Gerhart Hauptmann

Gerhart HauptmannCelebrated German dramatist, remembered as a pioneer of theatrical naturalism. In 1901 JJ translated Hauptmann's Vor Sonnenaufgang (1889; eventually published as Before Sunrise: James Joyce's Translation, ed. Jill Perkins [San Marino: Huntington Library, 1978]) and Michael Kramer (1900). JJ's Kramer has since been lost, though it surfaces in the Dubliners story "A Painful Case" whose character James Duffy keeps a copy of the play in his desk drawer. In 1912 Hauptmann was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. JJ remained fascinated by Hauptmann's work, sending him a telegram on 14 November 1932 with birthday wishes. In a letter to Ezra Pound of 5 December 1937 JJ asked Pound to arrange for Hauptmann to inscribe to JJ an edition of Kramer, writing "This play made a great impression on me" . William Brockman