Hermann Kant
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Hermann Kant (; 14 June 1926 – 14 August 2016) was a German writer noted for his writings during the time of
East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
. He won the
Heinrich Mann Prize The Heinrich Mann Prize () is an essay prize that has been awarded since 1953, first by the East German Academy of Arts, then by the Academy of Arts, Berlin. The prize, which comes with a €10,000 purse, is given annually on 27 March, Heinrich ...
in 1967. He served the
Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...
as an informer under the codename ''IM Martin''.


Early life

Hermann Kant was born on 14 June 1926 in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
the son of a factory worker and a
gardener A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby. Description A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner suppleme ...
born into poverty. His younger brother, Uwe Kant, became a well-known children's author. Because of the impending bombing of Hamburg during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the family moved to
Parchim Parchim (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch: ''Parchen'') is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is the capital of the Ludwigslust-Parchim district. It was the birthplace of Helmuth von Moltke the Elde ...
in 1940, where his paternal grandfather lived as a master potter. After passing elementary school he began an
electrician An electrician is a tradesman, tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the ...
apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...
in Parchim, which he completed in 1944. On 8 December 1944 he was drafted into the German Military. He became a
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...
, was held in Warsaw's
Mokotów Prison Mokotów Prison (, also known as ''Rakowiecka Prison'') is a prison in Warsaw's borough of Mokotów, Poland, located at 37 Rakowiecka Street. It was built by the Russians in the final years of the foreign Partitions of Poland. During the Nazi Ge ...
and later was transferred to a labor camp, which was located on the site of the former
Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...
. He was the co-founder of the antifascist committee and teacher at the
Anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...
Central School. During this time he met the writer
Anna Seghers Anna Seghers (; born ''Anna Reiling,'' 19 November 1900 – 1 June 1983), is the pseudonym of German writer Anna Reiling, who was notable for exploring and depicting the moral experience of the Second World War. Born into a Jewish family and mar ...
, who would have a lasting impression on him. After being released as a prisoner of war in 1949, he moved to
East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
and joined the
Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Mar ...
. Kant finished High School in 1952 at the "Workers' and Peasants Faculty" in
Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg. In 2021 it surpa ...
. From 1952 to 1956 he studied
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 ...
at the
Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...
. His thesis was entitled "The representation of the ideological-political structure of the German fascist army in Pliviers novel Stalingrad." After graduating he worked until 1957 as a
research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, research institute, or privately held organization to provide assistance in academic or private research endeavors. Research assistants work under ...
at the university and was also the editor of the student magazine, ''Tua res'', from 1957 to 1959. In 1960, Kant became a freelance writer and member of the Writers' Union of East Germany.


Writing career

Kant's first book was published in 1962 as a collection of short stories entitled, ''A Little South Seas''. The book showed stylistic influences adopted from the American Short Story genre and authors such as
O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the Ma ...
, giving the East German literature a new
satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...
and a plainly ironic style. In his first novel, ''The Aula'' (1965), Kant described his own experiences at the "Workers and Peasants Faculty." In the book, the closure of the faculty is an occasion for a graduation, for which the main character is to deliver a speech, which determines the fate of their fellow students and thus a part of their own lives in the early days of East Germany. "Kant's most famous and best novel" made him famous overnight in both the East and the West, while the book also being considered controversial in both German states. In East Germany most viewed the book as a "partisan commitment" of
Kantian Kantianism () is the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher born in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). The term ''Kantianism'' or ''Kantian'' is sometimes also used to describe contemporary positions in philosophy of mi ...
protagonists devoted to the "socialist movement", Marcel Reich-Ranicki remarked that Kant was too timid to write about the real conditions that existed in East Germany. In 1972, the novel was published in a second edition, where he perfected his writing style. The publication was always seen as a false depiction of parts of the East German cultural bureaucracy, and Kant was criticized for painting a misrepresentation of the social conflict. In 1976 he began developing the novel ''Der Aufenthalt'' in the
Bildungsroman In literary criticism, a bildungsroman () is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth and change of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age). The term comes from the German words ('formation' or 'edu ...
style. He tells the story of Mark Niebuhr, mistakenly labelled as a German war criminal. With the protagonist socialist Roman left Kant's "hero" with nothing to do. The story describes a "conversion" or "enlightenment", but also knowledge of "disenchantment". The writing was depicted in the 1983
DEFA DEFA (''Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft'') was the state-owned film studio of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) throughout the country's existence. Since 2019, DEFA's film heritage has been made accessible and licensable on the PR ...
film '' The Turning Point''. In addition, Kant wrote occasionally scripts and screenplays, including for Günter Reisch's feature film '' Ach du fröhliche...'' (1962 - with supporting role) and, based on his own novel, turned into a made-for-TV movie; ''Mitten im kalten Winter'' (1968). From the 1970s, Kant took despite its rather narrow view a "weighty significance" in the contemporary literature of East Germany, and had "helped shape minds."
Heiner Müller Heiner Müller (; 9 January 1929 – 30 December 1995) was a German (formerly East German) dramatist, poet, writer, essayist and theatre director. His "enigmatic, fragmentary pieces" are a significant contribution to postmodern drama and postd ...
described Kant's narrative ''Bronze Age'' (1986) in his autobiography as "the sharpest East German satire" which he had read in recent years. For many other colleagues, literary and social critic Kant was opposed to the "pattern and quintessential as maneuverable as windy compromise literati" become the bridge between conformism and confrontation; an impression that was reinforced by his vacillation as a literary functionary. So Kant remained in East and West "one of the most controversial figures in East German literature".Wiegmann: ''Literatur.'' S. 336


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kant, Hermann 1926 births 2016 deaths Writers from Hamburg Members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany) politicians Members of the 8th Volkskammer Members of the 9th Volkskammer Cultural Association of the GDR members East German writers German male writers Humboldt University of Berlin alumni German Army personnel of World War II German prisoners of war in World War II held by Poland Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany Heinrich Mann Prize winners Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold Stasi informants