Wolf, Christa (redirected from Christa Ihlenfeld)

Wolf, Christa (krēs`tä vôlf), 1929–, German novelist. After attending the universities of Jena and Leipzig, she worked as an editor of literary journals. She won the approval of the East German government with her novel, Divided Heaven (1963, tr. 1965). However, her semiautobiographical novel, The Quest for Christa T. (1968, tr. 1972), which was critical of East German society and ideals, earned her criticism at home, but an international reputation as a complex writer. Many of her novels, including No Place on Earth (1979, tr. 1982), mixed fact and fiction as they affirmed the needs of the individual in East Germany's destructive society. Her claim to the moral high ground was undermined in the early 1990s when it was revealed that Wolf had been a secret police informant from 1959 to 1961. She maintained, however, that she had revealed nothing of use. Wolf's other writings include Cassandra (1983, tr. 1984), A Model Childhood (1977, tr. 1980), What Remains and Other Stories (1980, tr. 1993), The Author's Dimension: Selected Essays (tr. 1993), and Medea (1996, tr. 1998).

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Wolf, Christa

 orig. Christa Ihlenfeld

(born March 18, 1929, Landsberg an der Warthe, Ger.) German novelist, essayist, and screenwriter. She was reared in a middle-class, pro-Nazi family; after Germany's defeat in 1945, she moved with her family to East Germany. Her work reflects her experiences during World War II and her postwar life in a communist state. Her novels include Divided Heaven (1963), which brought her political favour; The Quest for Christa T. (1968), severely attacked in East Germany; A Model Childhood (1976); Cassandra (1983), her most widely read book, linking nuclear and patriarchal power; and What Remains (1990), on government surveillance and her own links to the East German secret police.

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Wolf, Christa 

Born March 18, 1929, in Landsberg. German writer (German Democratic Republic [GDR]).

Wolf studied German philology at Jena and Leipzig. In 1961 her work Moscow Novella was published. In the novel The Divided Sky (1963; Russian translation, 1964), Wolf writes of the complicated process of establishing socialist relations and morals in the GDR when there are two German states. The novella Meditations About Christa T. (1968), which is devoted to the problems of the contemporary intelligentsia, gave rise to disputes in the press. Wolfs prose is distinguished by deep psychologism in the portrayal of characters and sharp descriptions of social problems. She is also a literary critic and scriptwriter. Wolf was awarded the Heinrich Mann Prize (1963) and the National Prize of the GDR (1964).

WORKS

“Blickwechsel.” In Der erste Augenblick der Freiheit. Rostock, 1970.

REFERENCES

Simonian, L. “Liudi i Knigi.” Inostrannaia literatura, 1964, no. 1.
Klein, A. “Potrebnost’ v schast’e.” Voprosy literatury, 1965, no. 12.
Kharlap, L. “O tom, kak nakhodiat sebia.” Inostrannaia literatura, 1968, no. 10.
Schlenstedt, D. “Motive und Symbole in Christa Wolfs Erzahlung Der geteilte Himmel.” Weimarer Beiträge, 1964, no. 1.
Kähler, H. “Christa Wolf Elegie.” Sinn und Form, 1969, no. 1.

A. V. KAREL’SKII