 1954. The theme of the novel, the question of identity, is a recurring theme in the work of Frisch. The narrator, travelling on an Ame ...
'' (''Stiller''). Similar themes also underpinned the play '' Don Juan or the Love of Geometry'' (''Don Juan oder Die Liebe zur Geometrie'') which in May 1953 would open simultaneously at theatres in Zürich and Berlin. In this play Frisch returned to his theme of the conflict between conjugal obligations and intellectual interests. The leading character is a
parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...
Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary, fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. Famous versions of the story include a 17th-century play, ''El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra'' ...
, whose priorities involve studying
geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...
and playing
chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
, while women are let into his life only periodically. After his unfeeling conduct has led to numerous deaths the anti-hero finds himself falling in love with a former prostitute. The play proved popular and has been performed more than a thousand times, making it Frisch's third most popular drama after ''The Fire Raisers'' (1953) and ''
Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...
'' (1961). The novel ''I'm Not Stiller'' appeared in 1954. The protagonist, Anatol Ludwig Stiller starts out by pretending to be someone else, but in the course of a court hearing he is forced to acknowledge his original identity as a Swiss sculptor. For the rest of his life he returns to live with the wife whom, in his earlier life, he had abandoned. The novel combines elements of crime fiction with an authentic and direct diary-like narrative style. It was a commercial success, and won for Frisch widespread recognition as a novelist. Critics praised its carefully crafted structure and perspectives, as well as the way it managed to combine philosophical insight with autobiographical elements. The theme of the incompatibility between art and family responsibilities is again on display. Following the appearance of this book Frisch, whose own family life had been marked by a succession of extra-marital affairs, left his family, moving to
Männedorf Männedorf (High Alemannic: ''Mänidoorf'') is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. History Like in all other villages along the lake of Zürich, archeological findings indicate settlements in the ...
, where he had his own small apartment in a farmhouse. By this time writing had become his principal source of income, and in January 1955 he closed his architectural practice, becoming officially a full-time freelance writer. At the end of 1955 Frisch started work on his novel, ''
Homo Faber ''Homo faber'' () is the concept that human beings are able to control their fate and their environment as a result of the use of tools. Original phrase In Latin literature, Appius Claudius Caecus uses this term in his ''Sententiæ'', refer ...
'' which would be published in 1957. It concerns an engineer who views life through a "technical" ultra-rational prism. ''Homo Faber'' was chosen as a study text for the schools and became the most read of Frisch's books. The book involves a journey which mirrors a trip that Frisch himself undertook to Italy in 1956, and subsequently to America (his second visit, this time also taking in Mexico and
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
). The following year Frisch visited Greece which is where the latter part of ''Homo Faber'' unfolds.


As a dramatist

The success of ''The Fire Raisers'' established Frisch as a world-class dramatist. It deals with a lower-middle-class man who is in the habit of giving shelter to vagrants who, despite clear warning signs to which he fails to react, burn down his house. Early sketches for the piece had been produced, in the wake of the communist take-over in Czechoslovakia, back in 1948, and had been published in his ''Tagebuch 1946–1949''. A radio play based on the text had been transmitted in 1953 on Bavarian Radio (BR). Frisch's intention with the play was to shake the self-confidence of the audience that, faced with equivalent dangers, they would necessarily react with the necessary prudence. Swiss audiences simply understood the play as a warning against
Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
, and the author felt correspondingly misunderstood. For the subsequent premier in
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
he added a little sequel which was intended as a warning against
Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...
, though this was later removed. A sketch for Frisch's next play, ''Andorra'' had also already appeared in the ''Tagebuch 1946–1949''. ''Andorra'' deals with the power of preconceptions concerning fellow human beings. The principal character, Andri, is a youth who is assumed to be, like his father,
Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
ish. The boy therefore has to deal with anti-semitic prejudice, and while growing up he has acquired traits which those around him regard as "typically Jewish". There is also exploration of various associated individual hypocrisies that arise in the small fictional town where the action takes place. It later transpires that Andri is his father's adopted son and therefore not himself Jewish, although the townsfolk are too focused on their preconceptions to accept this. The themes of the play seem to have been particularly close to the author's heart: in the space of three years Frisch had written no fewer than five versions before, towards the end of 1961, it received its first performance. The play was a success both with the critics and commercially. It nevertheless attracted controversy, especially after it opened in the United States, from those who thought that it treated with unnecessary frivolity issues which were still extremely painful so soon after the
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
had been publicised in the west. Another criticism was that by presenting its theme as one of generalised human failings, the play somehow diminished the level of specifically German guilt for recent real-life atrocities. During July 1958 Frisch got to know the
Carinthian Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carint ...
writer
Ingeborg Bachmann Ingeborg Bachmann (25 June 1926 – 17 October 1973) was an Austrian poet and author. Biography Bachmann was born in Klagenfurt, in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the daughter of Olga (née Haas) and Matthias Bachmann, a schoolteacher. Her f ...
, and the two became lovers. He had left his wife and children in 1954 and now, in 1959, he was divorced. Although Bachmann rejected the idea of a formal marriage, Frisch nevertheless followed her to Rome where by now she lived, and the city became the centre of both their lives until (in Frisch's case) 1965. The relationship between Frisch and Bachmann was intense. Frisch remained true to his habit of sexual infidelity, but reacted with intense jealousy when his partner demanded the right to behave in much the same way. His 1964 novel ''
Gantenbein ''Mein Name sei Gantenbein'' (roughly " etmy name be Gantenbein") is a 1964 novel by the Swiss writer Max Frisch. It was translated into English in 1965 by Michael Bullock as ''A Wilderness of Mirrors''; this translation was later reprinted under ...
/ A Wilderness of Mirrors'' (''Mein Name sei Gantenbein'') – and indeed Bachmann's later novel, '' Malina'' – both reflect the writers' reactions to this relationship which broke down during the bitterly cold winter of 1962/63 when the lovers were staying in
Uetikon Uetikon am See is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. History Uetikon am See is first mentioned in 1150 as ''Uotinchova''. Until 1924 it was known as ''Uetikon''. Geography Uetikon am See has an ar ...
. ''Gantenbein'' works through the ending of a marriage with a complicated succession of "what if?" scenarios: the identities and biographical background of the parties get switched along with details of their shared married life. This theme is echoed in ''Malina'', where Bachmann's narrator confesses that she is "double" to her lover (she is herself, but she is also her husband, Malina), leading to an ambiguous "murder" when the husband and wife part. Frisch tests alternative narratives "like clothes", and comes to the conclusion that none of the tested scenarios leads to an entirely "fair" outcome. Frisch himself wrote of ''Gantenbein'' that his purpose was "to show the reality of an individual by having him appear as a blank patch outlined by the sum of fictional entities congruent with his personality. ... The story is not told as if an individual could be identified by his factual behaviour; let him betray himself in his fictions." His next play '' Biography: A game'' (''Biografie: Ein Spiel''), followed on naturally. Frisch was disappointed that his commercially very successful plays ''Biedermann und die Brandstifter'' and ''Andorra'' had both been, in his view, widely misunderstood. His answer was to move away from the play as a form of parable, in favour of a new form of expression which he termed " Dramaturgy of Permutation" (''"Dramaturgie der Permutation"''), a form which he had introduced with ''Gantenbein'' and which he now progressed with ''Biographie'', written in its original version in 1967. At the centre of the play is a
behavioural scientist Behavioral sciences explore the cognitive processes within organisms and the behavioral interactions between organisms in the natural world. It involves the systematic analysis and investigation of human and animal behavior through naturalistic o ...
who is given the chance to live his life again, and finds himself unable to take any key decisions differently the second time round. The Swiss premier of the play was to have been directed by
Rudolf Noelte Rudolf Noelte (21 March 1921 – 8 November 2002) was a German film director, theater director and opera director. Filmography Film * '' The Castle'' (1968, based on '' The Castle'') Television * ''Pygmalion'' (1957, based on ''Pygmalion'') * ...
, but Frisch and Noelte fell out in the Autumn of 1967, a week before the scheduled first performance, which led to the Zürich opening being postponed for several months. In the end the play opened in the Zürich Playhouse in February 1968, the performances being directed by
Leopold Lindtberg Leopold Lindtberg (born in Vienna on 1 June 1902; died in Sils im Engadin/Segl on 18 April 1984) was an Austrian Swiss film and theatre director. He fled Austria due to the Machtergreifung in Germany and ultimately settled in Switzerland. His ...
. Lindtberg was a long established and well regarded theatre director, but his production of '' Biografie: Ein Spiel'' neither impressed the critics nor delighted theatre audiences. Frisch ended up deciding that he had been expecting more from the audience than he should have expected them to bring to the theatrical experience. After this latest disappointment it would be another eleven years before Frisch returned to theatrical writing.


Second marriage to Marianne Oellers and a growing propensity to avoid Switzerland

In summer 1962 Frisch met Marianne Oellers, a student of Germanistic and
Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...
studies. He was 51 and she was 28 years younger. In 1964 they moved into an apartment together in Rome, and in autumn 1965 they relocated to Switzerland, setting up home together in an extensively modernised cottage in
Berzona Berzona is a village and former municipality in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. In 2001 the municipality was merged with the other, neighboring municipalities Auressio and Loco to form a new and larger municipality Isorno Isorno is a form ...
,
Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
. During the next decade much of their time was spent living in rented apartments abroad, and Frisch could be scathing about his Swiss homeland, but they retained their Berzona property and frequently returned to it, the author driving his Jaguar from the airport: as he himself was quoted at the time on his Ticino retreat, "Seven times a year we drive this stretch of road ... This is fantastic countryside." As a "social experiment" they also, in 1966, temporarily occupied a second home in an apartment block in
Aussersihl Aussersihl is a district in the Swiss city of Zürich. Known officially as District number 4, the district is known as colloquially ''Chreis Cheib'', ''cheib'' being the Zürich German word for an animal cadaver. It earned the name as the area h ...
, a residential quarter of down-town
Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
known, then as now, for its high levels of recorded crime and delinquency, but they quickly swapped this for an apartment in
Küsnacht Küsnacht is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland. History Küsnacht is first mentioned in 1188 as ''de Cussenacho''. Earliest findings of settlement date back to the stone age. There are also finding ...
, close to the
lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
shore. Frisch and Oellers were married at the end of 1968. Marianne Oellers accompanied her future husband on numerous foreign trips. In 1963 they visited the United States for the American premieres of ''The Fire Raisers'' and ''Andorra'', and in 1965 they visited
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
where Frisch was presented with the Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society. In order to try to form an independent assessment of "life behind the Iron Curtain" they then, in 1966, toured the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. They returned two years later to attend a Writers' Congress at which they met
Christa Christa may refer to: * Christa (given name), a female given name * Janusz Christa (1934-2008), Polish comics author * ''Swedish Fly Girls'', a 1971 film also known as ''Christa'' * 1015 Christa, an asteroid See also

* Christ (disambiguation) ...
and
Gerhard Wolf Gerhard Wolf (12 August 1896 – 23 March 1971) was a German diplomat who served as consul in Florence during World War II. Wolf was born in Dresden, the seventh and youngest child of an attorney of family law. After serving in the military, he st ...
, leading authors in what was then
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
, with whom they established lasting friendships. After they married, Frisch and his young wife continued to travel extensively, visiting Japan in 1969 and undertaking extended stays in the United States. Many impressions of these visits are published in Frisch's ''Tagebuch'' covering the period 1966–1971. In 1972, after returning from the US, the couple took a second apartment in the
Friedenau Friedenau () is a locality (''Ortsteil'') within the borough (''Bezirk'') of Tempelhof-Schöneberg in Berlin, Germany. Relatively small by area, its population density is the highest in the city. Geography Friedenau is part of the southwestern s ...
quarter of
West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
, and this soon became the place where they spent most of their time. During the period 1973–79 Frisch was able to participate increasingly in the intellectual life of the place. Living away from his homeland intensified his negative attitude to Switzerland, which had already been apparent in ''William Tell for Schools'' (''Wilhelm Tell für die Schule'') (1970) and which reappears in his '' Little service book'' (''Dienstbüchlein'') (1974), in which he reflects on his time in the Swiss army some 30 years earlier. More negativity about Switzerland was on show in January 1974 when he delivered a speech titled "Switzerland as a homeland?" ("Die Schweiz als Heimat?"), when accepting the 1973 Grand Schiller Prize from the
Swiss Schiller Foundation Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places *Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss International A ...
. Although he nurtured no political ambitions on his own account, Frisch became increasingly attracted to the ideas of social democratic politics. He also became friendly with
Helmut Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Before becoming Ch ...
who had recently succeeded the Berlin–born
Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...
as Chancellor of Germany and was already becoming something of a respected elder statesman for the country's moderate left (and, as a former Defence Minister, a target of opprobrium for some on the
SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...
's ''im''moderate left). In October 1975, slightly improbably, the Swiss dramatist Frisch accompanied Chancellor Schmidt on what for them both was their first visit to China, as part of an official West German delegation. Two years later, in 1977, Frisch found himself accepting an invitation to give a speech at an
SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...
Party Conference. In April 1974, while on a book tour in the US, Frisch launched into an affair with an American called Alice Locke-Carey who was 32 years his junior. This happened in the village of Montauk on Long Island, and Montauk was the title the author gave to an autobiographical novel that appeared in 1975. The book centred on his love life, including both his own marriage with Marianne Oellers-Frisch and an affair that she had been having with the American writer
Donald Barthelme Donald Barthelme (April 7, 1931 – July 23, 1989) was an American short story writer and novelist known for his playful, postmodernist style of short fiction. Barthelme also worked as a newspaper reporter for the ''Houston Post'', was managing ...
. There followed a very public dispute between Frisch and his wife over where to draw the line between private and public life, and the two became increasingly estranged, divorcing in 1979.


Later works, old age and death

In 1978, Frisch survived serious health problems, and the next year was actively involved in setting up the Max Frisch Foundation (''Max-Frisch-Stiftung''), established in October 1979, and to which he entrusted the administration of his estate. The foundation's archive is kept at the ETH Zurich, and has been publicly accessible since 1983. Old age and the transience of life now came increasingly to the fore in Frisch's work. In 1976 he began work on the play '' Triptychon'', although it was not ready to be performed for another three years. The word
triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided ...
is more usually applied to paintings, and the play is set in three triptych-like sections in which many of the key characters are notionally dead. The piece was first unveiled as a radio play in April 1979, receiving its stage premier in
Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...
six months later. The play was rejected for performance in
Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
where it was deemed too apolitical. The Austrian premier in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
at the Burgtheater was seen by Frisch as a success, although the audience reaction to the complexity of the work's unconventional structure was still a little cautious. In 1980, Frisch resumed contact with Alice Locke-Carey and the two of them lived together, alternately in New York City and in Frisch's cottage in
Berzona Berzona is a village and former municipality in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. In 2001 the municipality was merged with the other, neighboring municipalities Auressio and Loco to form a new and larger municipality Isorno Isorno is a form ...
, till 1984. By now Frisch had become a respected and from time to time honoured writer in the United States. He received an honorary doctorate from
Bard College Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark. Founded in 1860, ...
in 1980 and another from New York's City University in 1982. An English translation of the novella ''
Man in the Holocene ''Man in the Holocene'' (1979) is a novella by Swiss author Max Frisch, originally published in German in 1979, and in English in ''The New Yorker'' on May 19, 1980 (trans. Geoffrey Skelton). A distinctive feature of this book's style is the use of ...
'' (''Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän'') was published by
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
in May 1980, and was picked out by critics in
The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
as the most important and most interesting published Narrative work of 1980. The story concerns a retired industrialist suffering from the decline in his mental faculties and the loss of the camaraderie which he used to enjoy with colleagues. Frisch was able, from his own experience of approaching old age, to bring a compelling authenticity to the piece, although he rejected attempts to play up its autobiographical aspects. After ''Man in the Holocene'' appeared in 1979 (in the German language edition) the author developed writer's block, which ended only with the appearance, in the Autumn/Fall of 1981 of his final substantial literary piece, the prose text/novella ''
Bluebeard "Bluebeard" (french: Barbe bleue, ) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in '' Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. The tale tells the s ...
'' (''Blaubart''). In 1984 Frisch returned to Zürich, where he would live for the rest of his life. In 1983 he began a relationship with his final life partner, Karen Pilliod. She was 25 years younger than he was. In 1987 they visited Moscow and together took part in the "Forum for a world liberated from atomic weapons". After Frisch's death Pilliod let it be known that between 1952 and 1958 Frisch had also had an affair with her mother, Madeleine Seigner-Besson. In March 1989 he was diagnosed with incurable colorectal cancer. In the same year, in the context of the Swiss
Secret files scandal The ''Fichenaffäre'' or Secret files scandal shook public opinion in Switzerland in 1989. That year, it was revealed that the Swiss federal authorities, as well as the cantonal police forces, had put in place a system of mass surveillance of t ...
, it was discovered that the national security services had been illegally spying on Frisch (as on many other Swiss citizens) ever since he had attended the
International Peace Congress International Peace Congress, or International Congress of the Friends of Peace, was the name of a series of international meetings of representatives from peace societies from throughout the world held in various places in Europe from 1843 to 185 ...
at Wrocław/Breslau in 1948. Frisch now arranged his funeral, but he also took time to engage in discussion about the abolition of the
army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, and published a piece in the form of a dialogue on the subject titled '' Switzerland without an Army? A Palaver'' (''Schweiz ohne Armee? Ein Palaver'') There was also a stage version titled ''Jonas and his veteran'' (''Jonas und sein Veteran''). Frisch died on 4 April 1991 while in the middle of preparing for his 80th birthday. The funeral, which Frisch had planned with some care, took place on 9 April 1991 at St Peter's Church in
Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
. His friends
Peter Bichsel Peter Bichsel (born 24 March 1935) is a popular Swiss writer and journalist representing modern German literature. He was a member of the Gruppe Olten. Bichsel was born 1935 in Lucerne, Switzerland, the son of manual labourers. Shortly after ...
and Michel Seigner spoke at the ceremony. Karin Pilliod also read a short address, but there was no speech from any church minister. Frisch was an agnostic who found religious beliefs superfluous. His ashes were later scattered on a fire by his friends at a memorial celebration back in
Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
at a celebration of his friends. A tablet on the wall of the cemetery at
Berzona Berzona is a village and former municipality in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. In 2001 the municipality was merged with the other, neighboring municipalities Auressio and Loco to form a new and larger municipality Isorno Isorno is a form ...
commemorates him.


Literary output


Genres


The diary as a literary form

The diary became a very characteristic prose form for Frisch. In this context, ''diary'' does not indicate a private record, made public to provide readers with voyeuristic gratification, nor an intimate journal of the kind associated with
Henri-Frédéric Amiel Henri Frédéric Amiel (; 27 September 1821 – 11 May 1881) was a Swiss moral philosopher, poet, and critic. Biography Born in Geneva in 1821, Amiel was descended from a Huguenot family that moved to Switzerland following the revocation of the ...
. The diaries published by Frisch were closer to the literary "structured consciousness" narratives associated with Joyce and Döblin, providing an acceptable alternative but effective method for Frisch to communicate real-world truths. After he had intended to abandon writing, pressured by what he saw as an existential threat from his having entered military service, Frisch started to write a diary which would be published in 1940 with the title "Pages from the Bread-bag" (''"Blätter aus dem Brotsack"''). Unlike his earlier works, output in diary form could more directly reflect the author's own positions. In this respect the work influenced Frisch's own future prose works. He published two further literary diaries covering the periods 1946–1949 and 1966–1971. The typescript for a further diary, started in 1982, was discovered only in 2009 among the papers of Frisch's secretary. Before that it had been generally assumed that Frisch had destroyed this work because he felt that the decline of his creativity and short-term memory meant that he could no longer do justice to the diary genre. The newly discovered typescript was published in March 2010 by Suhrkamp Verlag. Because of its rather fragmentary nature Frisch's ''Diary 3'' (''Tagebuch 3'') was described by the publisher as a draft work by Frisch: it was edited and provided with an extensive commentary by Peter von Matt, chairman of the Max Frisch Foundation. Many of Frisch's most important plays, such as '' Count Öderland'' (''Count Öderland'') (1951), '' Don Juan or the Love of Geometry'' (''Don Juan oder Die Liebe zur Geometrie'') (1953), ''The Fire Raisers'' (1953) and ''Andorra'' (1961), were initially sketched out in the ''Diary 1946–1949'' (''Tagebuch 1946–1949'') some years before they appeared as stage plays. At the same time several of his novels such as ''I'm Not Stiller'' (1954), ''
Homo Faber ''Homo faber'' () is the concept that human beings are able to control their fate and their environment as a result of the use of tools. Original phrase In Latin literature, Appius Claudius Caecus uses this term in his ''Sententiæ'', refer ...
'' (1957) as well as the narrative work '' Montauk'' (1975) take the form of diaries created by their respective protagonists. Sybille Heidenreich points out that even the more open narrative form employed in ''
Gantenbein ''Mein Name sei Gantenbein'' (roughly " etmy name be Gantenbein") is a 1964 novel by the Swiss writer Max Frisch. It was translated into English in 1965 by Michael Bullock as ''A Wilderness of Mirrors''; this translation was later reprinted under ...
/ A Wilderness of Mirrors'' (1964) closely follows the diary format.Sybille Heidenreich: ''Max Frisch. Mein Name sei Gantenbein. Montauk. Stiller. Untersuchungen und Anmerkungen.'' Joachim Beyer Verlag, 2. Auflage 1978. . p. 126. Rolf Keiser points out that when Frisch was involved in the publication of his collected works in 1976, the author was keen to ensure that they were sequenced chronologically and not grouped according to genre: in this way the sequencing of the collected works faithfully reflects the chronological nature of a diary.Rolf Kieser: ''Das Tagebuch als Idee und Struktur im Werke Max Frischs.'' In: Walter Schmitz (Hrsg.): ''Max Frisch. Materialien.'' Suhrkamp, 1987. . p. 18. Frisch himself took the view that the diary offered the prose format that corresponded with his natural approach to prose writing, something that he could "no more change than the shape of his nose". Attempts were nevertheless made by others to justify Frisch's choice of prose format. Frisch's friend and fellow-writer,
Friedrich Dürrenmatt Friedrich Dürrenmatt (; 5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-g ...
, explained that in ''I'm Not Stiller'' the "diary-narrative" approach enabled the author to participate as a character in his own novel without embarrassment. (The play focuses on the question of identity, which is a recurring theme in the work of Frisch.) More specifically, in the character of James Larkin White, the American who in reality is indistinguishable from Stiller himself, but who nevertheless vigorously denies being the same man, embodies the author, who in his work cannot fail to identify the character as himself, but is nevertheless required by the literary requirements of the narrative to conceal the fact. Rolf Keiser points out that the diary format enables Frisch most forcefully to demonstrate his familiar theme that thoughts are always based on one specific standpoint and its context; and that it can never be possible to present a comprehensive view of the world, nor even to define a single life, using language alone.


Narrative form

Frisch's first public success was as a writer for theatre, and later in his life he himself often stressed that he was in the first place a creature of the theatre. Nevertheless, the diaries, and even more than these, the novels and the longer narrative works are among his most important literary creations. In his final decades Frisch tended to move away from drama and concentrate on prose narratives. He himself is on record with the opinion that the subjective requirements of story telling suited him better than the greater level of objectivity required by theatre work. In terms of the timeline, Frisch's prose works divide roughly into three periods. His first literary works, up till 1943, all employed prose formats. There were numerous short sketches and essays along with three novels or longer narratives, ''
Jürg Reinhart ''Jürg Reinhart. Eine sommerliche Schicksalsfahrt'' (''"Jürg Reinhart. A fateful summer journey"'') is the first novel of the Swiss writer Max Frisch (1911-1991). It was started during the winter of 1933 and published in Germany by in 1934. Fri ...
'' (1934), its belated sequel '' J'adore ce qui me brûle'' (''I adore that which burns me'') (1944) and the narrative '' An Answer from the Silence'' (''Antwort aus der Stille'') (1937). All three of the substantive works are autobiographical and all three centre round the dilemma of a young author torn between bourgeois respectability and "artistic" life style, exhibiting on behalf of the protagonists differing outcomes to what Frisch saw as his own dilemma. The high period of Frisch's career as an author of prose works is represented by the three novels ''I'm Not Stiller'' (1954), ''Homo Faber'' (1957) and ''Gantenbein'' / ''A Wilderness of Mirrors'' (1964), of which ''Stiller'' is generally regarded as his most important and most complex book, according to the US based
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
scholar Alexander Stephan, in terms both of its structure and its content.Alexander Stephan: Max Frisch. C. H. Beck, München 1983, What all three of these novels share is their focus on the identity of the individual and on the relationship between the sexes. In this respect ''Homo Faber'' and ''Stiller'' offer complementary situations. If Stiller had rejected the stipulations set out by others, he would have arrived at the position of Walter Faber, the ultra-rationalist protagonist of ''Homo Faber''.Klaus Müller-Salget: Max Frisch. Literaturwissen. Reclam, Stuttgart 1996, ''
Gantenbein ''Mein Name sei Gantenbein'' (roughly " etmy name be Gantenbein") is a 1964 novel by the Swiss writer Max Frisch. It was translated into English in 1965 by Michael Bullock as ''A Wilderness of Mirrors''; this translation was later reprinted under ...
/ A Wilderness of Mirrors'' (''Mein Name sei Gantenbein'') offers a third variation on the same theme, apparent already in its (German language) title. Instead of boldly asserting "I am not (Stiller)" the full title of ''Gantenbein'' uses the German "Konjunktiv II" (subjunctive mood) to give a title along the lines "My name represents (Gantenbein)". The protagonist's aspiration has moved on from the search for a fixed identity to a less binary approach, trying to find a midpoint identity, testing out biographical and historic scenarios. Again, the three later prose works ''Montauk'' (1975), ''
Man in the Holocene ''Man in the Holocene'' (1979) is a novella by Swiss author Max Frisch, originally published in German in 1979, and in English in ''The New Yorker'' on May 19, 1980 (trans. Geoffrey Skelton). A distinctive feature of this book's style is the use of ...
'' (''Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän'') (1979), and ''
Bluebeard "Bluebeard" (french: Barbe bleue, ) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in '' Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. The tale tells the s ...
'' (''Blaubart'') (1981), are frequently grouped together by scholars. All three are characterized by a turning towards death and a weighing up of life. Structurally they display a savage pruning of narrative complexity. The
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
born critic
Volker Hage Volker Hage (born 9 September 1949 in Hamburg) is a retired German journalist, author and literary critic, who has reinvented himself as a novelist. Life Hage began his career as a journalist in 1975 as an editor for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeit ...
identified in the three works "an underlying unity, not in the sense of a conventional trilogy ... but in the sense that they together form a single literary chord. The three books complement one another while each retains its individual wholeness ... All three books have a flavour of the
balance sheet In financial accounting, a balance sheet (also known as statement of financial position or statement of financial condition) is a summary of the financial balances of an individual or organization, whether it be a sole proprietorship, a Partnersh ...
in a set of year-end financial accounts, disclosing only that which is necessary: summarized and zipped up". Frisch himself produced a more succinct "author's judgement": "The last three narratives have just one thing in common: they allow me to experiment with presentational approaches that go further than the earlier works."


Dramas

Frisch's dramas up until the early 1960s are divided by the literary commentator Manfred Jurgensen into three groups: (1) the early wartime pieces, (2) the poetic plays such as '' Don Juan or the Love of Geometry'' (''Don Juan oder Die Liebe zur Geometrie'') and (3) the dialectical pieces. It is above all with this third group, notably the parable ''The Fire Raisers'' (1953), identified by Frisch as a "lesson without teaching", and with ''Andorra'' (1961) that Frisch enjoyed the most success. Indeed, these two are among the most successful German language plays. The writer nevertheless remained dissatisfied because he believed they had been widely misunderstood. In an interview with
Heinz Ludwig Arnold Heinz Ludwig Arnold (29 March 1940 – 1 November 2011) was a German literary journalist and publisher. He was also a leading advocate for contemporary literature. Early years Heinz Ludwig Arnold attended schools in Bochum and, subsequentl ...
Frisch vigorously rejected their allegorical approach: "I have established only that when I apply the parable format, I am obliged to deliver a message that I actually do not have". After the 1960s Frisch moved away from the theatre. His late biographical plays '' Biography: A game'' (''Biografie: Ein Spiel'') and '' Triptychon'' were apolitical but they failed to match the public success of his earlier dramas. It was only shortly before his death that Frisch returned to the stage with a more political message, with ''Jonas and his Veteran'', a stage version of his arresting dialogue ''Switzerland without an army? A Palaver''. For Klaus Müller-Salget, the defining feature which most of Frisch's stage works share is their failure to present realistic situations. Instead they are mind games that toy with time and space. For instance, ''The Chinese Wall'' (''Die Chinesische Mauer'') (1946) mixes literary and historical characters, while in the Triptychon we are invited to listen to the conversations of various dead people. In '' Biography: A game'' (''Biografie: Ein Spiel'') a life-story is retrospectively "corrected", while '' Santa Cruz'' and '' Prince Öderland'' (''Graf Öderland'') combine aspects of a dream sequence with the features of a morality tale. Characteristic of Frisch's stage plays are minimalist stage-sets and the application of devices such as splitting the stage in two parts, use of a "
Greek chorus A Greek chorus, or simply chorus ( grc-gre, χορός, chorós), in the context of ancient Greek tragedy, comedy, satyr plays, and modern works inspired by them, is a homogeneous, non-individualised group of performers, who comment with a collect ...
" and characters addressing the audience directly. In a manner reminiscent of
Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
's epic theatre, audience members are not expected to identify with the characters on stage, but rather to have their own thoughts and assumptions stimulated and provoked. Unlike Brecht however, Frisch offered few insights or answers, preferring to leave the audience the freedom to provide their own interpretations. Frisch himself acknowledged that the part of writing a new play that most fascinated him was the first draft, when the piece was undefined, and the possibilities for its development were still wide open. The critic
Hellmuth Karasek Hellmuth Karasek (4 January 1934 – 29 September 2015) was a German journalist, literary critic, novelist, and the author of many books on literature and film. He was one of Germany's best-known feuilletonists. Biography Karasek was born in t ...
identified in Frisch's plays a mistrust of dramatic structure, apparent from the way in which ''Don Juan or the Love of Geometry'' applies theatrical method. Frisch prioritized the unbelievable aspects of theatre and valued transparency. Unlike his friend, the dramatist
Friedrich Dürrenmatt Friedrich Dürrenmatt (; 5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-g ...
, Frisch had little appetite for theatrical effects, which might distract from doubts and sceptical insights included in a script. For Frisch, effects came from a character being lost for words, from a moment of silence, or from a misunderstanding. And where a Dürrenmatt drama might lead, with ghastly inevitability, to a worst possible outcome, the dénouement in a Frisch play typically involved a return to the starting position: the destiny that awaited his protagonist might be to have no destiny.


Style and language

Frisch's style changed across the various phases of his work. His early work is strongly influenced by the poetical imagery of Albin Zollinger, and not without a certain imitative lyricism, something from which in later life he would distance himself, dismissing it as "phoney poeticising" ''("falsche Poetisierung")''. His later works employed a tighter, consciously unpretentious style, which Frisch himself described as "generally very colloquial" ("im Allgemeinen sehr gesprochen."). Walter Schenker saw Frisch's first language as Zurich German, the dialect of Swiss German with which he grew up. The Standard German to which he was introduced as a written and literary language is naturally preferred for his written work, but not without regular appearances by dialect variations, introduced as stylistic devices. A defining element in Frisch was an underlying scepticism as to the adequacy of language. In ''I'm Not Stiller'' his protagonist cries out, "I have no language for my reality!" (''"... ich habe keine Sprache für meine Wirklichkeit!"''). The author went further in his ''Diary 1946–49'' (''Tagebuch 1946–49''): "What is important: the unsayable, the white space between the words, while these words themselves we always insert as side-issues, which as such are not the central part of what we mean. Our core concern remains unwritten, and that means, quite literally, that you write around it. You adjust the settings. You provide statements that can never contain actual experience: experience itself remains beyond the reach of language.... and that unsayable reality appears, at best, as a tension between the statements." Werner Stauffacher saw in Frisch's language "a language the searches for humanity's unspeakable reality, the language of visualisation and exploration", but one that never actually uncovers the underlying secret of reality. Frisch adapted principals of Bertolt Brecht's
Epic theatre Epic theatre (german: episches Theater) is a theatrical movement arising in the early to mid-20th century from the theories and practice of a number of theatre practitioners who responded to the political climate of the time through the creat ...
both for his dramas and for his prose works. As early as 1948 he concluded a contemplative piece on the
alienation effect The distancing effect, also translated as alienation effect (german: Verfremdungseffekt or ''V-Effekt''), is a concept in performing arts credited to German playwright Bertolt Brecht. Brecht first used the term in his essay "Alienation Effects in ...
with the observation, "One might be tempted to ascribe all these thoughts to the narrative author: the linguistic application of the
alienation effect The distancing effect, also translated as alienation effect (german: Verfremdungseffekt or ''V-Effekt''), is a concept in performing arts credited to German playwright Bertolt Brecht. Brecht first used the term in his essay "Alienation Effects in ...
, the wilfully mischievous aspect of the prose, the uninhibited artistry which most German language readers will reject because they find it "too arty" and because it inhibits empathy and connection, sabotaging the conventional illusion that the story in the narrative really happened." Notably, in the 1964 novel "Gantenbein" ''("A Wilderness of Mirrors")'', Frisch rejected the conventional narrative continuum, presenting instead, within a single novel, a small palette of variations and possibilities. The play "Biography: A game" (''"Biografie: Ein Spiel"'') (1967) extended similar techniques to theatre audiences. Already in "Stiller" (1954) Frisch embedded, in a novel, little sub-narratives in the form of fragmentary episodic sections from his "diaries". In his later works Frisch went further with a form of montage technique that produced a literary collage of texts, notes and visual imagery in "The Holozän" (1979).


Themes and motifs

Frisch's literary work centre around certain core themes and motifs many of which, in various forms, recur through the entire range of the author's output.


Image vs. identity

In the ''Diary 1946–1949'' Frisch spells out a central idea that runs through his subsequent work: "You shall not make for yourself any graven image, God instructs us. That should also apply in this sense: God lives in every person, though we may not notice. That oversight is a sin that we commit and it is a sin that is almost ceaselessly committed against us – except if we love". The biblical instruction is here taken to be applied to the relationship between people. It is only through love that people may manifest the mutability and versatility necessary to accept one another's intrinsic inner potential. Without love people reduce one another and the entire world down to a series of simple preformed images. Such a cliché based image constitutes a sin against the self and against the other. Hans Jürg Lüthi divides Frisch's work, into two categories according to how this image is treated. In the first category, the destiny of the protagonist is to live the simplistic image. Examples include the play ''Andorra'' (1961) in which Andri, identified (wrongly) by the other characters as a Jew is obliged to work through the fate assigned to him by others. Something analogous arises with the novel ''
Homo Faber ''Homo faber'' () is the concept that human beings are able to control their fate and their environment as a result of the use of tools. Original phrase In Latin literature, Appius Claudius Caecus uses this term in his ''Sententiæ'', refer ...
'' (1957) where the protagonist is effectively imprisoned by the technician's "ultra-rational" prism through which he is fated to conduct his existence. The second category of works identified by Lüthi centres on the theme of libration from the lovelessly predetermined image. In this second category he places the novels ''I'm Not Stiller'' (1954) and ''Gantenbein'' (1964), in which the leading protagonists create new identities precisely in order to cast aside their preformed cliché-selves. Real personal
identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...
stands in stark contrast to this simplistic image. For Frisch, each person possesses a unique
Individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-reli ...
, justified from the inner being, and which needs to be expressed and realized. To be effective it can operate only through the individual's life, or else the individual self will be incomplete. The process of self acceptance and the subsequent
self-actualization Self-actualization, in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, is the highest level of psychological development, where personal potential is fully realized after basic bodily and ego needs have been fulfilled. Self-actualization was coined by the organis ...
constitute a liberating act of choice: "The differentiating human worth of a person, it seems to me, is Choice". The "selection of self" involves not a one-time action, but a continuing truth that the "real myself" must repeatedly recognize and activate, behind the simplistic images. The fear that the individual "myself" may be overlooked and the life thereby missed, was already a central theme in Frisch's early works. A failure in the "selection of self" was likely to result in alienation of the self both from itself and from the human world more generally. Only within the limited span of an individual human life can personal existence find a fulfilment that can exclude the individual from the endless immutability of death. In ''I'm Not Stiller'' Frisch set out a criterion for a fulfilled life as being "that an individual be identical with himself. Otherwise he has never really existed".


Relationships between the sexes

Claus Reschke says that the male protagonists in Frisch's work are all similar modern Intellectual types:
egocentric Egocentrism is the inability to differentiate between self and other. More specifically, it is the inability to accurately assume or understand any perspective other than one's own. Egocentrism is found across the life span: in infancy, early chi ...
, indecisive, uncertain in respect of their own self-image, they often misjudge their actual situation. Their interpersonal relationships are superficial to the point of agnosticism, which condemns them to live as isolated
loner A loner is a person who does not seek out, or may actively avoid, interaction with other people. There are many potential reasons for their solitude. Intentional reasons include introversion, mysticism, spirituality, religion, or personal consi ...
s. If they do develop some deeper relationship involving women, they lose emotional balance, becoming unreliable partners, possessive and jealous. They repeatedly assume outdated
gender roles A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...
, masking sexual insecurity behind chauvinism. All this time their relationships involving women are overshadowed by feelings of guilt. In a relationship with a woman they look for "real life", from which they can obtain completeness and self-fulfilment, untrammelled by conflict and paralyzing repetition, and which will never lose elements of novelty and spontaneity. Female protagonists in Frisch's work also lead back to a recurring gender-based stereotype, according to Mona Knapp. Frisch's compositions tend to be centred on male protagonists, around which his leading female characters, virtually interchangeable, fulfil a structural and focused function. Often they are idolised as "great" and "wonderful", superficially
emancipated Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchis ...
and stronger than the men. However, they actually tend to be driven by petty motivations: disloyalty, greed and unfeelingness. In the author's later works the female characters become increasingly one-dimensional, without evidencing any inner ambivalence. Often the women are reduced to the role of a simple threat to the man's identity, or the object of some infidelity, thereby catalysing the successes or failings of the male's existence, so providing the male protagonist an object for his own introspection. For the most part, the action in the male:female relationship in a work by Frisch comes from the woman, while the man remains passive, waiting and reflective. Superficially the woman is loved by the man, but in truth she is feared and despised. From her thoughtfully feminist perspective,
Karin Struck Karin Struck (14 May 1947, Groß Kiesow – 6 February 2006) was a German author. She won the Rauris Literature Prize and the Andreas Gryphius Prize. She had generally been seen as a writer of women's literature and to the Left. However, in 1991 a ...
saw Frisch's male protagonists manifesting a high level of dependency on the female characters, but the women remain strangers to them. The men are, from the outset, focused on the ending of the relationship: they cannot love because they are preoccupied with escaping from their own failings and anxieties. Often they conflate images of womanliness with images of death, as in Frisch's take on the
Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary, fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. Famous versions of the story include a 17th-century play, ''El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra'' ...
legend: "The woman reminds me of death, the more she seems to blossom and thrive". Each new relationship with a woman, and the subsequent separation was, for a Frisch male protagonist, analogous to a bodily death: his fear of women corresponded with fear of death, which meant that his reaction to the relationship was one of flight and shame.


Transience and death

Death is an ongoing theme in Frisch's work, but during his early and high periods it remains in the background, overshadowed by identity issues and relationship problems. Only with his later works does Death become a core question. Frisch's second published ''Diary'' (''Tagebuch'') launches the theme. A key sentence from the ''Diary 1966–1971'' (published 1972), repeated several times, is a quotation from Montaigne: "So I dissolve; and I lose myself." The section focuses on the private and social problems of aging. Although political demands are incorporated, social aspects remain secondary to the central concentration on the self. The ''Diary'' fragmentary and hastily structured informality sustains a melancholy underlying mood. The narrative Montauk (1975) also deals with old age. The autobiographically drawn protanonist's lack of much future throws the emphasis back onto working through the past and an urge to live for the present. In the drama-piece, Triptychon, Death is presented not necessarily directly, but as a way of referencing life
metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...
ically. Death reflects the ossification of human community, and in this way becomes a device for shaping lives. The narrative ''
Man in the Holocene ''Man in the Holocene'' (1979) is a novella by Swiss author Max Frisch, originally published in German in 1979, and in English in ''The New Yorker'' on May 19, 1980 (trans. Geoffrey Skelton). A distinctive feature of this book's style is the use of ...
'' presents the dying process of an old man as a return to nature. According to Cornelia Steffahn there is no single coherent image of death presented in Frisch's late works. Instead they describe the process of his own evolving engagement with the issue, and show the way his own attitudes developed as he himself grew older. Along the way he works through a range of philosophical influences including Montaigne, Kierkegaard, Lars Gustafsson and even Epicurus.


Political aspects

Frisch described himself as a
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
but never joined the political party. His early works were almost entirely apolitical. In the "Blätter aus dem Brotsack" (''"diaries of military life"'') published in 1940, he comes across as a conventional Swiss
patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution * Patriot m ...
, reflecting the unifying impact on Swiss society of the perceived invasion risk then emanating from
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. After
Victory in Europe Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easte ...
the threat to Swiss values and to the independence of the Swiss state diminished. Frisch now underwent a rapid transformation, evincing a committed political consciousness. In particular, he became highly critical of attempts to divide cultural values from politics, noting in his ''Diary 1946–1949'': "He who does not engage with politics is already a partisan of the political outcome that he wishes to preserve, because he is serving the ruling party." Sonja Rüegg, writing in 1998, says that Frisch's
aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
are driven by a fundamentally anti-ideological and critical animus, formed from a recognition of the writer's status as an outsider within society. That generates opposition to the ruling order, the privileging of individual partisanship over activity on behalf of a social class, and an emphasis on asking questions. Frisch's social criticism was particularly sharp in respect of his Swiss homeland. In a much quoted speech that he gave when accepting the 1973
Schiller Prize The Schiller Prize was a Swiss literary award which was established in 1905 to promote Swiss literature and was awarded until 2012 when it was replaced as a national literary award by the Swiss Literature Awards. The prize was awarded by the Sc ...
he declared: "I am Swiss, not simply because I hold a Swiss passport, was born on Swiss soil etc.: But I am Swiss by quasi-religious
confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...
." There followed a qualification: "Your homeland is not merely defined as a comfort or a convenience. 'Homeland' means more than that". Frisch's very public verbal assaults on the land of his birth, on the country's public image of itself and on the unique international role of Switzerland emerged in his polemical, "Achtung: Die Schweiz", and extended to a work titled, ''Wilhelm Tell für die Schule'' (''William Tell for Schools'') which sought to deconstruct the defining epic of
the nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
, reducing the William Tell legend to a succession of coincidences, miscalculations, dead-ends and opportunistic gambits. With his '' Little service book'' (''Dienstbüchlein'') (1974) Frisch revisited and re-evaluated his own period of service in the nation's citizen army, and shortly before he died he went so far as to question outright the need for the army in ''Switzerland without an Army? A Palaver''. A characteristic pattern in Frisch's life was the way that periods of intense political engagement alternated with periods of retreat back to private concerns. Bettina Jaques-Bosch saw this as a succession of slow oscillations by the author between public outspokenness and inner melancholy. Hans Ulrich Probst positioned the mood of the later works somewhere "between resignation and the radicalism of an old republican". The last sentences published by Frisch are included in a letter addressed to the high-profile entrepreneur Marco Solari and published in the
left of centre Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ce ...
newspaper '' Wochenzeitung'', and here he returned one last time to attacking the Swiss state: "1848 was a great creation of
free-thinking Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other metho ...
Liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
which today, after a century of domination by a middle-class coalition, has become a squandered state – and I am still bound to this state by one thing: a passport (which I shall not be needing again)".


Recognition


Success as a writer and as a dramatist

Interviewed in 1975, Frisch acknowledged that his literary career had not been marked by some "sudden breakthrough" (''"...frappanten Durchbruch"'') but that success had arrived, as he asserted, only very slowly.Heinz Ludwig Arnold: ''Gespräche mit Schriftstellern''. Beck, München 1975, , S. 33. Nevertheless, even his earlier publications were not entirely without a certain success. In his 20s he was already having pieces published in various newspapers and journals. As a young writer he also had work accepted by an established publishing house, the
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
based Deutschen Verlags-Anstalt, which already included a number of distinguished German-language authors on its lists. When he decided he no longer wished to have his work published in
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
he changed publishers, joining up with Atlantis Verlag which had relocated their head office from
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
to
Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
in response to the political changes in Germany. In 1950 Frisch switched publishers again, this time to the arguably more mainstream
publishing house Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
then being established in
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
by
Peter Suhrkamp Peter Suhrkamp (full name ''Johann Heinrich Suhrkamp''; 28 March 1891, Hatten – 31 March 1959, Frankfurt) was a German publisher and founder of the Suhrkamp Verlag. Early years Suhrkamp was a farmer’s son from Kirchhatten, some south-east o ...
. Frisch was still only in his early 30s when he turned to drama, and his stage work found ready acceptance at the Zürich Playhouse, at this time one of Europe's leading theatres, the quality and variety its work much enhanced by an influx of artistic talent since the mid-1930s from
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. Frisch's early plays, performed at Zürich, were positively reviewed and won prizes. It was only in 1951, with '' Prince Öderland'', that Frisch experienced his first stage-flop. The experience encouraged him to pay more attention to audiences outside his native Switzerland, notably in the new and rapidly developing
Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
, where the novel ''I'm Not Stiller'' succeeded commercially on a scale that till then had eluded Frisch, enabling him now to become a full-time professional writer. ''I'm Not Stiller'' started with a print-run that provided for sales of 3,000 in its first year, but thanks to strong and growing reader demand it later became the first book published by
Suhrkamp Suhrkamp Verlag is a German publishing house, established in 1950 and generally acknowledged as one of the leading European publishers of fine literature. Its roots go back to the "arianized" part of the S. Fischer Verlag. In January 2010 the ...
to top one million copies. The next novel, ''
Homo Faber ''Homo faber'' () is the concept that human beings are able to control their fate and their environment as a result of the use of tools. Original phrase In Latin literature, Appius Claudius Caecus uses this term in his ''Sententiæ'', refer ...
'', was another best seller, with four million copies of the German language version produced by 1998. ''The Fire Raisers'' and ''Andorra'' are the most successful German language plays of all time, with respectively 250 and 230 productions up till 1996, according to an estimate made by the literary critic
Volker Hage Volker Hage (born 9 September 1949 in Hamburg) is a retired German journalist, author and literary critic, who has reinvented himself as a novelist. Life Hage began his career as a journalist in 1975 as an editor for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeit ...
. The two plays, along with ''Homo Faber'' became curriculum favourites with schools in the German-speaking middle European countries. Apart from a few early works, most of Frisch's books and plays have been translated into around ten languages, while the most translated of all, ''Homo Faber'', has been translated into twenty-five languages.


Reputation in Switzerland and internationally

Frisch's name is often mentioned along with that of another great writer of his generation,
Friedrich Dürrenmatt Friedrich Dürrenmatt (; 5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-g ...
. The scholar
Hans Mayer Hans Mayer (19 March 1907 in Cologne – 19 May 2001 in Tübingen; pseudonym: ''Martin Seiler'') was a German literary scholar. Mayer was also a jurist and social researcher and was internationally recognized as a critic, author and musicologist ...
likened them to the mythical half-twins,
Castor and Pollux Castor; grc, Κάστωρ, Kástōr, beaver. and Pollux. (or Polydeukes). are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri.; grc, Διόσκουροι, Dióskouroi, sons of Zeus, links=no, from ''Dîos'' ('Z ...
, as two dialectically linked "antagonists". The close friendship of their early careers was later overshadowed by personal differences. In 1986 Dürrenmatt took the opportunity of Frisch's 75th birthday to try and effect a reconciliation with a letter, but the letter went unanswered.Heinz Ludwig Arnold: Was bin ich? Über Max Frisch, P 64. In their approaches the two were very different. The literary journalist
Heinz Ludwig Arnold Heinz Ludwig Arnold (29 March 1940 – 1 November 2011) was a German literary journalist and publisher. He was also a leading advocate for contemporary literature. Early years Heinz Ludwig Arnold attended schools in Bochum and, subsequentl ...
quipped that Dürrenmatt, despite all his narrative work, was born to be a dramatist, while Frisch, his theatre successes notwithstanding, was born to be a writer of narratives. In 1968, a 30-minute episode of the multinationally produced television series Creative Persons was devoted to Frisch. In the 1960s, by publicly challenging some contradictions and settled assumptions, both Frisch und Dürrenmatt contributed to a major revision in Switzerland's view if itself and of its
history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
. In 1974 Frisch published his '' Little service book'' (''Dienstbüchlein''), and from this time – possibly from earlier – Frisch became a powerfully divisive figure in
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, where in some quarters his criticisms were vigorously rejected. For aspiring writers seeking a role model, most young authors preferred Frisch over Dürrenmatt as a source of instruction and enlightenment, according to Janos Szábo. In the 1960s Frisch inspired a generation of younger writers including
Peter Bichsel Peter Bichsel (born 24 March 1935) is a popular Swiss writer and journalist representing modern German literature. He was a member of the Gruppe Olten. Bichsel was born 1935 in Lucerne, Switzerland, the son of manual labourers. Shortly after ...
,
Jörg Steiner Jörg or Joerg () is a German name, equivalent to George in English. * Jörg Bergmeister, German race car driver * Jörg Frischmann, German Paralympian athlete * Jörg Haider, Austrian politician * Jörg Andrees Elten (also Swami Satyananda), Ger ...
,
Otto F. Walter Otto F. Walter (5 June 1928 born as ''Otto Friedrich Walter'' – 24 September 1994) was a Swiss publisher (Walter Verlag), author and novelist, which is well known in the German language countries. Otto Friedrich Walter was the younger brothe ...
, and
Adolf Muschg Adolf Muschg (born 13 May 1934) is a Swiss writer and professor of literature. Muschg was a member of the Gruppe Olten. Biography Adolf Muschg was born in Zollikon, canton of Zürich, Switzerland. He studied German studies, English studies a ...
. More than a generation after that, in 1998, when it was the turn of Swiss literature to be the special focus at the
Frankfurt Book Fair The Frankfurt Book Fair (German: Frankfurter Buchmesse, FBM) is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. It is considered to be the most important book fair in the world for internationa ...
, the literary commentator Andreas Isenschmid identified some leading Swiss writers from his own (
baby-boomer Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. Th ...
) generation such as
Ruth Schweikert Ruth (or its variants) may refer to: Places France * Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France Switzerland * Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny United States * Ruth, Alabama * Ruth, Ar ...
, Daniel de Roulet and Silvio Huonder in whose works he had found "a curiously familiar old tone, resonating from all directions, and often almost page by page, uncanny echoes from Max Frisch's ''Stiller''." The works of Frisch were also important in
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
. The West German essayist and critic Heinrich Vormweg described ''I'm Not Stiller'' and ''Homo Faber'' as "two of the most significant and influential
German-language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...
novels of the 1950s". In
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
during the 1980s Frisch's prose works and plays also ran through many editions, although here they were not the focus of so much intensive literary commentary. Translations of Frisch's works into the languages of other formally socialist countries in the Eastern Bloc were also widely available, leading the author himself to offer the comment that in the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
his works were officially seen as presenting the "symptoms of a sick capitalist society, symptoms that would never be found where the means of production have been nationalized". Despite some ideologically driven official criticism of his "individualism", "negativity" and "modernism", Frisch's works were actively translated into Russian, and were featured in some 150 reviews in the Soviet Union. Frisch also found success in his second "homeland of choice", the United States where he lived, off and on, for some time during his later years. He was generally well regarded by the New York literary establishment: one commentator found him commendably free of "European arrogance".


Influence and significance

Jürgen H. Petersen reckons that Frisch's stage work had little influence on other dramatists. And his own preferred form of the "literary diary" failed to create a new trend in literary genres. By contrast, the novels ''I'm Not Stiller'' and ''Gantenbein'' have been widely taken up as literary models, because of the way they home in on questions of individual identity and on account of their literary structures. Issues of personal identity are presented not simply through description or interior insights, but through narrative contrivances. This stylistic influence can be found frequently in the works of others, such as
Christa Wolf Christa Wolf (; née Ihlenfeld; 18 March 1929 – 1 December 2011) was a German novelist and essayist.
Barbara Gard ...
's
The Quest for Christa T. ''The Quest for Christa T.'' (''Nachdenken über Christa T.'') is a 1968 novel by German writer Christa Wolf that follows two childhood friends from the second World War into the 1960s in East Germany. Stylistically it demonstrates a subjectivis ...
and in
Ingeborg Bachmann Ingeborg Bachmann (25 June 1926 – 17 October 1973) was an Austrian poet and author. Biography Bachmann was born in Klagenfurt, in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the daughter of Olga (née Haas) and Matthias Bachmann, a schoolteacher. Her f ...
's Malina. Other similarly influenced authors are
Peter Härtling Peter Härtling (; 13 November 1933 – 10 July 2017) was a German writer, poet, publisher and journalist. He received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his major contribution to German literature. Biography Härtling wa ...
and
Dieter Kühn Dieter Kühn (born 4 July 1956 in Leipzig, Bezirk Leipzig) is a former Association football player from East Germany, who won the silver medal with the East German national team at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union The ...
. Frisch also found himself featuring as a ''character'' in the literature of others. That was the case in 1983 with
Wolfgang Hildesheimer Wolfgang Hildesheimer (9 December 1916 – 21 August 1991) was a German author who incorporated the Theatre of the Absurd. He originally trained as an artist, before turning to writing. Biography Hildesheimer was born of Jewish parents in Hambu ...
's ''Message to Max
risch Risch is a municipality in the canton of Zug in Switzerland. It is also promoted as Risch-Rotkreuz. Four villages (Rotkreuz, Risch, Buonas and Holzhäusern) belong to the municipality ''Risch''. On 24 November 2007 it was decided to promote t ...
about the state of things and other matters'' (''Mitteilungen an Max über den Stand der Dinge und anderes''). By then
Uwe Johnson Uwe or UWE may refer to * Uwe (given name) * University of the West of England, Bristol * UML-based web engineering * University Würzburg's Experimental miniaturized satellites for space research UWE-1 and UWE-2 * Uwe - Wreck in Blankenese Blank ...
had already, in 1975, produced a compilation of quotations which he called "The collected sayings of Max Frisch" ("Max Frisch Stich-Worte zusammen"). More recently, in 2007, the Zürich–born artist
Gottfried Honegger Gottfried Honegger (12 June 1917 – 17 January 2016) was a Swiss artist and graphic designer. He was married to the Swiss illustrator Warja Lavater. He studied shop-window display at the Zurich Kunstgewerbeschule and taught there from 1948. His ...
published eleven portrait-sketches and fourteen texts in memory of his friend.
Adolf Muschg Adolf Muschg (born 13 May 1934) is a Swiss writer and professor of literature. Muschg was a member of the Gruppe Olten. Biography Adolf Muschg was born in Zollikon, canton of Zürich, Switzerland. He studied German studies, English studies a ...
, purporting to address Frisch directly on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, contemplates the older man's contribution: "Your position in the history of literature, how can it be described? You have not been, in conventional terms, an innovator… I believe you have defined an era through something both unobtrusive and fundamental: a new experimental ethos (and pathos). Your books form deep literary investigation from an act of the imagination."
Marcel Reich-Ranicki Marcel Reich-Ranicki (; 2 June 1920 – 18 September 2013) was a Polish-born German literary critic and member of the informal literary association Gruppe 47. He was regarded as one of the most influential contemporary literary critics in the fi ...
saw similarities with at least some of the other leading German-language writers of his time: "Unlike Dürrenmatt or Böll, but in common with
Grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...
and
Uwe Johnson Uwe or UWE may refer to * Uwe (given name) * University of the West of England, Bristol * UML-based web engineering * University Würzburg's Experimental miniaturized satellites for space research UWE-1 and UWE-2 * Uwe - Wreck in Blankenese Blank ...
, Frisch wrote about the complexes and conflicts of intellectuals, returning again and again ''to us'', creative intellectuals from the ranks of the educated middle-classes: no one else so clearly identified and saw into our mentality. Friedrich Dürrenmatt marvelled at his colleague: "the boldness with which he immediately launches out with utter subjectivity. He is himself always at the heart of the matter. His matter is the matter. In Dürrenmatt's last letter to Frisch he coined the formulation that Frisch in his work had made "his case to the world".Heinz Ludwig Arnold: ''Gespräche mit Schriftstellern''. Beck, München 1975, , S. 64.


Film

The film director Alexander J. Seiler believes that Frisch had for the most part an "unfortunate relationship" with film, even though his literary style is often reminiscent of cinematic technique. Seiler explains that Frisch's work was often, in the author's own words, looking for ways to highlight the "white space" between the words, which is something that can usually only be achieved using a film-set. Already, in the ''Diary 1946–1949'' there is an early sketch for a film-script, titled ''Harlequin''. His first practical experience of the genre came in 1959, but with a project that was nevertheless abandoned, when Frisch resigned from the production of a film titled ''SOS Gletscherpilot'' (''SOS Glacier Pilot''), and in 1960 his draft script for ''William Tell'' (''Castle in Flames'') was turned down, after which the film was created anyway, totally contrary to Frisch's intentions. In 1965 there were plans, under the Title '' Zürich – Transit'', to film an episode from the novel ''Gantenbein'', but the project was halted, initially by differences between Frisch and the film director Erwin Leiser and then, it was reported, by the illness of
Bernhard Wicki Bernhard Wicki (28 October 1919 – 5 January 2000) was an Austrian actor and film director. Life and career Wicki studied in the city of Breslau such topics as art history, history and German literature. In 1938, he transferred to the d ...
who was brought in to replace Leiser. The ''Zürich – Transit'' project went ahead in the end, directed by Hilde Bechart, but only in 1992 a quarter century later, and a year after Frisch had died. For the novels ''I'm Not Stiller'' and ''Homo Faber'' there were several film proposals, one of which involved casting the actor
Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...
in ''Homo Faber'', but none of these proposals was ever realised. It is nevertheless interesting that several of Frisch's dramas were filmed for television adaptations. It was in this way that the first filmic adaptation of a Frisch prose work appeared in 1975, thanks to Georg Radanowicz, and titled ''The Misfortune'' (''Das Unglück''). This was based on a sketch from one of Frisch's ''Diaries''. It was followed in 1981 by a
Richard Dindo Richard Dindo (born 1944 in Zürich) is a Switzerland, Swiss documentary film director. He made his first film in 1970.Montauk'' and one by
Krzysztof Zanussi Krzysztof Pius Zanussi (born 17 June 1939) is a Polish film and theatre director, producer and screenwriter. He is a professor of European film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland where he conducts a summer workshop. He is ...
based on ''
Bluebeard "Bluebeard" (french: Barbe bleue, ) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in '' Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. The tale tells the s ...
''. It finally became possible, some months after Frisch's death, for a full-scale cinema version of ''Homo Faber'' to be produced. While Frisch was still alive he had collaborated with the filmmaker
Volker Schlöndorff Volker Schlöndorff (; born 31 March 1939 Friday) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer who has worked in Germany, France and the United States. He was a prominent member of the New German Cinema of the late 1960s and early 1970s ...
on this production, but the critics were nevertheless underwhelmed by the result. In 1992, however, ''Holozän'', a film adaptation by Heinz Bütler and
Manfred Eicher Manfred Eicher (born 9 July 1943) is a German record producer and the founder of ECM Records. Life and career Eicher was born in Lindau, Germany. He studied music at the Academy of Music in Berlin. He started as a double-bass player of classi ...
of ''Man in the Holocene'', received a "special award" at the
Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, ...
.


Recognition

Max Frisch awards and prizes
* 1935: Prize for a single work for ''Jürg Reinhart'' from the
Swiss Schiller Foundation Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places *Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss International A ...
* 1938: Conrad Ferdinand Meyer Prize (Zürich) * 1940: Prize for a single work for "Pages from the Bread-bag" (''"Blätter aus dem Brotsack"'') from the
Swiss Schiller Foundation Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places *Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss International A ...
* 1942: First (out of 65 entrants) in an architecture contest (Zürich: Freibad Letzigraben) * 1945: Welti Foundation Drama prize for '' Santa Cruz'' * 1954: Wilhelm Raabe prize (Braunschweig) for ''I'm Not Stiller, Stiller'' * 1955: Prize for all works to date from the
Swiss Schiller Foundation Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places *Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss International A ...
* 1955: Schleußner Schueller prize from Hessischer Rundfunk, Hessischer Rundfunk (''Hessian Broadcasting Corporation)'' * 1958: Georg Büchner Prize * 1958: :fr: Prix Charles Veillon, Charles Veillon Prize (Lausanne) for ''I'm Not Stiller, Stiller'' and ''
Homo Faber ''Homo faber'' () is the concept that human beings are able to control their fate and their environment as a result of the use of tools. Original phrase In Latin literature, Appius Claudius Caecus uses this term in his ''Sententiæ'', refer ...
'' * 1958: Literature Prize of the City of Zürich * 1962: Honorary doctorate from the University of Marburg, Philipp University of Marburg * 1962: Major art prize of the City of Düsseldorf * 1965: Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society * 1965: Schiller Memorial Prize (Baden-Württemberg) * 1973: :de:Grosser Schillerpreis, Major Schiller Prize from the
Swiss Schiller Foundation Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places *Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss International A ...
* 1976: PFriedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels * 1979: Gift of honour from the "Literaturkredit" of the Canton of Zürich (rejected!) * 1980: Honorary doctorate from
Bard College Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark. Founded in 1860, ...
(Dutchess County, New York, New York state) * 1982: Honorary doctorate from the City University of New York * 1984: Honorary doctorate from the University of Birmingham * 1984: Nominated a Commander, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France) * 1986:
Neustadt International Prize for Literature The Neustadt International Prize for Literature is a biennial award for literature sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and its international literary publication, ''World Literature Today''. It is considered one of the more prestigious inte ...
from the University of Oklahoma * 1987: Honorary doctorate from the Technical University of Berlin * 1989: Heinrich Heine Prize (Düsseldorf)
Frisch was awarded honorary degrees by the University of Marburg, Germany, in 1962,
Bard College Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark. Founded in 1860, ...
(1980), the City University of New York City (1982), the University of Birmingham (1984), and the TU Berlin (1987). He also won many important German literature prizes: the Georg Büchner Prize, Georg-Büchner-Preis in 1958, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (''Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels'') in 1976, and the ''Heinrich Heine Prize#Heinrich Heine prize of the city of Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-Preis'' in 1989. In 1965 he won the Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society. The Zürich, City of Zürich introduced the Max Frisch Prize in 1998 to celebrate the author's memory. The prize is awarded every four years and comes with a CHF 50,000 payment to the winner. The 100th anniversary of Frisch's birth took place in 2011 and was marked by an exhibition in his home city of Zürich. The occasion was also celebrated by an exhibition at the :de: Literaturhaus München, Munich Literature Centre which carried the suitably enigmatic tagline, ''"Max Frisch. Heimweh nach der Fremde"'' and another exhibition at the Museo Onsernonese in Loco, Switzerland, Loco, close to the Ticino, Ticinese cottage to which Frisch regularly retreated over several decades. In 2015 a new city-square in Zürich was named ''Max-Frisch-Platz''. This is part of a larger urban redevelopment scheme which is being coordinated with a major building project underway to expand Zürich Oerlikon railway station.Adi Kälin:
Eingangstor zu Neu-Oerlikon
'. In the '' Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' of 9 December 2009.


Major works


Novels

*''Antwort aus der Stille'' (1937, ''An Answer from the Silence'') *''I'm Not Stiller, Stiller'' (1954, ''I'm Not Stiller'') *''
Homo Faber ''Homo faber'' () is the concept that human beings are able to control their fate and their environment as a result of the use of tools. Original phrase In Latin literature, Appius Claudius Caecus uses this term in his ''Sententiæ'', refer ...
'' (1957) *''Gantenbein, Mein Name sei Gantenbein'' (1964, ''A Wilderness of Mirrors'', reprinted later under ''Gantenbein'') *''Dienstbüchlein'' (1974) *'' Montauk'' (1975) *''Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän'' (1979, ''Man in the Holocene'') *''Bluebeard (Frisch novel), Blaubart'' (1982, ''Bluebeard'') *''Wilhelm Tell für die Schule'' (1971, ''Wilhelm Tell: A School Text'', published in ''Fiction Magazine'' 1978)


Journals

*''Blätter aus dem Brotsack'' (1939) *''Tagebuch 1946–1949'' (1950) *''Tagebuch 1966–1971'' (1972)


Plays

*''Nun singen sie wieder'' (1945) *''Santa Cruz'' (1947) *''Die Chinesische Mauer'' (1947, ''The Chinese Wall'') *''Als der Krieg zu Ende war'' (1949, ''When the War Was Over'') *''Graf Öderland'' (1951) *''Biedermann und die Brandstifter'' (1953, ''The Fire Raisers (play), Firebugs'') *''Don Juan oder Die Liebe zur Geometrie'' (1953) *''Die Grosse Wut des Philipp Hotz'' (1956) *''
Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...
'' (1961) *''Biografie'' (1967) *‘‘Die Chinesische Mauer (Version für Paris)‘‘ (1972) *''Triptychon. Drei szenische Bilder'' (1978) *''Jonas und sein Veteran'' (1989)


See also

*Max Frisch Archive


References


Works cited

*


Further reading

* Buclin, Hadrien. "Surmonter le passé? Les intellectuels de gauche et le débat des années soixante sur la deuxième guerre mondiale", in ''Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Geschichte'', 2013/2, S. 233–249. * Butler, Michael (1976) ''The Novels of Max Frisch'' (London) * Butler, Michael (1985) ''The Plays of Max Frisch'' (London) * Butler, Michael (1994) ''Andorra'', Grant and Cutler Study Guide, 2nd edition, London * Kieser, Rolf, ed. (1989) ''Max Frisch: Novels, Plays, Essays'', The German Library Series, Continuum, New York. *


External links

*
Literary encyclopedia article on Frisch

Max Frisch interview
in ''The Paris Review'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Frisch, Max 1911 births 1991 deaths Writers from Zürich ETH Zurich alumni Swiss male novelists Swiss dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights Schiller Memorial Prize winners Georg Büchner Prize winners Jerusalem Prize recipients 20th-century Swiss novelists 20th-century dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Swiss architects Swiss poets in German Swiss male poets 20th-century Swiss poets 20th-century male writers Max Frisch