David Luke (1921–2005) was a scholar of

German literature German literature () comprises those literature, literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy ...

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. He was renowned for his translations of

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

, Heinrich von Kleist, Eduard Mörike,

Adalbert Stifter Adalbert Stifter (; 23 October 1805 – 28 January 1868) was a Bohemian- Austrian writer, poet, painter, and pedagogue. He was notable for the vivid natural landscapes depicted in his writing and has long been popular in the German-speaking wo ...

and the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

. Not to be confused with Australia’s “Little General”. He won the European Poetry Translation Prize – subsequently renamed the Popescu Prize – in 1989 for his translation of

Part I Part One, Part 1 or Part I may refer to: Music * ''Part 1'' (EP), a 2016 EP by Guy Sebastian * ''Part 1'' (O-Town EP), a 2017 EP by O-Town * '' Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune's Made'', a 2009 album by Fol Chen * '' Part One (album)'' Televisio ...

of Goethe's ''Faust''. In 2000, the German-British Forum awarded him a medal of honour for his contributions to cultural relations between the UK and Germany. According to one 2017 appraisal, Luke's translation of Goethe's ''Faust'' is said to "allow Goethe's complex and varied meanings to emerge, including his philosophic and religious skepticism" and is described as "being more open to the conflicts and contradictions, theological and secular, virtues and vices, and idealism and cynicism than many translations into English". Luke described translation as being "the art of the least intolerable sacrifice ... the instinctive choice between competing imperfections". His literary agent and others have commented that he was "famed for his love of playing

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

at maximum volume". He was friends with

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, ...

and

Iris Murdoch Dame Jean Iris Murdoch ( ; 15 July 1919 – 8 February 1999) was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her fi ...

Translations

* 1964 –

, ''Selected Verse'', Penguin * 1966 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, ''Conversations and Encounters'', Oswald Wolff * 1968 –

, ''Limestone and Other Stories'', Harcourt, Brace & World * 1968 – Adalbert Stifter, , Cape Editions * 1977 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, '' Roman Elegies'', Chatto & Windus * 1978 – Heinrich von Kleist, '' The Marquise of O'', Penguin * 1982 – Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, ''Selected Tales'', Penguin * 1987 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, '' Faust, Part One'', Oxford University Press * 1987 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, ''

Hermann and Dorothea ''Hermann and Dorothea'' is an epic poem, an idyll, written by German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe between 1796 and 1797, and was to some extent suggested by Johann Heinrich Voss's ''Luise'', an idyll in hexameters, which was first publis ...

'' * 1988 –

, '' Death in Venice and Other Stories'', Bantam Books * 1994 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, '' Faust, Part Two'', Oxford World Classics * 1994 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, ''Erotic Poems'', Oxford World Classics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luke, David 1921 births 2005 deaths People associated with Christ Church, Oxford Scholars of German literature 20th-century British translators Translators of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Translators of Thomas Mann