Abstract

The fame of the German poet-essayist Hans Magnus Enzensberger is secure; it rests on widely differing interpretations of his work. From the very beginning of his literary career, there were those who saw in him a concerned critic of society and those who did not take him seriously; those who attacked him as a romantic Marxist and those who criticized him as an anarchistic conservative. All agreed however, that he is an exceptional literary talent who, at least in German-speaking countries, cannot be ignored.

For those who are interested in Enzensberger but do not read German, the situation is not too bad.