Elisabeth Walther-Bense

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Elisabeth Walther-Bense (born August 10, 1922 in Oberweißbach ; † January 10, 2018 in Stuttgart ) was a German semiotic . She also worked as a publicist and editor, editor, translator (from English, French, Portuguese). She worked on the work of her doctoral supervisor, employer, friend, colleague and, since 1988, husband Max Bense († 1990), and since his death, she has continued the work together, to a large extent.

Life

Born in Thuringia, after the war she studied philosophy, German, Romance studies, physics and mathematics at the universities of Jena, Mainz and finally at the Technical University of Stuttgart. She was immediately promoted and harnessed there by Professor Max Bense. She published translations and textbooks for students, but also literature in the circle around Bense. Despite some guest lectureships abroad, Stuttgart remained her main reference point. In 1950 she completed her doctorate with Bense with the dissertation "The role of logic by Port-Royal in the early history of the exact sciences", in 1956 she received an assistant position, in 1962 she qualified as a professor in systematic philosophy (habilitation lecture: The foundation of the theory of signs with Charles Sanders Peirce ) . Seven years later, in 1969, she first became an adjunct professor (for systematic philosophy) before she was appointed the university's first full professor in 1978. She retired in 1983 for health reasons. In 1990 she became head of the “Research Group for Semiotics” at the University of Stuttgart. She headed the Bensekreis' magazine "Semiosis" until 1999, kept in touch with the meanwhile rejuvenated scenes of online literature and occasionally reported on YouTube.

Publications

Translations from French

Some early translations from French for newspapers should be mentioned in order to show the milieu of this healing cultural work in (ultimately western) post-war Germany. The translations appeared in all available media, mostly with preliminary remarks.

  • (together with Max Bense) Jules Monnerot: On the genealogy of the Communist Party . From: Sociologie du Communisme, Gallimard, Paris 1949. In: Merkur 45, Jg. 5, H. 11, 1951, pp. 1077-1090.
  • Julien Benda : Definitions. In: Max Bense, Die Philosophie, Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt 1951, pp. 287-292
  • EM Cioran : Syllogisms of Bitterness. From: Syllogismes de l'amertume. In: Die Literatur, Vol. 1, No. 6, June 1, 1952, p. 4.
  • Francis Ponge : Introduction to the Pebble . From: Proêmes (Gallimard, Paris 1948). In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, No. 7, Saturday, Jan. 9, 1954, p. 11.
  • Henri Michaux : Sign. In: Die Tat, Zurich, vol. 20, no. 35, Saturday, February 5, 1955, p. 9.
  • Jean Genet : Murder. In: Moment, Vol. 1, H. 2, March 1955, pp. 44-47.
  • Raymond Queneau . In: Max Bense, Rationalism and Sensibility, Agis, Krefeld / Baden-Baden 1956, pp. 49–55.

Dealing with contributions from women

In the otherwise rather male Bense circle, Walther also somewhat maintains the position of the opposite sex: radio interviews, panel discussions, translation, reviews, here is a small selection:

  • Clarice Lispector : Brasília is artificial, translation from Portuguese. In: Max Bense, Brazilian Intelligence, Limes, Wiesbaden 1965, pp. 30–32.
  • Nathalie Sarraute : "Les fruits d'or". In: Kritisches Jahrbuch 1, Wendelin Niedlich, Stuttgart 1966, pp. 64–67.
  • Nathalie Sarraute , Paris - Elisabeth Walther, Stuttgart, meeting in Saarbrücken. French and German literature. public event, broadcast by Saarländischer Rundfunk on Jan. 31, 1968, 8 p.m.
  • Notes about Gertrude Stein . In: Instant 3, Aspects of the Avantgarde Vol. 3, 2006, pp. 59–65
  • Review Betty Friedan : The femininity delusion or the mystification of women. In: Kritisches Jahrbuch 2, Wendelin Niedlich , Stuttgart 1973, pp. 33–34.

Editorial bodies

Here the organization of the Bensekreis took place

  • edition red. Editor together with Max Bense. text 1 and 2: Verlag Der moment, Siegen 1960. text 3 to 52: edition rot, Stuttgart 1960–1976. The moment, table of contents temporarily online
  • Semiosis. Journal for semiotics and aesthetics. Edited together with Max Bense, Gérard Deledalle, Klaus Oehler, Agis, Baden-Baden 1976–1999 (the link to the table of contents at the University of Stuttgart does not currently work, but see Google )

Books (selection)

  • Jean Genet : Fragments. (Edition rot, text 3, Stuttgart 1960). Merve, Berlin 1982.
  • Charles Sanders Peirce, The Consolidation of Conviction and Other Writings (Ed., Introduction, Notes and Partial Translation) Agis, Baden-Baden 1967 2. Erw. u. verb. Edition: Ullstein, Berlin 1985
  • Charles Sanders Peirce, Lectures on Pragmatism - lectures on pragmatism, Felix Meiner, Hamburg, edited, translated, introduced and annotated by Elisabeth Walther. PhB No. 283. 1973. 2nd edition (only in German, with a new introduction) Felix Meiner, Hamburg, PhB No. 435 1991
  • (Ed. With Max Bense) Dictionary of Semiotics, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1973
  • Bernard Bolzano : Semiotics. Selection with introduction from: Bernard Bolzano, Wissenschaftslehre, 1837. edition rot, text 43, Stuttgart 1971
  • General drawing theory. Introduction to the basics of semiotics. Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart, 2nd revised 1979
  • Charles Sanders Peirce - Life and Work. Agis, Baden-Baden 1989.
  • Charles Sanders Peirce: Lectures on Pragmatism. Translated and reissued with introduction and comments. Philosophical Library, Vol. 435 Felix Meiner, Hamburg 1991
  • Character. Essays on semiotics. Publishing house and database for the humanities, Weimar 2002

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Catrin Misselhorn: We mourn the loss of Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Walther-Bense. In: Homepage of the Institute for Philosophy at the University of Stuttgart. Retrieved January 27, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Frieder Nake: In the realm of signs (obituary). In: Context - weekly newspaper. March 14, 2018, accessed on August 2, 2020 (German).
  3. ↑ Staufer's medal for Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Walther-Bense , notification from January 11, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Walther-Bense, Elisabeth
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German semiotic
DATE OF BIRTH August 10, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Oberweißbach / Thuringian Forest
DATE OF DEATH January 10, 2018
Place of death Stuttgart