Wolfgang Bittner

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Wolfgang Bittner at a reading in May 2008

Wolfgang Bittner (born July 29, 1941 in Gleiwitz / Oberschlesien ) is a German writer and doctor of law .

Life

Wolfgang Bittner grew up in East Friesland and lives as a freelance writer in Göttingen . After graduating from high school (on the second educational path in 1966) he studied law , sociology and philosophy in Göttingen and Munich , passed the first state examination in 1970, received his doctorate on a criminal law topic in 1972, and then completed his legal clerkship in 1973 with the second state examination. He pursued various professions and occupations, including a. as a welfare worker, administrative officer and lawyer . Extensive travels took him to the Middle East , Mexico , Canada and New Zealand .

Since 1974 Bittner has concentrated more and more on writing. He writes books for adults, young people and children and has worked as a freelancer for numerous print media (including Die Zeit , Frankfurter Rundschau , Neue Zürcher Zeitung ), radio and television. His works have been translated into numerous languages ​​and he has received several literary awards.

From 1996 to 1998 he was in the WDR - Broadcasting appointed. He has taught at home and abroad, including visiting professorships in Poland in 2004, 2005 and 2006. As a visual artist , Bittner has presented his works (iron sculptures, paintings, etc.) in several exhibitions since 1977.

He is a member of the PEN Center Germany and of the Association of German Writers , of which he was a member from 1997 to 2001.

reception

Bittner's debut novel Der Aufsteiger or An Attempt to Live , published in 1978, was recognized by Martin Walser as an "exemplary development novel " against the background of the German economic miracle and the student revolt.

The critical lexicon for contemporary German literature sees its social novel Bis an die Grenz (1980) as "a socially differentiated representation of the Federal Republic in the 1980s".

Regarding his novel Niemandsland (1992), in which - as in the Aufsteiger - autobiographical experiences are processed, the taz said: "No man's land is to be understood as a commentary on the history of the old Federal Republic, perhaps even as a literary end point".

According to the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung , Bittner, who grew up in a barracks camp after the Second World War, writes in the context of socio-political backgrounds “tendentious in the best sense, entertaining, exciting” and is “a singular phenomenon on the vanity literature market”.

In 1983, Die Zeit assigned him to the “genre of so-called realistic, problem-oriented youth literature” and described him as “one of their most consistent and competent representatives”.

Quotes

As a writer, Bittner is concerned with “the basic questions of human coexistence, with the problems of our society and social order, and ultimately also with expanding the consciousness of oneself and others”. Elsewhere he says of himself that he “has always had the urge to look beyond the horizon and get to know the world”. He is also of the opinion that the literature often suffers from "the fact that authors get their experience from secondary sources".

When asked why he doesn't work as a lawyer: "Well, satirically I would like to say that I had too strong a sense of justice to work as a lawyer, whether in the private sector, in the judiciary, as a judge, public prosecutor or Lawyer for the long term or as in-house officer or administrative officer (...). "

Awards

Works (in selection)

Prose / poetry

Books for children and young readers

picture books

  • Kasperle goes to the factory. Illustrated by Karl Heinz Grage. Atelier hand press, Berlin 1979.
  • The moon goes on the tram. Illustrated by Ursula Kirchberg . Bertelsmann, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-570-12127-5 .
  • The Grizzly Gruzzly Bears. Illustrated by Gusti. North-South, Gossau / Hamburg / Salzburg 1996, ISBN 3-314-00713-2 .
  • Felix, Kemal and Nikolaus. Illustrated by Ursula Kirchberg. North-South, Gossau / Hamburg / Salzburg 1996, ISBN 3-314-00623-3 .
  • Weekend with dad. Illustrated by Sabine Wiemers . Kerle, Freiburg / Vienna / Basel 1999, ISBN 3-451-70272-X .
  • The old trapper and the bear. Illustrated by Laurence Sartin. W. Mann, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-926740-98-1 .
  • The emperor and the kangaroo. With illustrated by Ursula Kirchberg. Lappan, Oldenburg 2002, ISBN 3-8303-1032-3 .

Children's books

Youth novels

Non-fiction

  • The concept of custody and its meaning for the systematics of property offenses. Dissertation. University of Göttingen, 1972. Südwestdeutscher Verlag für Hochschulschriften, Saarbrücken 2008, ISBN 978-3-8381-0051-7 .
  • Writer by profession. The craft with the imagination. Beltz, Weinheim / Basel 1985, ISBN 3-407-84037-3 .
  • Salzgitter. A German story. With photos by Andreas Baier. City of Salzgitter, 1992, ISBN 3-9803325-0-0 .
  • Profession: writer. What you need to know if you want to make a living from writing. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2002. Revised new edition: Allitera-Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-86520-197-0 .
  • Writing, reading, traveling. Essays and lectures. Athena, Oberhausen 2006, ISBN 3-89896-253-9 .
  • The conquest of Europe by the USA. A strategy of destabilization, escalation and militarization using the example of the events in Ukraine. VAT-Verlag, Mainz 2014, ISBN 978-3-95518-029-4 . Revised and expanded new edition: Westend Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2015, ISBN 978-3-86489-120-5 . Completely revised and expanded new edition: Westend Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2017, ISBN 978-3-86489-189-2 .
  • The new East-West conflict - staging a crisis . Zeitgeist Print & Online, Höhr-Grenzhausen 2019, ISBN 978-3-943007-25-1 .

Plays for children, teenagers and adults

  • Coffee strike. Deutscher Theaterverlag, Weinheim 1987, ISBN 3-7695-0172-1 .
  • The rumor . Deutscher Theaterverlag, Weinheim 1988, ISBN 3-7695-0269-8 .
  • How the fire came to the people. Deutscher Theaterverlag, Weinheim 1996, ISBN 3-7695-1655-9 .
  • The raven colony. Edition Deutsche Dramaturgie, Göttingen 1984.

Editorships

literature

Treatises in lexicons

  • Heinz Ludwig Arnold (Hrsg.): Critical lexicon for contemporary German literature . Loose-leaf collection. Edition Text and Criticism, Munich 1995 und 2001.
  • Lexicon of travel and adventure literature. Loose-leaf collection. Corian Verlag 1999.
  • Cologne Authors Lexicon 1901–2000. Volume 2. Emons Verlag, Cologne 2002, pp. 56-57.
  • Lexicon of children's and youth literature. Loose-leaf collection. Corian Verlag 2005.
  • Literary dictionary. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2008.

Conversations with Bittner

  • Ursula Hoffmann: Creative work is not appreciated enough. In: Zblizenia / Approaches. H. 2 (23). Wrocław / Breslau 1999, pp. 5-14.
  • Dominika Mackiewicz: A good book can change a person. In: Orbis Linguarum. H. 25. Wrocław / Breslau 2004, pp. 189–195.
  • Rajmund Müller: Expulsion and European Culture. In: Silesia Nova. Vol. 4, volume 1. Dresden / Wrocław 2007, pp. 99-107.
  • Estera Jasita: Humanity is important to me. In: Zblizenia Interkulturowe / Interkulturelle Approach. H. 3. Wrocław / Breslau 2008, pp. 106–115.
  • Anna Sawicka: In the broadest sense, every writing process is autobiographical. In: Silesia Nowa. Vol. 6, volume 1. Dresden / Wrocław 2009, pp. 98-104.
  • Thomas Barth: Extensive enemy propaganda. In: Telepolis November 30, 2014
  • Jens Wernicke: Divide et impera. In: NachDenkSeiten . 1st December 2014.
  • Marcus Klöckner: Germany would fall to rubble if such a war were to expand . In: NachDenkSeiten November 4, 2017

Bittner in literary studies and literary didactics

  • Rajmund Müller: On the problem of literary socialization using the example of the texts by Wolfgang Bittner. In: Edward Białek, Czesław Karolak (ed.): “Shoe number or life!” Contributions to literary didactics and children's and youth literary literature. Neisse-Verlag, Dresden 2007, ISBN 978-3-934038-92-9 , pp. 99-107.
  • Estera Jasita: Literatura jako okno na swiat - próba monografii Wolfganga Bittnera, Praca doktorska (literature as a window to the world - attempt at a monograph on Wolfgang Bittner). Dissertation. Uniwersytet Wrocławski, Wrocław / Breslau 2009.
  • Grzegorz Kowal: Sociological approach to literary didactics using the example of the story "The Meteorite and the Bicycle" by Wolfgang Bittner. In: Edward Białek, Krzysztof Huszcza (Ed.): Promotion of reading skills in schools and universities. Contributions to literary and foreign language didactics. Neisse-Verlag, Dresden 2009, ISBN 978-3-940310-74-3 , pp. 95-107.

Self-statements

  • Wolfgang Bittner: Experience in an unusual job. In: Profession: Writer. What you need to know if you want to make a living from writing. Rowohlt, Reinbek 2002, ISBN 3-499-61311-5 , pp. 11-23.
  • Wolfgang Bittner: At home, that was Gleiwitz or From Upper Silesia to East Frisia. In: Gleiwitz is now called Gliwice. A German-Polish story. Athena, Oberhausen 2003, ISBN 3-89896-161-3 , pp. 9-19.
  • Wolfgang Bittner: Silesian Embassy. In: WDR 5 . July 20, 2004.
  • Wolfgang Bittner: Life with writing. In: WDR July 5 , 2011.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Identified in the list of members of the PEN Center Germany . In: pen-deutschland.de, accessed on January 22, 2018.
  2. ↑ Martin Walser on Wolfgang Bittner: The climber or an attempt to live. In: Book Guild Magazine. IV / 1979, p. 22.
  3. ↑ See Critical Lexicon for Contemporary German Literature. edition text + kritik, loose-leaf collection and on the Internet, 69th edition. 10/01, pp. 1-10 / AI.
  4. ↑ RS on Wolfgang Bittner: No man's land. In: the daily newspaper . January 24, 1992.
  5. ^ Heinrich Goertz to Wolfgang Bittner in Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung. 29./30. January 1983.
  6. ↑ Birgit Dankert : Novel for young people: Home - Frust - Prison. (No longer available online.) In: Die Zeit. May 6, 1983, archived from the original on January 23, 2018 ; Retrieved June 14, 2019 (from No. 19/1983).
  7. ↑ See Munzinger archive .
  8. ↑ See Lexicon of Children's and Youth Literature. Corian-Verlag, loose-leaf collection, 25th edition. Oct. 2005, pp. 1-34.
  9. ↑ See Lexicon of Travel and Adventure Literature. Corian-Verlag, loose-leaf collection, 42nd Erg.Lfg. March 1999, pp. 1-19.
  10. ↑ KenFM in conversation with: Wolfgang Bittner (The Conquest of Europe by the USA). In: YouTube. Retrieved June 7, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Thomas Barth: Extensive enemy propaganda. In: Heise.de . November 30, 2014, accessed on January 22, 2018 (“Interview with the writer Wolfgang Bittner about MH-17, fascists in Ukraine and the failure of the Western media”).
  12. ↑ Jens Wernicke in conversation with Wolfgang Bittner: Divide et impera. In: nachdenkseiten.de. December 1, 2014, accessed January 22, 2018.
  13. ↑ Marcus Klöckner in conversation with Wolfgang Bittner: Wolfgang Bittner: "If such a war were to expand, Germany would fall to rubble". In: nachdenkseiten.de. November 4, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  14. ↑ Experienced stories with Wolfgang Bittner. In: wdr5.de, accessed on January 22, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Bittner, Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer, lawyer and visual artist
DATE OF BIRTH July 29, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Gliwice