Silvia Bovenschen (5 March 1946 in Point bei Waakirchen,

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat o ...

— 25 October 2017 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

) was a German feminist literary critic, author and essayist.

History

Bovenschen was the daughter of a public limited company director. She grew up in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, where she later studied literature, sociology and philosophy. In the course of the

protests of 1968 The protests of 1968 comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, predominantly characterized by popular rebellions against state militaries and the bureaucracies. In the United States, these protests marked a turning point for the ci ...

, she co-founded the women's council of the Socialist German Student Union. In 1979, she earned a doctorate from the Goethe University Frankfurt with her work ''Die imaginierte Weiblichkeit'' ("The imagined femininity"). This essay is regarded as a standard work of feminism. In her mid-twenties, she found out she had multiple sclerosis. However, she taught at the Goethe University Frankfurt for twenty years before she had to stop because of her illness. In 2003, she moved to Berlin and started writing novels. Her best-seller ''Älter werden. Notizen.'' was released in 2006. In 2011, Bovenschen was elected a member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin. She became a member of the

German Academy for Language and Literature German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

in 2013. Bovenschen lived in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the ...

, Berlin with her partner (1933–2019). Bovenschen died from her illness on October 25, 2017. Her finished novel ''Lug & Trug & Rat & Streben'' was released posthumously in 2018. In an interview just before her death, Bovenschen described herself as an intellectual and a feminist who emphasised on "style" and "beauty".

Works

* ''Die imaginierte Weiblichkeit. Exemplarische Untersuchungen zu kulturgeschichtlichen und literarischen Präsentationsformen des Weiblichen.'' Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1979, * ''Schlimmer machen, schlimmer lachen. Aufsätze und Streitschriften.'' Verlag der Autoren, Frankfurt am Main 1998, . * ''Über-Empfindlichkeit. Spielformen der Idiosynkrasie.'' Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2000, * ''Älter werden. Notizen.'' S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2006, ** Niederländisch: ''Ouder worden.'' Übers. Jan Bert Kanon. Atlas, Amsterdam 2008, * ''Verschwunden.'' S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2008, * ''Wer weiß was? Eine deutliche Mordgeschichte.'' S. Fischer, Frankfurt 2009, * ''Wie geht es Georg Laub?'' S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2011, * ''Nur Mut.'' Roman. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2013, * ''Sarahs Gesetz.'' S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2015, * ''Lug & Trug & Rat & Streben.'' S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2018 (posthumous),

As an editor

* ''Die Listen der Mode.'' Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1986, . * with Winfried Frey, Stefan Fuchs, Walter Raitz and Dieter Seitz: ''Der fremdgewordene Text. Festschrift für Helmut Brackert zum 65. Geburtstag.'' Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1997, * with Jörg Bong: ''Rituale des Alltags.'' S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2002, * with Juliane Beckmann: ''Von der Freundschaft. Ein Lesebuch.'' S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2009,

Awards

*2000: Roswitha Prize *2000:

Johann-Heinrich-Merck-Preis Johann-Heinrich-Merck-Preis is a literary prize of Hesse awarded by the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung since 1964. Since 2013 the prize winner receives €20,000. The award is donated by the Merck Group in memory of the German author ...

*2007: Ernst-Robert-Curtius-Preis *2012:

Schiller Prize of the City of Mannheim The Schiller Prize of the City of Mannheim has been awarded by the City of Mannheim since 1954. It was donated on the occasion of the 175th anniversary of the National Theatre. The prize is awarded every two years and endowed with €20,000. It i ...

*2014: Honourable prize of the Bayerischer Buchpreis

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bovenschen, Silvia 20th-century German women 21st-century German women 20th-century German novelists 21st-century German novelists 20th-century essayists 21st-century essayists German women novelists German women essayists German literary critics German women literary critics Academic staff of Goethe University Frankfurt Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund members Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin People from Berchtesgadener Land German socialist feminists 1946 births 2017 deaths