Martin Walser
Martin Walser was born in Wasserburg on Lake Constance in 1927. He studied Literature, History and Philosophy in Regensburg and Tübingen, where he wrote his doctorate on Franz Kafka in 1951. From 1949 to 1957 Walser worked as a reporter, director and radio playwright for the Süddeutscher Rundfunk regional radio station. From 1953 onwards, he was a member of the Gruppe 47, winning the literary group’s prize for one of his first short stories, »Templones Ende« (t: Templone’s end), in 1955. He received the Hermann Hesse Prize for his first novel: »Ehen in Philippsburg« (1957; Eng. »Marriage in Philippsburg«). His work consists of prose, plays, film scripts, radio plays and translations, as well as a great number of essays, speeches and lectures. In 1978 »Ein fliehendes Pferd« (Eng. »Runaway Horse«, 1980) was published – a classic of German postwar literature. It tells the story of the teacher Halm, a typical Walser anti-hero, who spends his holidays with his wife in a quiet corner of Lake Constance because he believes he can only survive in a state of lethargy. Walser describes himself as a »literary expert on identity damage«. His mainly bourgeois protagonists – characters plagued by identity problems, feelings of inferiority and dependency – are characterised by interior monologues, their weaknesses portrayed through irony, with precision and humour. The protagonists in Walser’s novels can often be traced through consecutive tales, as for example the character of Anselm Kristlein in the trilogy »Halbzeit« (1960; t: Half-Time), »Das Einhorn« (1966; Eng. »The Unicorn«, 1971) and »Der Sturz« (1973; t: The Fall). In 2004 »Der Augenblick der Liebe« (t: The Moment of Love) appeared, the third novel with protagonist Gottlieb Zürn after »Das Schwanenhaus« (1980; Eng. »The Swan Villa«, 1982) and »Die Jagd« (1988; t: The Hunt). Also in 2004, the collection of essays »Die Verwaltung des Nichts« (2004; t: The Administration of Nothingness) was published.
After the publication of »Ein springender Brunnen« (1998; t: A Springing Fountain), in which the author recounts his youth in Wasserburg during the Third Reich, Walser was awarded the Peace Prize of the German Booksellers. »The author of German unification«, as the jury said, had »explained Germany to the Germans themselves and to the world«. His acceptance speech, in which he criticised »the instrumentalisation of Auschwitz« as a »moralising cudgel«, caused him to be accused of advocating to rule off the National Socialist history of Germany. The intensity of the resulting »Walser Bubis debate«, as well as reactions to his novel »Tod eines Kritikers« (2002; t: Death of a Critic), mark out the arbitrary and indistinct intellectual and moral nature of the discussion of Germany’s past. Walser’s diaries from the years 1951 to 1962 were published entitled »Leben und Schreiben« (t: Living and Writing) in 2005.
Walser, who has always expressed controversial opinions on subjects of current political interest alongside his literary activities, is one of the most significant authors of German postwar literature, and he has received countless prizes for his literary work, among them the Georg Büchner Prize in 1981. He has also been awarded the order »Pour le Mérite« and named Officier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Walser lives in Überlingen, on Lake Constance.
© international literature festival berlin
Ehen in Philippsburg
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1958
Eiche und Angora: eine deutsche Chronik
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1962
Halbzeit
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1962
Ein Flugzeug über dem Haus und andere Geschichten
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1963
Der schwarze Schwan
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1964
Überlebensgroß Herr Krott: Requiem für einen Unsterblichen
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1964
Eiche und Angora: eine deutsche Chronik
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1964
Das Einhorn
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1966
Heimatkunde: Aufsätze und Reden
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1968
Ein Kinderspiel: Stück in zwei Akten
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1970
Aus dem Wortschatz unserer Kämpfe
Verl. Eremiten-Presse
Stierstadt, 1971
Ill: Peer Wolfram
Beschreibung einer Form: Versuch über Franz Kafka
Ullstein
Frankfurt/Main, 1973
Das Sauspiel: Szenen aus dem 16. Jahrhundert
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1975
Ein fliehendes Pferd
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1978
Seelenarbeit
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1979
In Goethes Hand: Szenen aus dem 19. Jahrhundert
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1982
Brief an Lord Liszt
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1982
Brandung
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1985
Auskunft: 22 Gespräche aus 28 Jahren
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1991
Kaschmir in Parching: Szenen aus der Gegenwart
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1995
Vormittag eines Schriftstellers
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1996
Deutsche Sorgen
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1997
Finks Krieg
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 1998
Die Verteidigung der Kindheit
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 2002
Ohne einander
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 2002
Ein springender Brunnen
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 2002
Tod eines Kritikers
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 2002
Meßmers Reisen
Suhrkamp
Frankfurt/Main, 2003
Der Augenblick der Liebe
Rowohlt
Reinbek, 2004
Die Verwaltung des Nichts
Rowohlt
Reinbek, 2004
Leben und Schreiben: Tagebücher 1951-1962
Rowohlt
Reinbek, 2005
Der Lebensroman des Andreas Beck
Isele
Eggingen, 2006
Angstblüte
Rowohlt
Reinbek, 2006
Winterblume: Über Bücher von 1951 bis 2005
Isele
Eggingen, 2007
Das geschundene Tier: Neununddreißig Balladen
Rowohlt
Reinbek, 2007