On the Monograph by E.A. Zachevskij “The Man who Lied while telling the Truth. Life and Work of Wolfgang Koeppen” (St. Petersburg, Kriega, 2019. 752 p.)

Abstract

E.A. Zachevsky’s book is the first study about the Western German author Wolfgang Koeppen (1906–1996). For the first time in the national and international literary studies, the monograph offers a detailed survey of the writer’s life and work as well as defines his place and role in the 20th century German literature. The author analyzes philosophic views as well as the properties of his fictional world and highlights the key moments of his peculiar poetic manner. The book touches upon the main issues of the German literary process and integrates Koeppen’s work into this process which allows us to read the volume as a mini-history of 20th century German literature.

Keywords

• german literature
• wolfgang koeppen
• socio-cultural approach
• literary process
• poetics
• novel.