Ingeborg Bachmann
Ingeborg Bachmann | |
---|---|
Born | Klagenfurt, Austria | 25 June 1926
Died | 17 October 1973 Rome, Italy | (aged 47)
Pen name | Ruth Keller |
Occupation | Poet, short story writer, novelist, translator, journalist |
Language | German |
Alma mater | University of Vienna (Ph.D. in Philosophy, 23 March 1950) University of Graz |
Notable works | Die gestundete Zeit (1953, "Time Deferred")
Anrufung des großen Bären (1956, "Invocation of Ursa Major") Malina (1971) |
Notable awards | Prize of the Group 47 1953 Georg Büchner Prize 1964 Anton Wildgans Prize 1971 |
Partner | Paul Celan (1950–52, 1957) Max Frisch (1958–63) |
Signature | |
Ingeborg Bachmann (Austrian German: [ˈɪŋəbɔrɡ ˈbaxman]; 25 June 1926 – 17 October 1973) was an Austrian poet and author. She is regarded as one of the major voices of German-language literature in the 20th century.
Early life and education
Bachmann was born in
She studied philosophy, psychology, German philology, and law at the universities of Innsbruck, Graz, and Vienna. In 1949, she received her PhD from the University of Vienna with her dissertation titled "The Critical Reception of the Existential Philosophy of Martin Heidegger";[4] her thesis adviser was Victor Kraft.[5]
Career
After graduating, Bachmann worked as a scriptwriter and editor at the Allied radio station Rot-Weiss-Rot, a job that enabled her to obtain an overview of contemporary literature and also supplied her with a decent income, making possible proper literary work. Her first radio dramas were published by the station. Her literary career was enhanced by contact with Hans Weigel (littérateur and sponsor of young post-war literature) and the literary circle known as Gruppe 47,[6] whose members also included Ilse Aichinger, Paul Celan, Heinrich Böll, Marcel Reich-Ranicki and Günter Grass.[7]
In 1953, she moved to Rome, Italy, where she spent the large part of the following years working on poems, essays and short stories as well as opera libretti in collaboration with Hans Werner Henze, which soon brought with them international fame and numerous awards.
Writings
Bachmann's doctoral dissertation expresses her growing disillusionment with
Bachmann's literary work focuses on themes like
A crisis of The transitory existence of the exiled or marginalised writer who escapes prejudice, conflict, and dominance is paralleled by the experience of the refugee. The feeling of unsettledness is measured against the desire to find that utopian land away (both geographically and temporally) from suffering. Yet, as Bachmann knows too well, escapism is a temporary heterotopia where guilt and longing cannot be kept at bay.[12] Similar themes can also be found throughout Bachmann's writings in works such as Ein Wildermuth (A Wildermuth), included in Das dreißigste Jahr (The Thirtieth Year: Stories , published in 1961), Malina
Bachmann was also in the vanguard of Austrian women writers who discovered in their private lives the political realities from which they attempted to achieve emancipation. Bachmann's writings and those of Barbara Frischmuth, Brigitte Schwaiger and Anna Mitgutsch were widely published in Germany. Male Austrian authors such as Franz Innerhofer, Josef Winkler and Peter Turrini wrote equally popular works on traumatic experiences of socialisation. Often these authors produced their works for major German publishing houses. After Bachmann's death in 1973 Austrian writers such as Thomas Bernhard, Peter Handke and Elfriede Jelinek continued the tradition of Austrian literature in Germany.[13]
Lectures
Between November 1959 and February 1960 Bachmann gave five lectures on poetics at the Goethe University Frankfurt. Known as the Frankfurter Vorlesungen: Probleme zeitgenössischer Dichtung (Frankfurt Lectures: Problems of Contemporary Writings) they are historically and substantively Bachmann's central work. In it she explained recurring themes in her early literary publications and she discussed the function of literature in society.[14] Bachmann insisted that literature had to be viewed in its historic context, thus foreshadowing a rising interest in studying the connection between literary discourse and the contemporary understanding of history.[14]
In the first lecture on Fragen und Scheinfragen (Questions and Pseudo-Questions) Bachmann focused on the role of writers in the post-war society and listed some essential questions that she defines "destructive and frightening in their simplicity". They are: why write? What do we mean by change and why do we want it through art? What are the limitations of the writer who wants to bring about change? According to Karen Achberger
Bachmann views the great literary accomplishments of the twentieth century as expressions in language and poetic form of moral and intellectual renewal in the individual writers; it is the writer's new thinking and experience that forms the core of their literary works, and lets them come closer to a new language. (…) Bachmann stresses the need for a new language inhabited by a new spirit. (…) She also associates literary renewal with writers on the verge of silence due to self-doubt and despair over the impotence of language and she cites in this context Hofmannsthal's Ein Brief (1902) … as the first articulation of this dilemma.[14]
In the second lecture, Über Gedichte (On poems), she distinguished poetry with its new power to grasp reality in its language, from other genres such as novels and plays. With reference to
In the third lecture, on Das schreibende Ich (The writing I), Bachmann addressed the question of the
In the fourth lecture, Der Umgang mit Namen (The close association with names), Bachmann explored how names could have a life of their own. She discussed the use of names in contemporary literature. She identified "denied names" such as in Kafka's The Castle, "ironic naming" by Thomas Mann, "name games" in Joyce's Ulysses and instances where the identity of the character is not secured by a name but by the context, such as in Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury.[16]
In the fifth lecture on Literatur als Utopie (Literature as Utopia), she turned to the question of what makes literature
Later life and death
During her later years she suffered from alcoholism and from an addiction to medication prescribed by her doctor.[17] A friend described it:
"I was deeply shocked by the magnitude of her tablet addiction. It must have been 100 per day, the bin was full of empty boxes. She looked bad, she was waxlike and pale. And her whole body was covered in bruises. I wondered what could have caused them. Then, when I saw how she slipped her Gauloise that she smoked and let it burn off on her arm, I realized: burns caused by falling cigarettes. The numerous tablets had made her body insensible to pain."[18]
On the night of 25 September 1973, her nightgown caught on fire and she was taken to the Sant'Eugenio Hospital at 7:05 A.M. the following morning for treatment of second and third degree burns.[19] Local police concluded that the fire was caused by a cigarette. During her stay, she experienced withdrawal symptoms from barbiturate substance abuse, though the doctors treating her were not aware of the cause. This may have contributed to her subsequent death on 17 October 1973.[20][21]
Legacy
Although German language writers such as Hilde Domin, Luise Rinser and Nelly Sachs had published notable works on women's issues in the post-war period, it was only in the 1970s that a feminist movement emerged in West Germany.[22] After her death, Bachmann became popular among feminist readers. Feminist scholars' engagement with her work after her death led to a wave of scholarship that also drew attention to her prose work.[23] Her works gained popularity within the emerging Frauenliteratur (women's literature) movement which struggled to find the authentic female voice. New publishing houses carried the movement, such as the feminist press Frauenoffensive (Women's Offensive), which published writings by Verena Stefan.[24]
In 2021, her childhood home on Henselstraße in Klagenfurt was purchased by the state of Carinthia to be turned into a museum dedicated to her.[25]
Awards and recognition
Source:[26]
- 1953: Prize of Group 47, for her poetry collection Die gestundete Zeit.[27]
- 1957: Literaturpreis der Stadt Bremen (ex aequo with Gerd Oelschlegel).
- 1959: Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden.
- 1964: Georg Büchner Prize.[28]
- 1968: Grosser Osterreichischer Staatspreis.
- 1972: Anton Wildgans Prize.[27]
The Ingeborg Bachmann Prize
The
In film
The Dreamed Ones (Die Geträumten; 2016), is a feature film based on the almost 20-year correspondence between Bachmann and poet Paul Celan.[30] It was directed by Ruth Beckermann, and won several awards.[31]
A biographical film, Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert, starring Vicky Krieps as Bachmann and directed by Margarethe von Trotta, premiered at 73rd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2023, and gets a cinema release on 26 October 2023.[32] The film focuses on her relationship with Max Frisch and the impact it had on her life. It also depicts her friends, composer Hans Werner Henze, and writer Adolf Opel, with whom she travelled to Egypt to experience the desert.[33]
Personal life
From 1945 to 1946, Bachmann fell in love with a former member of the British Army, the Viennese Jew Jack Hamesh.[34] In May 1948 she began in Vienna a love affair with the poet and Holocaust survivor Paul Celan.[35] In 1955 she met the political scientist Henry Kissinger; even though he was married and had two children, the two had a romantic relationship that lasted several years.[36] From 1958 to 1963, she lived on and off with Swiss playwright Max Frisch. Her 1971 novel, Malina, has been described as a response, at least partially, to his 1964 novel Mein Name sei Gantenbein.[37] She never married nor had children.
Works
Poetry collections
- 1953: Die gestundete Zeit.
- 1956: Anrufung des Grossen Bären.
- 2000: Ich weiß keine bessere Welt. (Unpublished Poems)
- 2006: Darkness Spoken: The Collected Poems of Ingeborg Bachmann. translator ISBN 978-0-939010-84-4.
Radio plays
- 1952: Ein Geschäft mit Träumen.
- 1955: Die Zikaden.
- 1959: Der gute Gott von Manhattan (won the Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden in 1959).
- 2011: Die Radiofamilie.
- The Radio Family, translated by Mike Mitchell (2014). ISBN 9780857421913.
Libretti
- 1960: Der Prinz von Homburg.
- 1965: Der junge Lord.
Collections of short stories
- Das dreißigste Jahr (1961).
- The Thirtieth Year, translated by Michael Bullock (1964).
- Simultan (1972).
- Three Paths to the Lake, translated by Mary Fran Gilbert (1989). The eponymous short story in this collection was adapted as a film by Michael Haneke in 1976.
Novel
- Malina (1971).
- Malina. Translated by Philip Boehm (1990; revised 2019). ISBN 9780241366240.
Unfinished novels
- Der Fall Franza / Requiem für Fanny Goldmann (Piper, 1979).
- The Book of Franza and Requiem for Fanny Goldmann, translated by Peter Filkins (Evanstons: Northwestern University Press, 2010). ISBN 978-0810127548.
- "Todesarten"-Projekt (Piper, 1995). Compiles:
- Todesarten, Ein Ort für Zufalle, Wüstenbuch, Requiem für Fanny Goldmann, Goldmann/Rottwitz-Roman und andere Texte
- Das Buch Franza
- Malina (2 v. )
- Der "Simultan"-Band und andere späte Erzählungen.
- Das Buch Goldmann, ed. by Marie Luise Wandruszka (Munich; Berlin: Piper; Suhrkamp, 2022). ISBN 978-3518426012.
Essays, public speeches and interviews
- 1959: Die Wahrheit ist dem Menschen zumutbar (poetological speech at a German presentation of awards).
- 1955: Frankfurter Vorlesungen (lecture on problems of contemporary literature).
- The Critical Writings of Ingeborg Bachmann, ed. and trans. by Karen R. Achberger and Karl Ivan Solibakke (Rochester, N.Y.: Camden House 2021). ISBN 9781571139443.
- 1983 [interviews from 1953–1973], Wir müssen wahre Sätze finden. Gespräche und Interviews, ed. by Christine Koschel and Inge von Weidenbaum (Munich: Piper, 1983). ISBN 9783492027243.
Letters
- Bachmann, Ingeborg; Henze, Hans Werner; Höller, Hans (2004). Briefe einer Freundschaft (in German). München: Piper. OCLC 56492391.
- ——; Celan, Paul; Celan-Lestrange, Gisèle; Frisch, Max; Badiou, Bertrand (2008). Herzzeit : Ingeborg Bachmann, Paul Celan, der Briefwechsel : mit den Briefwechseln zwischen Paul Celan und Max Frisch sowie zwischen Ingeborg Bachmann und Gisele Celan-Lestrange (in German). Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp. OCLC 244654481.
- ——; Celan, Paul; Badiou, Bertrand (2010). Correspondence : Ingeborg Bachmann and Paul Celan : with the correspondences between Paul Celan and Max Frisch and between Ingeborg Bachmann and Gisèle Celan-Lestrange. London: Seagull Books. OCLC 457149489.
- ——; Celan, Paul; Badiou, Bertrand (2010). Correspondence : Ingeborg Bachmann and Paul Celan : with the correspondences between Paul Celan and Max Frisch and between Ingeborg Bachmann and Gisèle Celan-Lestrange. London: Seagull Books.
- ——; Bischof, Peter (1991). Briefe an Felician. München: Piper. OCLC 28093251.
- ——; Searls, Damion (2004). Letters to Felician. København: Green Integer. OCLC 55591384.
- ——; Searls, Damion (2004). Letters to Felician. København: Green Integer.
- ——; Höller, Hans (2010). Kriegstagebuch : mit Briefen von Jack Hamesh an Ingeborg Bachmann (in German). Berlin: Suhrkamp. OCLC 613308412.
- ——; Hamesh, Jack; Höller, Hans; Mitchell, Mike (2011). War diary : with letters from Jack Hamesh. London: Seagull Books. OCLC 758953009.
- ——; Hamesh, Jack; Höller, Hans; Mitchell, Mike (2011). War diary : with letters from Jack Hamesh. London: Seagull Books.
- ——; Schiffermüller, Isolde; Pelloni, Gabriella (2017). "Male oscuro" : Aufzeichnungen aus der Zeit der Krankheit : Traumnotate, Briefe, Brief- und Redeentwürfe (in German). München. )
- ——; Frisch, Max; Höller, Hans; Langer, Renate; Strässle, Thomas; Wiedemann, Barbara (2022). »Wir haben es nicht gut gemacht.« der Briefwechsel : mit Briefen von Verwandten, Freunden und Bekannten (in German). München.
Doctoral Dissertation
- Bachmann, Ingeborg; Pichl, Robert; Wallner, Friedrich (1985). Die kritische Aufnahme der Existentialphilosophie Martin Heideggers (in German). München: Piper. OCLC 19351796.
See also
References
- ISBN 978-3-10-002303-2
- JSTOR 4150483.
- ^ Garman, Emma (9 July 2019). "Feminize Your Canon: Ingeborg Bachmann". The Paris Review. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ISSN 2334-4415.
- ISBN 978-1-57241-130-2.
- ^ "Ingeborg Bachmann". Center for the Art of Translation. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- ^ "Ingeborg Bachmann | Austrian author". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
- ISBN 978-3-421-04315-3.
- ^ "Ingeborg Bachmann". jetzt.de (in German). 23 June 2006. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-55849-552-4.
- ISBN 978-1-55849-552-4.
- ISBN 978-1-135-94122-2.
- ^ Jeffery, Lucy (2020). Collective Responsibility in Ingeborg Bachmann and Hans Werner Henze’s Radio Drama 'The Cicadas' in 'Radio Art and Music: Culture, Aesthetics, Politics'. Lexington Books. pp. 185–205. Jarmila Mildorf and Pim Verhulst (eds.). books.google.co.uk.
- ISBN 978-1-135-94122-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87249-994-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87249-994-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87249-994-2.
- ^ Ina Hartwig: Wer war Ingeborg Bachmann?, S. Fischer 2017. p. 223.
- ^ Peter Beicken: Ingeborg Bachmann, Becksche Reihe 605, Second Edition. Munich 1992, p. 213.
- ISBN 978-3-86815-537-2.
- ISBN 978-1-55849-552-4.
- ^ West, Adrian Nathan (30 October 2019). "Society Is the Biggest Murder Scene of All: On Bachmann's "Malina"". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-139-43154-5.
- ISBN 978-1-55849-552-4.
- ISBN 978-1-135-94122-2.
- ^ "Bachmann-Haus in Klagenfurt von Land und Stadt angekauft" [Klagenfurt's state and city bought Bachmann's house]. Salzburger Nachrichten (in German). 15 September 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
- ISBN 978-3-552-04927-7.
- ^ a b "Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973)". Bachmannpreis (in German). 4 May 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ "Ingeborg Bachmann". Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
- ^ Bachmann-Preis – Tage der deutschsprachigen Literatur. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
- ^ Oltermann, Philip (17 November 2016). "Poets' unlikely love letters are turned into critically acclaimed film". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- IMDb
- ^ "Ingeborg Bachmann – Reise in die Wüste" [Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the desert]. Polyfilm (in German). 23 January 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
- ^ "Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert". German Film Festival 2023. 5 April 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ Weinzierl, Ulrich (17 April 2010). "Der Soldat und das Mädchen" [The soldier and the girl]. Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 28 October 2023.
- ^ "Paul Celan und Ingeborg Bachmann – Die langjährige Liebes- und Arbeitsbeziehung eines Dichterpaares – mit der 'Fremde als Bestimmung'" [Paul Celan and Ingeborg Bachmann – The long-term love and working relationship of a poetic couple – with the 'stranger as their destiny']. literaturkritik.de (in German). Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ISBN 978-3-10-002303-2.
- JSTOR 30039350.
- ^ Böttiger, Helmut (18 November 2022). "Spektakulärer Briefwechsel - Ingeborg Bachmann und Max Frisch". Deutschlandfunk (in German). Retrieved 2 December 2022.
External links
- Ingeborg Bachmann at perlentaucher.de – das Kulturmagazin (in German)
- Ingeborg Bachmann at Lyrikline – includes some translations of her poems into Dutch and Turkish
- Liukkonen, Petri. "Ingeborg Bachmann". Authors' Calendar.
- "Two Poems by Ingeborg Bachmann". Berfois. 15 May 2014. Includes "The drugs, the words" ("Die Drogen, die Worte") and "The bridges" (Die Brücken), translated into English by Peter Elkin
- Sound recordings with Ingeborg Bachmann in the Online Archive of the Österreichische Mediathek (Literary readings, interviews and radio reports) (in German)