Joachim Werneburg (born July 15, 1953 in
Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...
, East Germany) is a German writer who publishes
lyric-
epic
Epic commonly refers to:
* Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation
* Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements
Epic or EPIC may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and medi ...
texts and short prose.
Life
Joachim Werneburg is the son of the artist
Walter Werneburg. From 1973 to 1977, he studied theoretical electrical engineering at
Technische Universität Ilmenau
The Technische Universität Ilmenau (''Ilmenau University of Technology'', TU Ilmenau) is a German public research university located in Ilmenau, Thuringia, central Germany. Founded in 1894, it has five academic departments (faculties) with abo ...
and was a member at circle of writing students. From 1977 to 1990, he performed a double life as poet and engineer at a
microelectronics company in Erfurt. After the
Peaceful Revolution
The Peaceful Revolution (german: Friedliche Revolution), as a part of the Revolutions of 1989, was the process of sociopolitical change that led to the opening of East Germany's borders with the West, the end of the ruling of the Socialist Unity ...
in Eastern Germany, he was working at an environment association and, from 1997 to 2019, as government employee.
Oeuvre
Still in
GDR
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
-times, a mythology of
Thuringia – including geology, plant, and animal beings – was written in the volume "Thüringer Meer" (Thuringian Sea). One aspect of this book is the creative conflict between the
Slavic immigration (
Wends) and the western conquests (by the
Merowingians). A response to the
zeitgeist of GDR-times can be found in sharp-tongued
epigram
An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...
s.
By the end of the 1980th, free adaptations from the work of the Chinese poet Pe-lo-thien were written (
Bai Juyi
Bai Juyi (also Bo Juyi or Po Chü-i; ; 772–846), courtesy name Letian (樂天), was a renowned Chinese poet and Tang dynasty government official. Many of his poems concern his career or observations made about everyday life, including as g ...
, 772–846,
Tang dynasty). These are particularly characterized by bewitching images of nature combined with social critics. Werneburg recognized Pe-lo-thien as a kindred spirit and discovered comparable existential experiences (in: "Die Reise nach Südost", Journey to South-East).
The lyric-epic poems of Werneburg written since 1980 belong to a Great Cycle, a world-poem. ''
The Cantos
''The Cantos'' by Ezra Pound is a long, incomplete poem in 120 sections, each of which is a ''canto''. Most of it was written between 1915 and 1962, although much of the early work was abandoned and the early cantos, as finally published, date ...
'' of
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...
served the paragon for such an approach. Of about 100 planned poet cycles, four-fifths are already present. The poem-books published since 2002 illustrate cultural landscapes of the
Provence,
Cornwall, and portray the mythical conflict between the
antique Mediterranean or the ancient Celtic
Wales. An
Andalusian poem cycle refers to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic motifs. Pulsatively, Werneburg returns to Thuringia with his works, such as in a series of ten nature lyric
elegies, which are united in the volume "Die Klage der Gorgonen" (The Gorgon's Dirge). Younger text lead to Asia, a dancing
dervish, the
Yellow Dragon, or the
Nō-play.
Werneburg writes a work-journal with a selection provided in the book "Das Kupferbergwerk" (
Copper Mine, notes from 1977 to 1989). It reflects the process of writing poems and the life in a
totalitarian state. The "Notizen auf der Felswand" (Notes on the Rock’s Face) are from the time after the political turn in Eastern Germany (1990 to 1995) and illustrate the changed situation of the author – now under the conditions of an actual
capitalism.
From 1979 to 1994 Walter Werneburg created colored printed graphics for 21 poem cycles. The complete joined work was published in the book "Die Rabenfibel" (The Raven´s
Fibula. In „Wort und geschwungene Linie“ (Word and Swinging Line) Joachim Werneburg reports about this cooperation.
Works
;Lyrics:
* ''Die Schlangenfüßige Göttin'' 1993, (Snake Fooded Goddess)
* ''Das Zeitalter der Eidechse'' 2002, (The Aeon of the Lizard)
* ''Die Rabenfibel'' 2010, (The Raven´s Fibula)
* ''Thüringer Meer'' 2012, (Thuringian Sea)
* ''Die Wiederkehr des Delphins'' 2013, (The return of the dolphin)
* ''Die Klage der Gorgonen'' 2015, (The Gorgon's Dirge)
* ''Der Untergang Europas'' 2019, (The sinking of Europe)
;Prose:
* ''Wort und geschwungene Linie'' 2010, (Word and Swinging Line)
* ''Kupferbergwerk'' 2011, (Copper Mine)
* ''Notizen auf der Felswand'' 2016, (Notes on the Rock’s Face)
;Free adaptation:
* ''Die Reise nach Südost'' 2017, (Journey to South-East).
Literature (selection)
* Agthe, Kai: ''Zu Gedichten von Joachim Werneburg'', 2009 (On poems by Joachim Werneburg)
* Agthe, Kai: ''Das Hohelied des Mythos'', 2008 (The Song of Myths)
*
Kirsten, Wulf: In: ''Deutsches Literatur-Lexikon. Biographisch-bibliographisches Handbuch'', 2012 (German Literature Lexicon. Biographical-bibliographical handbook)
*
Roewer, Helmut: ''Bücher von Vater und Sohn'', 2014 (Father and son books)
* Geipel, Ines & Walther, Joachim: In: ''Gesperrte Ablage. Unterdrückte Literaturgeschichte in Ostdeutschland 1945–1989'', 2015 (Locked tray. Suppressed literary history in East Germany 1945-1989)
* Dwars, Jens-F.: ''Umbruch-Notate'', 2017 (Break notations)
* Friedrich, Bernd-Ingo: ''Notizen auf der Felswand'', 2018 (Notes on the Rock’s Face)
* Friedrich, Bernd-Ingo: ''Die Reise nach Südost'', 2018 (Journey to South-East)
* Roewer, Helmut & Werneburg, Ingmar (ed.): ''Das Weltgedicht. Gespräch über das Werk von Joachim Werneburg'', 2022 (The World Poem. Discussion about the work of Joachim Werneburg)
External links
*
www.joachim-werneburg.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Werneburg, Joachim
Living people
1953 births
Writers from Erfurt
German male writers
Ilmenau University of Technology alumni