Brigitte Kronauer
- Author
- novelist
- Georg Büchner Prize
- Jean-Paul-Preis
- Thomas Mann Prize
Brigitte Kronauer (29 December 1940 – 22 July 2019)[1] was a German writer who lived in Hamburg. Her novels, written in the tradition of Jean Paul with artful writing and an ironic undertone, were awarded several prizes, including in 2005 the Georg Büchner Prize, in 2011 the Jean-Paul-Preis and in 2017 the Thomas Mann Prize.
Life
Kronauer was born in Essen, and grew up with her mother.[2] She studied pedagogy and worked as a teacher in Aachen and Göttingen.[3] She moved to Hamburg in the mid-1970s, where she began her literary work.[3][4] Her first novel appeared in 1980, Frau Mühlenbeck im Gehäus, published by Klett-Cotta Verlag [de], which also published all her following works.[3] The novel has autobiographic elements.[2] Its language was unusual in the literature after World War II, with sentences constructed with acrobatic audacity ("von akrobatischer Gewagtheit").[5] Kronauer named Jean Paul as influential for her work. As in his writing, Kronauer's sentences often contain double-meanings and ironic allusions.[5]
She wrote successful novels such as Berittener Bogenschütze (1986),[5] Teufelsbrück (2000), Verlangen nach Musik und Gebirge (2004), Errötende Mörder (2007), Zwei schwarze Jäger (2009), Gewäsch und Gewimmel (2013) and Der Scheik von Aachen (2016).[5][6] Her novel Das Schöne, Schäbige, Schwankende is scheduled to appear in August 2019. It is focused on a woman writer, full of self-irony.[5]
In 2005, she was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize for her literary oeuvre.[1][3][7] Among other awards, she received the Jean-Paul-Preis in 2011,[8] and the Thomas Mann Prize in 2017.[9]
Kronauer died on 22 July 2019 in Hamburg, after a long illness.[3][6]
Legacy
Kronauer's colleague Martin Mosebach, who delivered the laudatory speech when she received the Thomas Mann Prize, said in an interview by Deutschlandfunk on 24 July 2019 that he regards her as writing in the tradition of Jean Paul in a noble way, mentioning aspects such a sublime artistry ("kunstvoll sublim")[10] and a tender humour with a floating, ironic, delicate undertone ("schwebender, ironischer, zarter Unterton").[10] He described her as a person open to visual impressions, describing a character's emotions by noting how they are reflected in mimics, and great nature scenes, realising how nature "arches over the little odd human being" ("Die Natur wölbt sich über das kleine kauzige Menschenwesen"),[10] again similar to Jean Paul. He described her as a person with a penetrating mind, a perfect careful control of expression, always trying hard to find the right word, and of great kindliness ("... eben diese einzigartige Gegenwart eines durchdringenden Verstandes, einer vollkommenen, sehr, sehr sorgfältigen Kontrolliertheit ihres Ausdrucks, ein ungeheures Bemühen, immer das genau richtige Wort zu finden – und eine große Liebenswürdigkeit").[10]
The FAZ called her one of the greatest post-World War II women writers in German.[2]
When she received the Jean-Paul-Preis of Bavaria, her writing was described by the jury: "The brilliance of her style makes her an exceptional phenomenon in contemporary German literature" ("Die Brillanz ihres Stils macht sie zu einer Ausnahmeerscheinung in der deutschen Gegenwartsliteratur"), with characteristics such as "inventiveness, humanity and a sense of humour that accompanies the often idiosyncratic characters of her books with love, and never betrays them" ("Erfindungskraft, Humanität und ein Humor, der die oft eigenwilligen Figuren ihrer Bücher mit Liebe begleitet und niemals verrät"),[8] while also considered the 'grand master of spite" ("Großmeisterin der Boshaftigkeit").[8]
Novels
Kronauer's novels, published by Klett-Cotta in Stuttgart and held by the German National Library, include:[11]
- Frau Mühlenbeck im Gehäus, 1980, ISBN 3-12-904501-5; dtv, München 1984, ISBN 3-423-10356-6
- Rita Münster, 1983, ISBN 3-608-95218-7; dtv, München 1991, ISBN 3-423-11430-4
- Berittener Bogenschütze, 1986, ISBN 3-608-95420-1; dtv, München 2000, ISBN 3-423-11291-3
- Die Frau in den Kissen, 1990; dtv, München 1996, ISBN 3-423-12206-4
- Das Taschentuch, 1994, ISBN 3-608-93220-8; dtv, München 2001, ISBN 3-423-12888-7
- Teufelsbrück, 2000, ISBN 3-608-93070-1; dtv, München 2003, ISBN 3-423-13037-7
- Verlangen nach Musik und Gebirge, 2004, ISBN 3-608-93571-1; dtv, München 2006, ISBN 3-423-13511-5
- Errötende Mörder, 2007, ISBN 978-3-608-93730-5; dtv, München 2010, ISBN 978-3-423-13898-7
- Zwei schwarze Jäger, 2009, ISBN 978-3-608-93885-2
- Gewäsch und Gewimmel, 2013, ISBN 978-3-608-98006-6
- Der Scheik von Aachen, 2016, ISBN 978-3-608-98314-2
Awards
- 1985: Fontane-Preis [de] of Berlin[3]
- 1989: Heinrich-Böll-Preis of Cologne[3]
- 1998: Hubert-Fichte-Preis [de] of Hamburg[3]
- 2000: Kronauer was chosen for Mainzer Stadtschreiber of 2001, a literary prize awarded by the television channels ZDF and 3sat as well as the city of Mainz. Kronauer returned the award in March 2001, however, due to disagreements with ZDF about the so-called "electronic diary", a film whose production and broadcasting would have been part of the award, along with 24.000 DM prize money and the right to lodge in the Gutenberg Museum for one year.[12][13]
- 2005: Georg Büchner Prize[1][7]
- 2011: Jean-Paul-Preis[8]
- 2017: Thomas Mann Prize[9]
References
- ^ a b c "Award winning German author Brigitte Kronauer dies at 78". pmnewsnigeria.com. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
- ^ a b c "Autorin und Essayistin : Brigitte Kronauer ist tot". FAZ (in German). 23 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Brigitte Kronauer ist tot". Der Spiegel (in German). 23 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
- ^ Andre, Thomas (28 December 2010). "Brigitte Kronauer: Primadonna? Kein bisschen". Hamburger Abendblatt (in German). Retrieved 26 June 2012.
- ^ a b c d e Mangold, Ijoma (24 July 2019). "Glamouröse Handlungen / Zum Tod von Brigitte Kronauer, der Grande Dame der deutschen Literatur". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 24 July 2019.
- ^ a b "Brigitte Kronauer verstorben". Börsenblatt (in German). 23 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
- ^ a b "Urkundentext Brigitte Kronauer" (in German). Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
- ^ a b c d "Literatur / Jean-Paul-Preis für Brigitte Kronauer". Mittelbayerische (in German). 30 September 2010. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- ^ a b "Brigitte Kronauer erhält den Thomas Mann Preis 2017 / Verbindung von formaler Kühnheit mit psychologischer Subtilität". Börsenblatt (in German). 3 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
- ^ a b c d Mosebach, Martin (24 July 2019). "Martin Mosebach über Brigitte Kronauer / "Die Lektüre ihrer Werke braucht Hingabe"". Deutschlandfunk (in German). Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- ^ "Works by Brigitte Kronauer". German National Library (in German). Retrieved 24 July 2019.
- ^ "Brigitte Kronauer wird neue Mainzer Stadtschreiberin im Jahr 2001". ZDF (in German). 22 November 2000. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
- ^ "Brigitte Kronauer: Krach mit dem ZDF". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 5 March 2001. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
External links
- Literature by and about Brigitte Kronauer in the German National Library catalogue
- Brigitte Kronauer Klett-Cotta Verlag [de]
- Brigitte Kronauer University Library FU Berlin
- Brigitte Kronauer at perlentaucher.de – das Kulturmagazin (in German)
- v
- t
- e
- 1923 Adam Karrillon and Arnold Mendelssohn
- 1924 Alfred Bock and Paul Thesing
- 1925 Wilhelm Michel and Rudolf Koch
- 1926 Christian Heinrich Kleukens and Wilhelm Petersen
- 1927 Kasimir Edschmid and Johannes Bischoff
- 1928 Richard Hoelscher and Well Habicht
- 1929 Carl Zuckmayer and Adam Antes
- 1930 Nikolaus Schwarzkopf and Johannes Lippmann
- 1931 Alexander Posch and Hans Simon
- 1932 Albert H. Rausch and Adolf Bode
- 1933–1944 not given
- 1945 Hans Schiebelhuth
- 1946 Fritz Usinger
- 1947 Anna Seghers
- 1948 Hermann Heiss
- 1949 Carl Gunschmann
- 1950 Elisabeth Langgässer
- 1951 Gottfried Benn
- 1952 not given
- 1953 Ernst Kreuder
- 1954 Martin Kessel
- 1955 Marie Luise Kaschnitz
- 1956 Karl Krolow
- 1957 Erich Kästner
- 1958 Max Frisch
- 1959 Günter Eich
- 1960 Paul Celan
- 1961 Hans Erich Nossack
- 1962 Wolfgang Koeppen
- 1963 Hans Magnus Enzensberger
- 1964 Ingeborg Bachmann
- 1965 Günter Grass
- 1966 Wolfgang Hildesheimer
- 1967 Heinrich Böll
- 1968 Golo Mann
- 1969 Helmut Heißenbüttel
- 1970 Thomas Bernhard
- 1971 Uwe Johnson
- 1972 Elias Canetti
- 1973 Peter Handke
- 1974 Hermann Kesten
- 1975 Manès Sperber
- 1976 Heinz Piontek
- 1977 Reiner Kunze
- 1978 Hermann Lenz
- 1979 Ernst Meister
- 1980 Christa Wolf
- 1981 Martin Walser
- 1982 Peter Weiss
- 1983 Wolfdietrich Schnurre
- 1984 Ernst Jandl
- 1985 Heiner Müller
- 1986 Friedrich Dürrenmatt
- 1987 Erich Fried
- 1988 Albert Drach
- 1989 Botho Strauß
- 1990 Tankred Dorst
- 1991 Wolf Biermann
- 1992 George Tabori
- 1993 Peter Rühmkorf
- 1994 Adolf Muschg
- 1995 Durs Grünbein
- 1996 Sarah Kirsch
- 1997 H. C. Artmann
- 1998 Elfriede Jelinek
- 1999 Arnold Stadler
- 2000 Volker Braun
- 2001 Friederike Mayröcker
- 2002 Wolfgang Hilbig
- 2003 Alexander Kluge
- 2004 Wilhelm Genazino
- 2005 Brigitte Kronauer
- 2006 Oskar Pastior
- 2007 Martin Mosebach
- 2008 Josef Winkler
- 2009 Walter Kappacher
- 2010 Reinhard Jirgl
- 2011 Friedrich Christian Delius
- 2012 Felicitas Hoppe
- 2013 Sibylle Lewitscharoff
- 2014 Jürgen Becker
- 2015 Rainald Goetz
- 2016 Marcel Beyer
- 2017 Jan Wagner
- 2018 Terézia Mora
- 2019 Lukas Bärfuss
- 2020 Elke Erb
- 2021 Clemens J. Setz
- 2022 Emine Sevgi Özdamar
- 2023: Lutz Seiler