Oscar Benl

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Oscar Benl (born May 25, 1914 in Nuremberg , † November 21, 1986 in Hamburg ) was a German Japanologist . He has translated numerous works of both traditional and modern Japanese literature into German , including Yoshida Kenkōs Tsurezuregusa , Shiga Naoyas Manazuru and Han no hanzai , Ibuse Masujis Tsurumakichō , Kawabata Yasunaris Yukiguni and Izu no odoriko , Dazai Osamus Shayoue , Mishima Yukios Shiosai , Inoue Shiosai Yasushis Ryōjū , Hyōheki and Tōgyū , Murasaki Shikibu Genji monogatari , Tanizaki Jun'ichirōs futen rojin nikki and Chijin no ai , Funabashi Seiichis Aru onna no enkei , Abe Kobo's Suna no onna and tannin no kao , and Natsume Sōsekis Kokoro . He also wrote several times about the Zen - Buddhism and the traditional Japanese theater.

Life

Benl studied law in Munich and Hamburg from 1933, then sinology from 1935 . A study visit to Japan, where he studied classical Japanese literature from 1937 to 1940 at the Imperial University of Tokyo , he had financed himself.

After returning to Germany, Benl held a position as a research assistant or assistant at the Hanseatic University with Wilhelm Gundert at the Japanese Language and Culture Seminar from 1941 to 1945 . In 1943 Benl received his doctorate from Gundert. phil. The dissertation was entitled The artistic ideal of Seami’s .

Benl also did military service from 1941 to 1945 (including as an interpreter for the Wehrmacht ), and from 1944 he worked at the German embassy in Tokyo . In 1947 he returned to Germany and completed his habilitation in 1948 with the work The Development of Japanese Poetics up to the 16th Century at the University of Munich for Japanese Studies. In the same year he resumed his assistantship at the University of Hamburg, where he was appointed as an extraordinary professor in 1953 and finally as a full professor in 1956. He remained in this position until his retirement in 1983.

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literature

  • Annelotte Piper: Memories of Oscar Benl (1914–1986). In: Booklets for East Asian Literature. H. 6 (September 1987), p. 99 ( online ).

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