Hans Magnus Enzensberger

Hans Magnus Enzensberger (Kaufbeuren, November 11, 1929-Munich, November 24, 2022) was a German poet and essayist, considered one of the most important representatives of German thought of the postwar A versatile figure, he alternated his work as a teacher with literature, essays, journalism and editorial activity. He was the brother of the writer Christian Enzensberger.

Trajectory

He grew up in a bourgeois family in Nuremberg; his father was a postal worker. As a young man, he was a member of the Volkssturm and the Hitler Youth, but was expelled. In this regard, Enzensberger noted: "I am not worth being a comrade. I am not able to align myself". He studied German, Literature and Philosophy at the universities of Erlangen, Freiburg and Hamburg, among others, but completed his training at the Sorbonne in Paris. He received his doctorate in 1955 with a thesis on the poetry of Clemens Brentano and taught until 1957.

He began his literary career in 1957, with the publication of the book of poems die verteidigung der wölfe (defense of wolves), which was followed by another collection of poems, landessprache (language of the country, 1960). He has written many controversial sociological and political texts, novels, and essays. In 1963, at the age of 33, he received the Georg Büchner Prize.

Between 1965 and 1975 he was a member of the so-called Group 47, an association of writers of his generation, later established, which promoted the revitalization of the German language and literature and the diffusion of a new cosmopolitan and democratic German culture, after the tragic parenthesis of the Nazi period and World War II; this Group 47 met twice a year to read unpublished fragments and thus face public criticism.

Enzensberger's multiple concerns have also led him to found and direct magazines and publishing houses: Kursbuch (1965), Trasatlantic or the literary collection Die Andere Bibliothek (The other library). He also worked as an editor at Radio Essay in Stuttgart. Since 1985 he directed a literary collection.

Enzensberger lived in Norway (where his first wife was from), Italy, the United States, Mexico and Cuba. She lived her last years in Munich, where she died on November 24, 2022 at the age of 93.

Enzensberger and Spanish culture

Interest in Spanish culture has been a constant in Enzensberger's personal and professional career, which, together with his command of the Spanish language, has led him to disseminate the work of Spanish-speaking writers, even through the translation of poets such as César Vallejo and Rafael Alberti. His biographical novel Buenaventura Durrutis Leben und Tod (The short summer of anarchy. Life and death of Buenaventura Durruti, 1972) reflects his knowledge of Spanish themes, particularly the Civil War, accredited in numerous articles of his that have been translated and published in various Spanish media.

After his first trip to Spain in 1955, he attended regularly and was a regular speaker in courses and seminars at the most prestigious institutions. Almost all of her work is translated into Spanish, published by the Anagrama publishing house. In 2002 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Círculo de Bellas Artes and the Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities. In 2009 he received the Order of Arts and Letters from the Council of Ministers of Spain.

Work

Essay

• Brentanos Poetik1961
• Einzelheiten1962. Tr.: Details
• Politik und Verbrechen1964. Tr.: Policy and crime
• Deutschland, Deutschland unter anderm. Äußerungen zur Politik, 1967
• Staatsgefährdende Umtriebe, speech for the Literature Prize, Nuremberg, 1968
• Palaver. Politische Überlegungen 1967–19731974
• Contribution to the critique of political ecology1976. Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico
• Politische Brosamen1982. Tr.: Political migraines
• Ach, Europe! Wahrnehmungen aus sieben Ländern1987. Tr.: Europe, Europe!
• Mittelmaß und Wahn. Gesammelte Zerstreuungen1988
• Die Große Wanderung1992. Tr.: Big migration. Thirty-three shelters
• Aussichten auf den Bürgerkrieg1993. Tr.: Perspectives of civil war
• Zickzack1997 Tr.: Zigzag
• Nomaden im Regal. Essays, 2003
• Lyrik nervt! Erste Hilfe für gestresste Leser, 2004 (pseudonym, Andreas Thalmayr)
• Heraus mit der Sprache. Ein bisschen Deutsche, Österreicher, Schweizer und andere Aus- und Inländer, 2005 (pseudonym, Andreas Thalmayr)
• Schreckens Männer. Versuch über den radikalen Verlierer, 2006. Tr.: The Radical Loser: Rehearsal on Men of Terror
• Im Irrgarten der Intelligenz. Ein Idiotenführer, 2006. Tr.: In the labyrinth of intelligence: guide for idiots
• Heraus mit der Sprache. Ein bißchen Deutsche, Österreicher, Schweizer und andere Aus- und Inländer, 2008
• Fortuna und Kalkül. Zwei mathematische Belustigungen2009
• Sanftes Monster Brüssel oder Die Entmündigung Europas. Suhrkamp, 2011, ISBN 978-3-518-06172-5.

Prose

• Das Verhör von Habana1970. Tr.: The Treaties of Havana
• Der kurze Sommer der Anarchie. Bonaventure Durrutis Leben und Tod1972. Tr.: The short summer of anarchy. Life and Death of Buenaventura Durruti
• Der Weg ins Freie. Fünf Lebensläufe1975
• Heiss " Kalt, 1987 (pseudonym, Elisabeth Ambras)
• Josefine und ich. Eine Erzählung, 2006. Tr.: Josefine and me.
• Schauderhafte Wunderkinder, 2006 (pseudonym, Linda Quilt)
• Kurt Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord oder der Eigensinn, 2008. Tr.: Hammerstein or TessonC

Poetry

• verteidigung der wölfe1957. Tr.: Defence of wolves
• landessprache1960. Tr.: Country language
• Gedichte. Die Entstehung eines Gedichts1962. Tr.: Poeties for those who don't read poetry
• armenschrift1964
• Mausoleum. 37 Balladen aus der Geschichte des Fortschritts1975. Tr.: Mausoleum
• Der Untergang der Titanic. Eine Komödie1978. Tr.: The sinking of the Titanic
• Die Furie des Verschwindens. Gedichte1980
• Zukunftsmusik1991. Tr.: Pure music
• Kiosk. Neue Gedichte1995
• Leichter als Luft. Moralische Gedichte1999 Tr.: Lighter than air: moral poetry
• Die Geschichte der Wolken. 99 Meditationen, 2003. Tr.: History of the clouds
• Rebus2009.

Theater

• Diderot und das dunkle Ei. Ein Interview1990. Tr.: Diderotiana
• Die Tochter der Luft1992
• Voltaires Neffe. Eine Fälschung in Diderots Manier1996. Tr.: The philanthropist

Children and adolescents

• Zuppwith Gisela Andersch, 1958
• Der Zahlenteufel. Ein Kopfkissenbuch für alle, die Angst vor der Mathematik haben, 1997 illustrated by Rotraut Susanne Berner. Tr.: The devil of numbers
• Wo warst du, Robert?1998. Tr.: Where have you been, Robert?
• Bibs, 2009 illustrated by Rotraut Susanne Berner. Tr. Bibs

Other writings

• The apories of the vanguard
• Elements for a Media Theory
• The elixires of science (recollection of essays and poetry, some unpublished)
• Conversations with Marx and Engels, anthology

Awards

• 1956 - Hugo Jacobi.
• 1963 - Georg Büchner.
• 1985 - Heinrich Böll.
• 1993 - Erich Maria Remarque.
• 1998 - Heinrich Heine.
• 1998 - Pasolini.
• 2002 - Ludwig Börne.
• 2002 - Prince of Asturias Prize for Communication and Humanities.
• 2010 - Sonning Award