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Theodor Fontane (German novelist and poet)

Sort Name
Fontane, Theodor
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Type
Person
Gender
Male
Date of birth
1819-12-30
Place of birth
Neuruppin
Date of death
1898-09-20
Place of death
Berlin

Wikipedia

Theodor Fontane (German pronunciation: [ˈtʰeːodoɐ̯ fɔnˈtaːnə] ; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist author. Fontane is known as a writer of realism, not only because he was conscientious about the factual accuracy of details in fictional scenes, but also because he depicted his characters in terms of what they said or did and refrained from overtly imputing motives to them. He published the first of his novels, for which he is best known today, only at age 58 after a career as a journalist. His novels delve into topics that were more or less taboo for discussion in the polite society of Fontane's day, including marital infidelity, class differences, urban vs. rural differences, abandonment of children, and suicide. His novels sold well during his lifetime and several have been adapted for film or audio works. His characters range from lower-middle class to Prussian nobility.

Fontane's novels are known for their complex, often sceptical view of society in the German empire; he shows different social and political parts of society meeting and sometimes clashing. Other trademarks of Fontane's work are their strongly drawn female characters (such as Effi Briest and Frau Jenny Treibel), tender irony and vivid conversations between characters.

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Identifiers

Goodreads Author ID
68613
ISNI
0000 0001 2129 6195
LibraryThing Author
fontanetheodor
OpenLibrary Author ID
OL74469A
VIAF
41840061
Wikidata ID
Q76632

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Last Modified
2024-03-14