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Kluge, Alexander

Entry updated 28 November 2022. Tagged: Author.

(1932-    ) German film maker, controversialist and author, most of his fiction (around a thousand titles) being in the form of the short story. He is of sf interest for Lernprozesse mit tödlichem Ausgang (coll 1973; trans Christopher Pavsek of title novel only as Learning Processes with a Deadly Outcome 1996), set partly in a Ruined Earth venue, some time after World War Three has almost totally destroyed the planet. Most of the remaining humans live in Underground Keeps, or have begun corporate manoeuvres to conquer interstellar space. Grotesque Genetic Engineering experiments, surrealistically exorbitant attempts to refashion ruined landscapes according to ancient models of aesthetic decorum, and a constant Satirical emphasis on the deadly foibles of capitalism fill the short narrative almost to bursting. Kluge, a major literary figure in post-war Germany, uses sf as many Mainstream Writers of SF do: in order to exemplify a range of theoretical positions. But his energy transforms these lessons into an intense rendering of a complex future.

An sf film written, produced and directed by Kluge is Der Grosse (1970; vt The Big Mess). [JC]

Alexander Kluge

born Halberstadt, Germany: 14 February 1932

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