Ingeborg Bachmann (Author of Malina)

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Ingeborg Bachmann鈥檚 Followers (573)

Ingeborg Bachmann

Born

in Klagenfurt, Austria

June 25, 1926

Died

October 17, 1973

Genre

Poetry, Literature & Fiction

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鈥淲hat actually is possible, however, is transformation. And the transformative effect that emanates from new works leads us to new perception, to a new feeling, new consciousness.鈥� This sentence from Ingeborg Bachmann鈥檚 Frankfurt Lectures on Poetics (1959-60) can also be applied to her own self-consciousness as an author, and to the history of her reception. Whether in the form of lyric poetry, short prose, radio plays, libretti, lectures and essays or longer fiction, Bachmann鈥檚艙uvre had as its goal and effect 鈥渢o draw people into the experiences of the writers,鈥� into 鈥渘ew experiences of suffering.鈥� (GuI 139-140). But it was especially her penetrating and artistically original representation of female subjectivity within male-dominated soc 鈥淲hat actually is possible, however, is transformation. And the transformative effect that emanates from new works leads us to new perception, to a new feeling, new consciousness.鈥� This sentence from Ingeborg Bachmann鈥檚 Frankfurt Lectures on Poetics (1959-60) can also be applied to her own self-consciousness as an author, and to the history of her reception. Whether in the form of lyric poetry, short prose, radio plays, libretti, lectures and essays or longer fiction, Bachmann鈥檚艙uvre had as its goal and effect 鈥渢o draw people into the experiences of the writers,鈥� into 鈥渘ew experiences of suffering.鈥� (GuI 139-140). But it was especially her penetrating and artistically original representation of female subjectivity within male-dominated society that unleashed a new wave in the reception of her works.

Although Bachmann鈥檚 spectacular early fame derived from her lyric poetry (she received the prestigious Prize of the Gruppe 47 in 1954), she turned more and more towards prose during the 1950鈥檚, having experienced severe doubts about the validity of poetic language. The stories in the collection Das drei脽igste Jahr (The Thirtieth Year; 1961) typically present a sudden insight into the inadequacy of the world and its 鈥渙rders鈥� (e.g. of language, law, politics, or gender roles) and reveal a utopian longing for and effort to imagine a new and truer order. The two stories told from an explicitly female perspective, 鈥淓in Schritt nach Gomorrha鈥� (鈥淎 Step towards Gomorrah鈥�) and 鈥淯ndine geht鈥� (鈥淯ndine Goes/Leaves鈥�), are among the earliest feminist texts in postwar German-language literature. Undine accuses male humanity of having ruined not only her life as a woman but the world in general: 鈥淵ou monsters named Hans!鈥� In her later prose (Malina 1971; Simultan 1972; and the posthumously published Der Fall Franza und Requiem f眉r Fanny Goldmann) Bachmann was again ahead of her time, often employing experimental forms to portray women as they are damaged or even destroyed by patriarchal society, in this case modern Vienna. Here one sees how intertwined Bachmann鈥檚 preoccupation with female identity and patriarchy is with her diagnosis of the sickness of our age: 鈥淚鈥檝e reflected about this question already: where does fascism begin? It doesn鈥檛 begin with the first bombs that were dropped鈥�. It begins in relationships between people. Fascism lies at the root of the relationship between a man and a woman鈥�.鈥�(GuI 144)

As the daughter of a teacher and a mother who hadn鈥檛 been allowed to go to university, Bachmann enjoyed the support and encouragement of both parents; after the war she studied philosophy, German literature and psychology in Innsbruck, Graz and Vienna. She wrote her doctoral dissertation (1950) on the critical reception of Heidegger, whose ideas she condemned as 鈥渁 seduction 鈥� to German irrationality of thought鈥� (GuI 137). From 1957 to 1963, the time of her troubled relationship with Swiss author Max Frisch, Bachmann alternated between Zurich and Rome. She rejected marriage as 鈥渁n impossible institution. Impossible for a woman who works and thinks and wants something herself鈥� (GuI 144).

From the end of 1965 on Bachmann resided in Rome. Despite her precarious health鈥攕he was addicted to pills for years following a faulty medical procedure鈥攕he traveled to Poland in 1973. She was just planning a move to Vienna when she died of complications following an accidental fire.

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Ingeborg Bachmann鈥檚 books

Average rating: 4.02 · 11,774 ratings · 1,283 reviews · 175 distinct works 鈥� Similar authors

	Malina by Ingeborg Bachmann, Philip Boehm (Translator), Rachel Kushner (欧宝娱乐 Author) (Introduction) 4.04 avg rating — 4,871 ratings — published 1971 — 114 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Thirtieth Year: Stories by Ingeborg Bachmann, Michael Bullock (Translator) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,472 ratings — published 1961 — 62 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Darkness Spoken: The Collected Poems of Ingeborg Bachmann by Ingeborg Bachmann, Peter Filkins (Translator), Charles Simic (Foreword) 4.37 avg rating — 804 ratings — published 1978 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Herzzeit. Briefwechsel by Ingeborg Bachmann, Paul Celan 4.32 avg rating — 715 ratings — published 2008 — 35 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Simultan. Erz盲hlungen 3.91 avg rating — 651 ratings — published 1972 — 39 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Book of Franza & Requiem for Fanny Goldmann by Ingeborg Bachmann, Peter Filkins (Translator) 4.06 avg rating — 303 ratings — published 1979 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Die gestundete Zeit 3.87 avg rating — 244 ratings — published 1953 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Der gute Gott von Manhattan. H枚rspiel 3.05 avg rating — 280 ratings — published 1957 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	War Diary by Ingeborg Bachmann, Hans H枚ller (Editor), Mike Mitchell (Translator) 3.38 avg rating — 206 ratings — published 2010 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	S盲mtliche Erz盲hlungen 4.23 avg rating — 133 ratings — published 1992 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Ingeborg Bachmann (?)

“I am writing with my burnt hand about the nature of fire.”
― Ingeborg Bachmann

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“And I don鈥檛 believe in this materialism, in this consumer society, in this capitalism, in this outrageous horror that happens / takes place here鈥�. I really do believe in something, and I call it 鈥渁 day will come.鈥� And one day it will come. Well, probably it won鈥檛 come, since they鈥檝e always destroyed it for us鈥�. It won鈥檛 come, and I believe in it anyway. Because if I can鈥檛 believe in it anymore then I can鈥檛 write anymore either.”
― Ingeborg Bachmann

47 likes

“speak across borders
even if borders pass through every word.”
― Ingeborg Bachmann

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Ingeborg Bachmann鈥檚 Followers (573)

Ingeborg Bachmann

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Combine Editions
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