Theodor Sapper

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Theodor Sapper (born September 16, 1905 in Feldbach ; † September 25, 1982 in Vienna ) was an Austrian writer and lecturer .

Life

Theodor Sapper was the son of the evangelical theologian and natural philosopher Karl Sapper and a grandson of the young writer Agnes Sapper . The German nationalist father had Theodor Sapper admitted to psychiatry in 1923 because he had difficulties in high school. In 1924 Sapper graduated from the Academic Gymnasium Graz , from 1925 he studied history in Graz, where he received his doctorate in 1929. phil. with a thesis on Feuerbach and Marx . In 1929 Sapper visited Theodor Däubler in Berlin, whom he had invited to a reading in Graz in 1927, and also met Anton Kuh, Albert Ehrenstein and Emil Nolde here. In 1930 he made the decision to become a writer and made his first publication, the play 'The Erotica of Hate'. In 1932 he became acquainted with Elias Canetti and through him also with Hermann Broch . Between 1930 and 1938 Sapper worked for newspapers and radio, traveled through Germany and to Spain and Africa. Sapper was banned from writing in 1938, but remained exempt from military service for health reasons. From January to April 1942 he was employed in the Blaimschein margarine factory in Vienna. From September 1942 to March 1943 Sapper worked as a research assistant at the University of Graz, from December 1943 to March 1945 as an archivist and historical researcher for the city of Murnau. On December 27, 1944, she married Hilda Wildung and converted to the Catholic faith. 1945 was the birth of the first son and the acquaintance of Alfred Kubin . In 1947 the second son was born. At the end of 1948 he moved to Vienna. From 1948 to 1950, Sapper was a staff member and editor of the weekly newspaper 'Offenes Wort', from 1957 to 1958 a house corrector at the Austrian Federal Publishing House , from 1960 to 1982 lecturer in literary history at the Academy of Fine Arts, and in 1966 also lecturer at the Federal Diplomatic Academy. In 1973 he was accepted into the Austrian PEN Club .

Literary work

Throughout his life, Sapper was only known to a small group of people interested in art and literature, and towards the end of his life he was almost completely forgotten as a writer. He published in various newspapers and magazines, for example 'The Plan', 'New Paths', 'Literature and Criticism', 'Protocols'. And translated from French, Dutch and Spanish, etc. a. Eliade 'Sense and Symbols' and the portrayal of Karl Marx by the Jesuit Calvez. As editor he published a. a. Selection editions by Däubler and Haringer. He has been writing poetry since he was 17. Sapper saw himself in the succession of Expressionism and was classified by many friends in this style. Sapper's own enthusiasm for the Expressionists, especially Theodor Däubler, contributed significantly to this. Sapper's most important work in this context is the study 'Alle Glocken der Erde', in which he gives a well-founded overview of 'Expressionist poetry from the Danube region'. If you take Sapper's definition of the characteristics of Expressionist poetry seriously, you have to classify your own poems as mystical rather than expressionistic.

His more than 500-page novel 'Chain Reaction Contra' is much more symbolistic and mystical than expressionistic. This 'word request for the victims of the Holocaust' is a result of the shame about the events of 1933–1945. The writing was probably started in 1942, but large parts of it were written after 1945. The year 1942 plays an essential role in the novel because it was a defining event for Sapper. In February 1942, Franz Weiß, Karl Drews , Josef Neuhold , Herbert Eichholzer, acquaintances and friends of Sapper, were arrested and executed (Josef Neuhold died while in prison as a result of torture). The novel has no classical plot, but consists of associations with topics such as nationalism, the persecution of the Jews, with people like Chamberlain, Wagner and with places like Graz. A first-person narrator and a narrator reproduce the thoughts and associations of the protagonist Hans Pfingster, comment on them and in turn make associations. Almost all major and state actions take place in the protagonist's head. Despite numerous efforts, the novel was not published during the author's lifetime. In 1971 an illustrated edition of 'Kettenreaktion Kontra' was announced - the novel - 'this hushed masterpiece of Austrian literature' - was only published in 2006.

Awards

  • Theodor Körner Fund 1955
  • Prize of the Ludwig von Ficker Foundation 1963
  • Literature Prize of the Vienna Art Fund 1972

Works

Individual works

  • Eroticism of hate, play, Baden-Baden 1930
  • Kornfeld, story, Vienna 1947; again in Cologne in 1980
  • Pain before the day, poems, Vienna / Innsbruck / Wiesbaden 1957
  • All grapes, all lilies, poems, Vienna 1967
  • All the bells of this earth, Vienna 1974
  • A thousand lights - a thousand deaths, poems, Munich 1980
  • Chain reaction against, Roman, Salzburg 2006

Journal publications (selection)

  • 'The epic - viewed as a field of experimentation', Neue Ways, No. 93, Vienna 1954, pages 14-15.
  • 'Far Eastern Scent', New Ways, Volume 94, Vienna 1954, pages 15-16.
  • 'In the East', New Paths, Volume 148, Vienna 1959, page 6
  • 'From: Kettenreaktion Kontra', literature and criticism, issue 53, Salzburg, April 1971, pages 153–158.
  • 'Albert Paris Gütersloh: Miniatures for Creation', review literature and criticism, issue 53, Salzburg, April 1971, pages 185–187.
  • 'HG Adler: Book of Friends', Literature and Criticism, Issue 109, October 1976, pages 563-565.

editor

  • Theodor Däubler: Echo without End, Graz 1957
  • And want a borrowed sumer to come, Graz 1964
  • Jakob Haringer: The Shepherd in the Moon, Graz 1965

Translations

  • Pedro Lain Entralgo: Medicine in a historical decision, Salzburg 1956
  • Alessandro Manzoni: The betrothed, Olten / Freiburg 1957
  • Mircea Eliade: Eternal Images and Symbols, Olten / Freiburg 1958
  • C. Wilkeshuis: Tipa the Inca girl, Olten / Freiburg 1961
  • José Luis MartínVigil: Jordi, Luzern / Munich 1964
  • Jean-Yves Calvez SJ: Karl Marx, Olten / Freiburg 1964

literature

  • Johann Sonnleitner: Theodor Sapper. In: Killy Literature Lexicon, Volume 10, Gütersloh / Munich 1991, page 134
  • Register of the publications of Sappers in literature and criticism, in: Renate Lang: 30 years literature and criticism, Salzburg 1996, page 128–129.
  • Hartmut Zelinsky: Theodor Sapper's 'Chain Reaction Contra': A Novel as Word Requiem, epilogue to Theodor Sapper: Chain Reaction Contra, Salzburg 2006, page 547-592.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Other sources give October 1, 1982 as the date of death - cf. the entry 'Theodor Sapper' in the literature archive of the Austrian National Library.
  2. ↑ On the life data cf. the epilogue by Zelinsky in 'Kettenreaktion Kontra', 2006
  3. ↑ See Notes in Literature and Criticism, Issue 53, 1971, page 188
  4. ^ Review in the NZZ from July 1, 2006
personal data
SURNAME Sapper, Theodore
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian writer
DATE OF BIRTH September 16, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Feldbach (Styria)
DATE OF DEATH September 25, 1982
Place of death Vienna