Ronald M. Schernikau

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Ronald M. Schernikau (born July 11, 1960 in Magdeburg ; died October 20, 1991 in Berlin ) was a German writer .

Life

Memorial plaque on the house, Cecilienstraße 241, in Berlin-Hellersdorf
Memorial plaque on the house, Universitätsstrasse 20, in Leipzig
Grave in the cemetery of the St.-Georgen-Parochialgemeinde Berlin, Friedenstrasse

After his mother moved from the German Democratic Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1966, Schernikau grew up in Lehrte near Hanover .

At 16 he joined the German Communist Party (DKP). Before he graduated from the Lehrter Gymnasium, the Kleinstadtnovelle was published by Rotbuch Verlag in 1980 . The book about gay coming out in a small town was a first notable success, the first edition was sold out after a few days. In the same year Schernikau moved to West Berlin , where he switched to the Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin (SEW) and studied German, philosophy and psychology at the FU .

Since then, his friends have included the authors Gisela Elsner , Irmtraud Morgner , Ulrich Berkes and Erika Runge . He referred to Runge's interview technique in his own work and developed it further. Schernikau is represented with contributions to Matthias Frings' popular books on male sexuality, homosexuality and AIDS. In the role of a tune diva, he appeared in the West Berlin ensemble "Ladies Neid". After the protests against US President Reagan's visit to West Berlin, Marianne Rosenberg asked him for a song text on the subject, which he wrote for her (“He is a star”).

From 1986 to 1989 Schernikau studied at the Institute for Literature “Johannes R. Becher” in Leipzig , where he was admitted as a West Berliner only with considerable difficulties. In 1988 he took part in a postgraduate course. In May 1988 he wrote his thesis on the beauty of uwe. the solution 43 and the fun of the imperialists. about the fact that the gdr and the brd can never communicate. let alone by means of their literature and published the essay in 1989 in a revised form under the short title die tage in l. at Konkret Literatur Verlag . Under the direction of Florian Hein , the work was staged as a play at the Ernst Busch Drama School in Berlin . Also in 1988 he joined the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). This required a guarantee, which he received from Peter Hacks .

During this time, most of the correspondence with Peter Hacks, to whom Schernikau had already contacted from West Berlin, falls. In it, Schernikau asked Hacks whether he should move to the GDR . The latter replied that if he wanted to become a great poet, he had no choice but to come to the GDR. She alone posed the questions of the century to him “in a terrible way”. But if his talent is to be “to be successful and to please people”, then he should reconsider. Hack's answer to Schernikau arose from his sharp criticism of the Honecker policy at the time, which - unlike the policy of Walter Ulbricht's time - impaired and endangered socialism. In 1989 Schernikau applied for and received citizenship of the GDR and moved to Berlin-Hellersdorf on September 1, 1989 . In East Berlin he worked as an audio dramaturge for the Henschel publishing house . At the congress of the Writers' Union of the GDR from March 1 to 3, 1990, he gave a speech in which he told his audience that they were not yet aware of "the level of submission" that the West demands of each and every one of its residents. . The strategy of rolling back worked. The West has triumphed, the counter-revolution has triumphed. The late capitalist economy no longer needs justification for its continued existence. Writers would now “have to deal with the completely uninteresting questions, such as: How does the shit get into the head?” And they would be alone.

In 1991 he completed the extensive montage novel . It was published after authors such as Eberhard Esche , Peter Hacks , Elfriede Jelinek , Sahra Wagenknecht , Wolfgang Kohlhaase , Dietrich Kittner and Hermann L. Gremliza had campaigned privately and publicly for a subscription to a special edition. In the film Banale Tage (1992) he had his only role as an actor. From September 1, 1989 until his death on October 20, 1991, Schernikau lived in Berlin-Hellersdorf, Cecilienstraße 241 (formerly Albert-Norden-Straße). Schernikau died of AIDS . He is buried in the Georgen-Parochial II cemetery , department 52, row 02, grave site 16.

Since September 5, 2014, a plaque commemorates Schernikau on his last house in Berlin-Hellersdorf. The board was financed and installed by the housing association "Stadt und Land". In recent years Schernikau's work has experienced a renaissance, especially in the theater, staging of his texts (among others by Bastian Kraft and Moritz Beichl ) has brought new attention to the author. In 2019 a new edition of the voluminous novel legend was published by Verbrecher-Verlag .

Schernikau was openly homosexual and professed his communist worldview.

Works

Only the writings published separately are listed here; Articles, poems and smaller writings are not included.

  • Small town novella . Rotbuch, Berlin 1980; New edition Konkret Literatur Verlag, Hamburg 2002.
  • the sharp variant of being relaxed. a festival. Self-published, Berlin 1981.
  • petra. a fairy tale . With graphics by Uliane Borchert, Edition Mariannenpresse , Berlin 1984.
  • the beauty . World premiere in Berlin on December 4, 1987.
  • the days in l. - about the fact that the gdr and the brd can never communicate, let alone through their literature . Konkret Literatur Verlag, Hamburg 1989; New edition Konkret Literatur Verlag, Hamburg 2001.
  • the fairy tale of the flower . With graphics by Uliane Borchert, self-published, Berlin 1990.
  • Then we had another chance - correspondence with Peter Hacks; Texts from the estate. Konkret, Hamburg 1992 (Concrete texts 1).
  • legend . Publishing house ddp goldenbogen, Dresden 1999, ISBN 3-932434-09-9 . New edition of Verbrecher-Verlag, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-95732-342-2
  • Queen in the dirt. Texts currently . (Ed .: Thomas Keck), Verbrecher Verlag, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-940426-34-5 .
  • Irene Binz. Survey. Rotbuch Verlag, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86789-095-3
  • and when the prince danced with the driver, they were so beautiful that the whole courtyard passed out. a utopian film . (Ed .: Thomas Keck), Verbrecher Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-943167-10-8 .

Filmography

literature

  • Karl-Ludwig Stenger: Introduction to small-town-story . In: New German Critique 23/1981.
  • Tomas Vollhaber: Nothing, Fear, Experience: Research on Contemporary Gay Literature . Berlin 1987 (homosexuality and literature 1).
  • Wolfgang Popp : Memory of Ronald M. Schernikau: On the occasion of his death . In: Forum Homosexuality and Literature , H. 14, 1992.
  • Runge, Erika / Ronald M. Schernikau: "... love what doesn't exist". A conversation . In: Forum Homosexualität und Literatur 15 (1992), pp. 69-88.
  • Rainer Bohn: “I cheer you up. that is all. ”The short life of the poet Ronald M. Schernikau . In: Ronald M. Schernikau: Then we would still have a chance. Correspondence with Peter Hacks; Texts from the estate . Konkret, Hamburg 1992 (Concrete texts 1).
  • Dirck Linck: Fortunately, the words mean something different to everyone . In: Dirck Linck and Jürgen Peters (eds.): Von Dichterfürsten and other poets. A short history of literature in Lower Saxony . Revonnah Verlag, Hannover 1996, ISBN 3-927715-30-1 .
  • Karen-Susan Fessel / Axel Schock : Ronald M. Schernikau . In: Out! 600 lesbians, gays & bisexuals . Berlin 1997.
  • Axel Schock : Ronald M. Schernikau, Kleinstadtnovelle . In: The Library of Sodom. The book of gay books . Frankfurt am Main 1997.
  • Bernd-Ulrich Hergemöller : Ronald M. Schernikau . In: man for man. Biographical lexicon on the history of love for friends and male-male sexuality in the German-speaking area . Männerschwarm Verlag, Hamburg 1998.
  • Matthias Frings : The last communist. The dreamlike life of Ronald M. Schernikau . Aufbau-Verlag , Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-351-02669-1 .
  • Helen Thein, Helmut Peitsch (ed.): Love what doesn't exist. Literature, Pop and Politics with Ronald M. Schernikau . Verbrecher Verlag , Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-95732-200-5 .

Web links

Commons : Ronald M. Schernikau  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ All information in this section, unless otherwise stated, see the HP on Schernikau: Biography on www.schernikau.net; Accessed November 11, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Dirk Knipphals, Where Marianne Rosenberg ordered a protest song , in: taz, April 23, 2011.
  3. ↑ Irene Bazinger: The GDR was a complicated lover. Collage for someone who went over there: “The Beauty of East Berlin” celebrates the political heretic Ronald M. Schernikau in the Deutsches Theater . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, November 11, 2014, p. 14.
  4. ↑ Art knows everything. (No longer available online.) In: jungle-world.com. October 10, 2001, archived from the original on February 11, 2017 ; accessed on February 9, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Peer Schmitt: The beauty of Uwe. In: jungewelt.de. February 9, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2017 .
  6. ↑ All information in this section, unless otherwise stated, see: Martin Brandt, Zweierlei Realismus. The correspondence between Peter Hacks and Ronals M. Schernikau, in: Junge Welt, October 20, 2016, p. 12f.
  7. ↑ Philipp Oehmke, Between the Worlds, in: Der Spiegel, March 2, 2009, see also: [1] .
  8. ↑ Schernikau's speech at the GDR writers' congress .
  9. ↑ All information in this section, unless otherwise stated, see: Martin Brandt, Zweierlei Realismus. The correspondence between Peter Hacks and Ronald M. Schernikau, in: Junge Welt, October 20, 2016, p. 12f.
  10. ↑ Cf. STEFAN HOCHGESAND: The beautiful, gay communist. In: taz.de . March 23, 2015, accessed December 26, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Schernikau, Ronald M.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH July 11, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Magdeburg
DATE OF DEATH October 20, 1991
Place of death Berlin