Science Fiction in the Work of Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Abstract

Besides his plays, Friedrich Dürrenmatt was known for his incursions in the detective novel, where he challenged the limits of the genre; one of his texts is even subtitled Requiem for the Detective Novel. Less known is the fact that he also published texts inspired by science fiction, such as the radio play Das Unternehmen der Wega (1954), and the narratives "Der Winterkrieg in Tibet" (1981) and "Der Versuch" (posthumous, 1992). As per usual in his work, Dürrenmatt makes large use of irony and sarcasm, but only the radio play satirizes the genre Science Fiction itself. The narrations, in contrast, make use of the typical characteristics of the genre in order to perform the social critic intended by the author. This paper will discuss how the cited works reflect the relation of the author to science fiction and the Zukunftsroman, the 'national' version of the genre in German speaking countries until the middle of the 20th century.