Michel de Ghelderode

Piet Defraeye (University of Alberta)

Ed. by Hugo Azerad, University of Cambridge
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.06: French Writing and Culture: Early Twentieth-century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Kate Averis (University of Western Australia), Hugo Azerad (University of Cambridge), Patrick ffrench (King's College London), Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Akane Kawakami (Birkbeck, University of London), Siobhán McIlvanney (King's College London), Sinan Richards (King's College London), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

Born 3 Apr 1898
Died 1962
Activity 1918-1962

Places

Born in Belgium
Active in Belgium

Activities

Primary

Playwright / Dramatist

Resources

Ghelderode's Works

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Michel de Ghelderode (1898-1962) is a Belgium-born playwright, prose writer, and poet. Influenced and inspired by expressionism, surrealism, and constructivism, his work is now quite dated – though it still elicits occasional attention from theatre makers. De Ghelderode is best known for his plays, which often focus on motifs of religion and death. His work is almost invariably situated in the past, or another time and place than the here and now. This creates a unique universe, quite undefined, though there are clear references to Flanders throughout his writing. What emerges is a dark view of society and of mankind, in which one is doomed to live one’s inescapable fate. It is a world of opportunists, liars, and corrupt rulers, in which false piety, deception, and cruelty prevail.…

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4119 words

Citation: Defraeye, Piet. "Michel de Ghelderode". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 August 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12877, accessed 31 October 2024.]

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