Robert Neumann (writer)

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Robert Neumann (born May 22, 1897 in Vienna , † January 3, 1975 in Munich ) was an Austro-British writer and publicist in German and English. He has published numerous novels , autobiographical texts, plays and radio plays as well as several scripts . Through his parody collections Mit Fremd Federn (1927) and Under False Flag (1932) - expanded complete edition in three volumes in 1969 - he is considered the founder of the " parody as a critical genre in the literature of the 1920s".

Life

Robert Neumann was born the son of a bank clerk of Jewish descent and social democratic convictions. From 1915 to 1919 he studied medicine , chemistry and a semester of German in Vienna . He worked as a securities cashier, swimming coach and partner in a food import company, but had to file for bankruptcy in 1925. After that he was a seaman and freight overseer on a deep-sea ship for a short time.

After he had already published small volumes of poetry in 1919 and 1923 , he achieved his literary breakthrough in 1927 with the parody collection Mit Fremd Federn . In a poll, Thomas Mann named this book the best of the year. Neumann was thus established as a freelance writer . More novels, parodies and plays appeared in quick succession. He also gave lectures and worked as a literary critic for the literary magazines Die Literatur and Die literäre Welt, among others . His parodies were so successful that his other work faded against it. Rudolf Walter Leonhardt wrote in his obituary for Robert Neumann about this popular success: “Two narrow ribbons buried a life's work of fifteen thick volumes”.

Neumann's works fell victim to the book burning in Germany in 1933 and were banned in the Third Reich . Immediately after the establishment of the Austro-Fascist dictatorship in February 1934, he left Vienna and went into provisional exile in Great Britain . In 1936 and 1937 he spent a few months in Austria, where in the meantime the libraries had also been "cleaned" of his works. Until 1938, his novels could still appear in Switzerland.

As one of the few authors in exile , he was also able to publish in England. In 1936 he wrote the screenplay for the British film Abdul the Damned with Fritz Kortner in the leading role. After the occupation of Austria in 1938 he organized the “Free Austrian PEN Club” in London and tried to help writers threatened by the Nazis to leave the country. In 1939 he applied for British citizenship, which he did not receive until 1947. Instead, he was interned in 1940 for a few months as an " Enemy Alien ". During the war years he made sporadic contributions to the BBC . From 1942 a total of six novels were published in English. As an editor and partner in the publishing house “Hutchinson International Authors”, he initiated the publication of English translations by German-speaking exiled authors such as Arnold Zweig and Heinrich Mann . His application for an entry visa to the USA was rejected despite an invitation to Hollywood . Rudolf Walter Leonhardt considered the novel An den Wassern von Babylon , published in 1939 in English and in German in the United Kingdom in 1945, to be Neumann's best book: It was a Jewish epic of overwhelming urgency .

After the end of the Second World War , Neumann continued to live in England until the end of 1958, then in Locarno-Monti in Ticino . In 1947 he became honorary president of the resurrected Austrian PEN Club . In 1955, in his closing address at the Congress of the International PEN, in which he was one of the vice-presidents in 1950, he spoke out against the “ Cold War ” slogans of PEN President Charles Langbridge Morgan and was attacked in the press as a “ communist ” . In 1971 Neumann demanded a reorientation of the PEN against right-wing efforts. He initiated the voting out of the then PEN President Pierre Emmanuel and proposed the candidacy of Heinrich Böll , who was also elected in a battle vote. In 1966 he published in the left-wing journal Konkret a sharp polemic against Group 47 and specifically against Hans Werner Richter , Walter Höllerer and Günter Grass .

Between 1959 and 1974 Neumann continued to work as a novelist, political publicist and respected literary critic, mostly with a polemical-satirical orientation, and a. for Konkret , Die Zeit , Pardon , Tribüne , the Deutsche Zeitung - Christ und Welt and for all ARD broadcasters. Occasionally he also published in Spiegel and Stern . In 1961, the plagiarism controversy over his novel Olympia kept the press and courts busy .

Neumann, who had to struggle with serious illnesses several times in his life, became incurably ill with cancer in 1974. After his suicide - according to a report from the family circle - he was buried in 1975 in the Munich- Haidhausen cemetery. His estate is in the manuscript department of the Austrian National Library in Vienna.

family

Neumann married Stefanie (“Stefie”) Grünwald (1896–1975) in Vienna in 1919, with whom he had the son Heinrich Herbert (“Heini”) (1921–1944). For him he wrote the autobiographical text Memoirs and Journal of Henry Herbert Neumann, edited by his father in 1944 . In 1941 Neumann divorced and on May 30, 1941 married the German editor, editor and translator Lore Franziska ("Rolly") Stern, née. Becker (1908–1991), from whom he was also divorced in 1952. In 1953 he married the German dancer Evelyn Milda Wally Hengerer ( pseudonym : Mathilde Walewska, 1930-1958) and had their son Michael Robert Henry (* 1955) with her. In 1960 he married the fourth marriage to radio editor Helga Heller (1934–1976).

Awards and honors

Works (selection)

  • Poems. Leonhardt-Verlag, Vienna et al. 1919.
  • Twenty poems. M. Ahnert, Kassel 1923.
  • The plague of Lianora (= Engelhorn's novel library. ) Volume 1008, Engelhorn, Stuttgart 1927.
  • With strange feathers. Parodies. Engelhorn, Stuttgart 1927.
  • Hunting people and ghosts. Engelhorn, Stuttgart 1928.
  • The blind of Kagoll (= Reclams Universal Library. No. 7013, ZDB -ID 134899-1 ). With an autobiographical afterword. Ph. Reclam jun., Leipzig 1929.
  • Deluge. Novel. Engelhorn, Stuttgart 1929.
  • Hochstaplernovelle (= blind passengers. Volume 1, ZDB -ID 2483375-7 ). Engelhorn, Stuttgart 1930. New edition, with an afterword by Evelyne Polt-Heinzl . Edited by Alexander Kluy. (= Viennese literatures. Volume 3). Edition Atelier, Vienna 2012, ISBN 978-3-902498-61-8 ).
  • Passion. Six poet marriages. Phaidon-Verlag, Vienna 1930.
  • Panopticon. Report of five marriages from the time. Phaidon-Verlag, Vienna 1930.
  • Career. (= Stowaways. Volume 2). Engelhorn, Stuttgart 1931.
  • The Espérance ship. Stories. P. Zsolnay, Berlin 1931.
  • The power. Roman P. Zsolnay, Berlin et al. 1932. Also as: Macht. Desch, Munich 1964.
  • Under a false flag. A German language reading book for advanced learners. P. Zsolnay, Berlin et al. 1932.
  • Sir Basil Zaharoff. The king of arms. Library of contemporary works, Zurich 1934 (first edition in Germany: Kurt Desch, Munich 1951; numerous re-editions; revised and new edition adapted to the new spelling, with a foreword by Anne Maximiliane Jäger-Gogoll and Johanes Maria Becker. Wunderkammer-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2011, ISBN 978-3-941245-07-5 ).
  • The stowaways. Novella. Library of contemporary works, Zurich 1935.
  • Struensee. Doctor, dictator, favorite and poor sinner. Novel. Querido Verlag, Amsterdam 1935 (later: The Queen's Favorite. ).
  • A woman screamed ... Roman. Humanitas-Verlag, Zurich 1938 (English: A Woman Screamed , later: Die Freiheit und der General ).
  • Scene in passing. Dent, London 1942 (in German as: Tibbs . C. Weller, Konstanz 1948).
  • The Inquest. A novel. Hutchinson's International Authors, London et al. 1944 (in German as: Bibiana Santis , then as Treibgut ).
  • By the waters of Babylon. Dent, London 1939 (translation from German. German first version: An den Wassern von Babylon. Roman. East West Library, Oxford 1945; First edition published in Germany: Kurt Desch, Munich 1954; later numerous new editions).
  • Children of Vienna. A novel. Gollancz, London 1946 (in German as: Kinder von Wien . Translated from the English original by Franziska Becker. Querido Verlag, Amsterdam 1948; new edition. (= Die Andere Bibliothek Volume 279). With an afterword by Ulrich Weinzierl. Eichborn-Verlag , Frankfurt am Main 2008, ISBN 978-3-8218-6200-2 ).
  • Blind Man's Buff. Hutchinson's International Authors, London et al. 1949.
  • Insurrection in Poshansk. Hutchinson, London 1952 (in German as: Die Puppen von Poshansk. Translated from English by Georg Goyert . Kurt Desch, Munich 1952; new edition: Milena-Verlag, Vienna 2012 ISBN 978-3-85286-228-6 ).
  • My old house in Kent. Memories of people and ghosts. Desch, Munich et al. 1957 (autobiography).
  • The dark side of the moon. Roman (= Collected Works. ). Desch, Munich et al. 1959.
  • Excuses of our conscience. Documents on Hitler's “Final Solution to the Jewish Question” with commentary and assessment of the political situation (= current affairs booklets ). Publishing house for literature and current affairs, Hanover 1960.
  • with Helga Koppel: Hitler. The rise and fall of the Third Reich. A document in pictures. Desch, Munich et al. 1961 (parallel to the film "Hitler". Director: Paul Rotha).
  • Olympia . Roman (= Collected Works. ). Desch, Munich et al. 1961.
  • Festival. Roman (= Collected Works. ). Desch, Munich et al. 1962.
  • Easy life. Report about myself and my contemporaries. Desch, Munich et al. 1963 (autobiography).
  • The fact or the good faith of the Germans. Roman (= Collected Works. ). Desch, Munich et al. 1965.
  • Maybe the cheerful. Diary from another year (= collected works. ). Desch, Munich et al. 1968 (autobiography).
  • Beware of books. Parodies, including a reading guide for advanced users (= collected works. ). Desch, Munich et al. 1969.
  • Demon woman Or self-enchantment through literature. Including technical information on how to get there (= collected works. ). Desch, Munich et al. 1969.
  • No more politics. A medical history with many gruesome examples including an apolitical appendix. Confrontations. Or about the idiocy of the writer (= collected works. ). Desch, Munich et al. 1969.
  • Germany, your Austrians. Austria, your Germans. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 1970, ISBN 3-455-05600-8 .
  • October trip with a lover. An old-fashioned novel (= collected works. ). Desch, Munich et al. 1970, ISBN 3-420-04599-9 .
  • An impossible son. Roman (= Collected Works. ). Desch, Munich et al. 1972.
  • 2 × 2 = 5. A guide to retention. Claassen, Düsseldorf 1974, ISBN 3-546-47110-5 .
  • in own adaptation: The children of Vienna . Piper, Munich / Zurich 1974, ISBN 3-492-02072-0 .
  • Franz Stadler (Ed.): Robert Neumann. With my own pen. Essays. Letters. Estate materials. StudienVerlag, Innsbruck et al. 2013, ISBN 978-3-7065-5081-9 .

literature

  • Anne Maximiliane Jäger-Gogoll: Romanization and interference. Robert Neumann's writing between self (discovery), parody and engagement . Winter, Heidelberg 2015, ISBN 978-3-8253-6475-5 .
  • Peter Paul Schwarz: In the "heavy current of the West-East German tension field". About Robert Neumann's Marburg-East Berlin project 1961 to 1964. In: Günther Stocker, Michael Rohrwasser (Ed.): Tension fields. On German-language literature in the Cold War (1945–1968) . Arco Verlag, Wuppertal 2014, ISBN 978-3-938375-55-6 , pp. 41-67.
  • Renate Heuer:  Neumann, Robert. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-00200-8 , p. 159 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Volker Weidermann: The book of burned books . Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-462-03962-7 , pp. 199-201.
  • Hans Wagener: Robert Neumann. Biography . Wilhelm Fink Verlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-7705-4465-3 .
  • Anne Maximiliane Jäger (Ed.): Once an emigrant - always an emigrant? The writer and publicist Robert Neumann (1897–1975) . edition text + kritik, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-88377-845-1 .
  • Richard Dove : "The city is strange and empty ..." Five German and Austrian writers in exile in London 1933–1945 (Max Hermann-Neisse, Alfred Kerr, Robert Neumann, Karl Otten, Stefan Zweig). Parthas, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-932529-59-6 .
  • Richard Dove: "Concentration camp in English". Robert Neumann's Internment Diary , in: Charmian Brinson , Richard Dove, Marian Malet, Jennifer Taylor (Eds.): “England? But where is it? ”: German and Austrian emigrants in Great Britain 1933 - 1945 . Munich: Iudicium, 1996 ISBN 3-89129-263-5 , pp. 157-167
  • Hans Peter Althaus: At second glance. Robert Neumann's parodies as a mirror of literature. (= Trier writings. 2). Ed. Riveris, Trier 1994.
  • Friedrich-Martin Balzer (Ed.): "Operation Wall perforation". Robert Neumann and the German-German dialogue . Bonn 1994, ISBN 3-89144-189-4 .
  • Andrea Kriegner: Judaism in Robert Neumann's novels. Diploma thesis. University of Innsbruck, 1992.
  • Rudolf Walter Leonhardt : Robert Neumann. Grand Master of Parody. In: Time Notes. Piper, Munich 1963, p. 135 ff.
  • Verena Ofner: The historical novels of Robert Neumann. An analysis. Diploma thesis. University of Vienna, 2004.
  • Georg Peter: Analytical Aesthetics. An Inquiry into Nelson Goodman and Literary Parody. (= German Library of Sciences; Philosophical Analysis. 5). Dissertation. Hänsel-Hohenhausen, Egelsbach et al. 2002, ISBN 3-8267-0024-4 .
  • Ulrich Scheck: The prose of Robert Neumann. With a bibliographical appendix. (= American university studies. Series 1; Germanic languages ​​and literatures. 43). Lang, New York et al. 1985, ISBN 0-8204-0252-4 .

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ^ A b Rudolf Walter Leonhardt: Maybe the cheerful . In: The time . January 10, 1975.
  2. ↑ Concrete 8/1966. Also in: Hermann L. Gremliza (Ed.): 30 years of concrete. Hamburg 1987, pp. 88-93.
  3. ^ Alfred Strasser: Robert Neumanns Hochstaplernovelle - Attempt on a failed career Germanica 2004, pp. 81–89 (review).
  4. ^ A company belonging to the Zsolnay Verlag
  5. ↑ Perversion of Faith Der Spiegel , August 27, 1952 (review).
  6. ↑ Robert Neumann. With my own pen. Essays. Letters. Estate materials.
personal data
SURNAME Neumann, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austro-British writer and publicist
DATE OF BIRTH May 22, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH 3rd January 1975
Place of death Munich