Gerhard Henschel

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gerhard Henschel (born  April 28, 1962 in Hanover ) is a German writer and translator .

Life

Henschel grew up in Hanover , Koblenz , Vallendar and Meppen . He studied German, sociology and philosophy in Bielefeld , Berlin and Cologne .

His first texts appeared at the end of the eighties in the magazine Der Dinge published by Michael Rutschky and then also in the satirical magazines Kowalski and Titanic , in Merkur , in specific and in numerous daily and weekly newspapers. From 1993 to 1995 he was part of the Titanic editorial team.

Since 1992, Henschel has come to the public with novels, short stories and non-fiction books on cultural history, but also with satires , polemics and grotesques. He wrote several of his books together with authors who can be attributed to the New Frankfurt School or who are loosely connected to it ( Eckhard Henscheid , Wiglaf Droste , Günther Willen and Max Goldt ). The illustrators of his books also follow this tradition ( FW Bernstein , Eugen Egner , Ernst Kahl , Yvonne Kuschel, Wolfgang Herrndorf , Greser & Lenz ).

In 1999, Henschel and Rayk Wieland launched the “Toter Salon” series of events in Hamburg . In it, Henschel and Wieland appeared once a month with changing guests, first in the Hamburg Schauspielhaus and since 2001 in the Thalia Theater . In 2009 Richard Kähler succeeded Rayk Wieland as host. The Tote Salon is currently meeting alternately in the Hamburger Literaturhaus and in the " Uebel & Hazardous " venue .

Henschel lives as a freelance writer in Hamburg . He has three children.

The family novels

In 2002 Henschel's epistolary novel Die Liebenden was published , in which he tells the life story of his parents using written documents from the estate. Only the names have changed. The protagonists are Ingeborg Lüttjes and Richard Schlosser. Her life is depicted from childhood through the difficult post-war years and the detailed everyday life of a middle-class family to the breakdown of the marriage and the death of the two spouses.

In his childhood novel, published in 2004, Henschel describes the life of this family from the point of view of their son Martin. At the beginning the narrator is still a toddler and at the end is thirteen years old. He spreads his memories on around 500 pages, in snapshots that gradually become more complex as the narrator ages. In addition to school experiences, age-typical boyish pranks and football, the media are playing an increasingly important role, especially television: Martin Schlosser hardly misses any of the series that ran in the afternoon and later in the evening program. It also registers the growing wealth of the family and the grief of the parents very closely.

It has been remarked on several occasions that Henschel's narrative approach is similar to that of Walter Kempowski in the novels of his Deutsche Chronik . In fact, Henschel has been acquainted with Kempowski since 1984 and is familiar with his work. He has written about him a few times, also written an obituary and dedicated his own book to Kempowski in 2009 ( Check out that. More about Walter Kempowski ).

Also in 2009, Henschel continued the childhood novel with the youth novel : The Schlosser family now lives in Meppen in Emsland. Martin feels uncomfortable in the new school, he is homesick, and he has difficulties with the challenges of puberty. As he grows into a read-hungry, self-overwhelmed youngster, he ponders the political events of his time and the meaning of life. The novel ends at the beginning of 1978. Martin is sixteen and is determined to start something like a love life on the first day of school after the Christmas break.

Another sequel followed in 2010 with the romance novel. Martin Schlosser still finds it difficult to find a girlfriend. The existence in Meppen puts him to the test of patience. He is disappointed with the performance of the German team at the Football World Cup in 1978 and loses all interest in football. Instead, his interest in politics and literature deepens. As the editor of a school newspaper, he gets into conflict with the director, and there are often arguments at home. Only at the very end of the novel does a classmate return the love of the now eighteen-year-old narrator.

In 2012, Gerhard Henschel continued the Martin Schlosser novels with an adventure novel . As soon as Martin Schlosser, who is about to graduate from high school, has found a friend, the grueling relationship discussions begin. It is the early eighties and Martin wants nothing more than to escape the small town of Meppen in the Emsland. His path leads him to Brokdorf, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Osnabrück, Bielefeld, Munich, Venice, Vienna and Göttingen - and always back to Meppen. Other novels in the series are Bildungsroman (2014) and artist novel about Schlosser's student days in Bielefeld and Berlin, as well as workers' novel (2017), which is about Schlosser's everyday life as a young satirist in the Oldenburg province. In the best-selling novel (2018) he describes the beginning of literary success.

Other narrative works

The satirical novels “The Barber of Bebra” (1996) and “The Mullah of Bullerbü” (2000), which Henschel wrote together with Wiglaf Droste, are of a different kind. In it the authors let public figures appear and involve them in ludicrous situations. Excerpts from both novels were preprinted by the daily newspaper (taz). In 1996 this led to a boycott by member of the Bundestag Vera Lengsfeld , who at that time still held a mandate from Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen . Their appeal sparked a lengthy debate on the limits of satire and freedom of the press.

In 2005, Henschel's novel “The Thirteenth Beatle” was published. In it, a Beatles fan takes the opportunity to travel back in time to 1966 and prevent the first meeting between John Lennon and Yoko Ono .

Factual texts

The non-fiction books “Kulturgeschichte der Misunderstandings” and “Century of Obscenity”, in which Henschel contributed as an author, go back to ideas from Eckhard Henscheid. Particularly in this review of the “most obscene” deeds and words of the 20th century, Henschel takes on the role of an observer who does not consider extenuating reasons for inhumanity. This also applies to his book “Neidgeschrei” (2008), in which he examines the pathological sexual fantasies of anti-Jewish enemies that have been known since antiquity, and the anthology “Menetekel” (2010), which contains essays on different forms of culturally pessimistic world view.

Gerhard Henschel also takes a stand in daily political media, regularly in the concrete , young world , in which he writes the column "Reden ist Silber" and taz , but occasionally also in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .

Criticism of "image"

In pamphlets such as “Menschlich viel Fieses” (1992), “Das Blöken der Lämmer” (1994) and the “Gossenreport” (2006), Henschel dealt with political kitsch and the power of the Bild newspaper, which he called the serious “ Cultural problem ”describes.

In this context, an article by Henschel that appeared in the daily newspaper (taz) in 2002 had significant consequences . Previously, the Bild newspaper had published a report on the first page of the miscarriage of the wife of the Swiss ambassador in Germany and his alleged infidelities with the headline: "Sex shock - baby lost - concern for the ambassador's wife - she will never be happy again ? ”Next to it was a large photo of this woman's face that showed her crying. Henschel responded with a satire in which he allegedly discussed circulating rumors about a failed penis enlargement operation by the picture editor Kai Diekmann under the heading "Sex shock - penis broken?" Thereupon Diekmann sued the daily newspaper. He asked for € 30,000 in compensation for pain and suffering. The Berlin regional court came to the conclusion that Henschel's satire violated Diekmann's personal rights and prohibited further distribution, but it did not award the plaintiff any compensation for pain and suffering. The reasoning for the judgment stated: “The Chamber believes that those who - like the plaintiff - consciously seek their economic advantage from violating the personal rights of others will be less burdened by the violation of their own personal rights. Because he has entered the business of violating personal rights with knowledge and will and will therefore - according to general rules of human coexistence - assume that those standards that he applies to others are also of concern to himself. This is especially true if, as in the present case, the attack on him is motivated by his own violation of the law. So the attacked article ties in with journalism that violates personality rights [...] and takes a critical look at precisely this journalism. "For this reason, Diekmann is not entitled to compensation for pain and suffering:" Above all, the plaintiff's editor-in-chief speaks against the need for monetary compensation of the Bild-Zeitung. ”After the editor-in-chief of the Bild-Zeitung had published a“ BILD People's Bible ”, a“ BILD Gold Bible ”and a“ BILD Benedict Bible ”- the latter with personal texts from Pope Benedict XVI. -, Henschel wrote a "Springer Bible" (2008) in which he tried to trace the history of the Springer publishing house.

Translations

Together with Kathrin Passig, Gerhard Henschel has translated several books from English. a. the first volume of Bob Dylan's autobiography (“Chronicles. Volume One”) which, in the opinion of the critics, “also reads wonderfully in translation. The translators have succeeded in giving Bob Dylan's effortless way of speaking a natural language style in German as well. "Passig and Henschel did a" very convincing job ".

Awards

Trivia

Henschel's uncle Johann Friedrich Henschel , a former judge at the Federal Constitutional Court , appears as Rudolf "Rudi" Schlosser in Die Liebenden and the Martin Schlosser novels.

Works

  • Under the steel helmet: my armed forces diary. Ems-Kopp-Verlag, 1982, ISBN 3922628044
  • Moselle rides for the soul, presentations & robber pistols. Weisser Stein, Greiz 1992, ISBN 3-928681-12-5 .
  • A lot of nasty human. Stasis, Donalds, Poets and Pastors. Edition Tiamat, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-923118-38-4 .
  • The awakening self. A message in a bottle from the Age of Aquarius. With drawings by Yvonne Kuschel. Weisser Stein, Greiz 1993, ISBN 3-928681-15-X .
  • The bleating of the lambs. The left and kitsch. Edition Tiamat, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-923118-73-2 .
  • The merciless hunt. A detective novel. Illustrated by FW Bernstein. With a greeting by Max Goldt and an editorial afterword by Nadja Felix. Weisser Stein, Greiz 1994, ISBN 3-928681-22-2 .
  • The do-gooder's dictionary. To the criticism of the morally correct foam language. Edition Tiamat, Berlin 1994 (edited jointly by Klaus Bittermann), ISBN 3-923118-98-8 .
  • Great thing! Lexicon of football. Weisser Stein, Greiz 1994 (together with Günther Willen), ISBN 3-928681-23-0 .
  • False friends for life. About owls and chaste Germans. With a guest contribution by Michael Rudolf. Edition Tiamat, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-923118-29-5 .
  • Reading is eating on wheels in your head. Elegant stories. Weisser Stein, Greiz 1995, ISBN 3-928681-86-9 .
  • Woman in zinc. Manufactur-Druckerey Martin Schröder, Berlin 1996. (12 artist postcards)
  • The barber of Bebra. Novel. With drawings by Ernst Kahl. Edition Nautilus, Hamburg 1996 (together with Wiglaf Droste), ISBN 3-89401-263-3 .
  • Inside or line? Everything through the third gate. Reclam, Leipzig 1996 (together with Günther Willen), ISBN 3-379-01550-4 .
  • Cultural history of misunderstandings. Studies on Spiritual Life. Reclam, Stuttgart 1997 (together with Eckhard Henscheid and Brigitte Kronauer), ISBN 3-150-10427-0 .
  • The old justice of the peace and his judgments. A criminal suite. With drawings by FW Bernstein. Haffmans, Zurich 1998.
  • Bruno in a thousand distress. Adventure stories. With illustrations by Wolfgang Herrndorf. Edition Nautilus, Hamburg 1998, ISBN 3-89401-286-2 .
  • Thanksgiving fäscht. Haffmans, Zurich 1998 (together with Max Goldt), ISBN 3-251-00389-5 .
  • Century of profanity. A balance sheet. Alexander Fest Verlag, Berlin 2000 (together with Eckhard Henscheid), ISBN 3-8286-0057-3 .
  • The Mullah of Bullerbi. Novel. Edition Nautilus, Hamburg 2000 (together with Wiglaf Droste), ISBN 3-89401-352-4 .
  • Where's Roy Black's urn? Relentless reports. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-499-60887-1 .
  • What would you prefer? Lots of good questions. Satzwerk, Göttingen 2001 (together with Alexandra Engelberts), ISBN 3-930333-40-6 .
  • The loving ones. Novel. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-455-03170-6 .
  • The world's hottest graphics. With an afterword by Michael Rutschky. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-455-09387-6 .
  • The thirteenth Beatle. Novel. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-455-03172-2 .
  • Thanksgiving. Novella. Illustrated by Alexandra Engelberts. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2005, ISBN 3-899-71235-8 .
  • Gutter report. Business secrets of the Bild newspaper. With a guest contribution by Herman L. Gremliza. Edition Tiamat, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89320-101-7 .
  • The Springer Bible. A panorama of media history. KVV concrete, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-930786-55-8 .
  • Shouts of envy. Anti-semitism and sexuality. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-455-09497-8 .
  • Check it out. More about Walter Kempowski. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-423-24708-5 .
  • Warning sign. 3000 years of the fall of the West. Eichborn, Frankfurt am Main 2010, Die Other Bibliothek series , ISBN 978-3-8218-6210-1 .
  • Tongue-twister. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-455-40363-3 .
  • On the onions of the skinner: Glossaries and Verrisse 1992-2012 . Edition Tiamat, Berlin 2012. ISBN 978-3-893201709 .
  • Harry Piel is sitting on the Nile. About criticism and filthiness in public space. Edition Tiamat, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-89320-213-3 .

Martin Schlosser novels

Translations

with Kathrin Passig
  • Jacob Weisberg: Totally wrong, Mr. President! True words from George W. Bush. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-499-61619-X .
  • Jacob Weisberg: Again, completely wrong, Mr. President! More true words from George W. Bush. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-499-61661-0 .
  • Bob Dylan: Chronicles. Volume One. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-455-09385-X .
  • Robert Santelli: The Bob Dylan Scrapbook. 1956-1966. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-455-09506-2 .
with Thomas Melle

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Henschel on Perlentaucher.de , accessed on October 11, 2018
  2. ↑ Michael Rutschky: Towards the end. Diary entries 1996–2009. Berlin 2019. p. 279.
  3. ↑ Gerhard Henschel: Good for things! Interesting facts about Walter Kempowski. In: Titanic. 12/1993, pp. 26-29
  4. ↑ Gerhard Henschel: Moral Decomposition. About Walter Kempowski's "Echolot". In: Everyday life. 63/1994, pp. 168-176
  5. ^ Gerhard Henschel: Walter Kempowski. In: the daily newspaper. April 29, 1994, p. 11
  6. ↑ Gerhard Henschel: Info microwaves. About Walter Kempowski's “Bloomsday '97”. In: the daily newspaper. October 15, 1997
  7. ^ Gerhard Henschel: Reason for excitement. About Walter Kempowski's "Alkor". In: Transatlantic. 3/2001, p. 16
  8. ^ Gerhard Henschel: Kempowski's "Hamit". In: Titanic. 7/2006, p. 47. See also Dirk Hempel: Walter Kempowski. A civil biography. Munich 2004, p. 211 f.
  9. ↑ Gerhard Henschel: The German echo sounder. Walter Kempowski is dead. ( Memento of the original from December 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: the daily newspaper. 6./7. October 2007, p. 3 f. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.taz.de
  10. ↑ See Jörg Lau : Call for a boycott of the taz. In: the daily newspaper. August 15, 1996, p. 3
  11. ↑ Norbert Bachleitner: Brief history of the German feuilleton novel. Tübingen 1999, pp. 177-180.
  12. ^ The barber of Bebra: Vera Lengsfeld contra taz in Berliner Zeitung of August 16, 1996
  13. ↑ May 4, 2014, p. 9: critical essay on "The drastic rhymes of Alfred Kerr " and his discussion of Karl Kraus
  14. ↑ See also Gerhard Henschel: It gets dirtier from day to day. “Image” as a cultural problem. In: Mercury. 59 (2005), pp. 1181-1186.
  15. ↑ image, April 13, 2002, p. 1.
  16. ↑ Gerhard Henschel: Sex shock! Penis broken? New concerns about "Bild" boss Kai Diekmann: Downstairs operation failed. ( Memento of the original from April 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: the daily newspaper. May 8, 2002, p. 20. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.allesbonanza.net
  17. ↑ See René Martens: Sex-Shock. "Bild" boss Diekmann against the "taz". In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. May 18, 2002, p. 23; Peter Littger: The spoilsport. Opinions differ on the phallus: “Bild” boss Kai Diekmann is suing the Berlin newspaper “tageszeitung” over a satire. In: The time . July 4, 2002, accessed June 15, 2015 .
  18. ↑ Michael Ringel: The penis process. In: the daily newspaper. November 6, 2002, accessed June 15, 2015 .
  19. ↑ Matthias Thieme: Sex shock! Bild editor-in-chief Diekmann sued the taz: Once again a court should clarify how far satire can go . In: Frankfurter Rundschau . November 19, 2002, p. 25 .
  20. ↑ Wiglaf Droste: “taz” wins - and draws the shorter one. ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: WDR, Critical Diary. November 19, 2002 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kunst Fehler.at
  21. ↑ Michael Ringel: "Child, what are you doing?" In: the daily newspaper. November 20, 2002, p. 5
  22. ↑ Matthias Thieme: And the audience giggles. "Bild" boss Diekmann receives no compensation for pain and suffering. In: Frankfurter Rundschau. November 20, 2002, p. 20
  23. ↑ Ulrike Simon: The small difference and its consequences. In court: The “Bild” boss wins against the “taz”. In: Der Tagesspiegel. November 20, 2002, p. 3
  24. ^ Sabine Rennefanz : The Judgment Show. A process should clarify whether the satire about a penis enlargement of the Bild editor-in-chief is permissible - or not. In: Berliner Zeitung . November 20, 2002, accessed June 15, 2015 .
  25. ↑ Marcus Jauer: The Phall Diekmann. The “Bild” editor-in-chief in the satire court dispute with the “taz”. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. November 20, 2002, p. 19
  26. ↑ Satire in court. “Bild” boss wins against “taz” without any proceeds. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. November 20, 2002, p. 40
  27. ↑ Jörg Magenau: The taz. A newspaper as a way of life. Munich 2007, p. 251 f.
  28. ↑ Quoted from Gerhard Henschel: Gossenreport. Business secrets of the Bild newspaper. Berlin 2006, p. 72.
  29. ↑ Tobias Lehmkuhl: Gezischel, caressing.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. September 20, 2005, p. 22.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / sz-shop.sueddeutsche.de  
  30. ↑ Richard Klein: Bob Dylan as an intermediate phenomenon. In: Mercury. 59 (2005), pp. 236-241, here p. 240
  31. ^ Literature prize for Gerhard Henschel. In: Saarbrücker Zeitung (Culture) of April 13, 2012, p. B4
  32. ^ Nicolas Born Prize for Gerhard Henschel: "Multifaceted image of our society" - boersenblatt, August 7, 2013
  33. ↑ Gerhard Henschel receives the Glaser Prize 2015 - boersenblatt, November 13, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Henschel, Gerhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH April 28, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH Hanover