Volker Weidermann (born 1969) is a German writer and

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

. He currently works for ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

'' as the literary director and editor of the newspaper's Sunday edition. In 2015, he changed to

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

Life

Weidermann studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

along with German language and linguistics at

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. For many years he wrote as a

Literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

for the Berlin-based

Tageszeitung ''Die Tageszeitung'' (, “The Daily Newspaper”), is counted as being one of modern Germany's most important newspapers and amongst the top seven. taz is stylized as ''die tageszeitung'' and commonly referred to as ''taz'', is a cooperative-own ...

, where he was employed as editor between 1998 and 2001. He then switched to the "Literary directorship" of the then newly established Sunday edition of the venerable

. Since 2003 he has headed up the publication jointly with Claudius Seidl.Kurt Tucholsky-Gesellschaft
Kurzbiografie Weidermanns
Wiedermann is publishing the collected output of the prolific pacifist writer

Armin T. Wegner Armin Theophil Wegner (October 16, 1886 – May 17, 1978) was a German soldier and medic in World War I, a prolific author, and a human rights activist. Stationed in the Ottoman Empire during World War I, Wegner was a witness to the Armenian geno ...

: the first volume appeared in 2012. That was also the year in which he took on a guest professorship at

Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. He lives in Berlin.

Publications

March 2006 saw the appearance of Weidermann's

literary history The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/listener/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques ...

, "Lichtjahre" (''literally "light years"''), subtitled, rather more helpfully. "A short history of German Literature from 1945 till today". This gave rise to a discussion about the division of literary criticism in Germany into two mutually unhearing camps, characterized by

Hubert Winkels Hubert is a Germanic masculine given name, from ''hug'' "mind" and ''beraht'' "bright". It also occurs as a surname. Saint Hubertus or Hubert (c. 656 – 30 May 727) is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians, and metalworkers. ...

of the national radio station as the "Emphatic and the Gnostic". The distinction drawn by Winkels, writing in

Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The ...

, is between literary critics such as Weidermann, who paid close attention to the vitality, realism and passion of an author's output and those who actually concentrated on the textual form and style along with the language and the

dramaturgy Dramaturgy is the study of dramatic composition and the Representation (arts), representation of the main elements of drama on the stage. The term first appears in the eponymous work ''Hamburg Dramaturgy'' (1767–69) by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing ...

. One camp hankers after "true life" while the other looks out for "true literature". Predictably, having defined the polar opposites in this way, Winkels is critical of both. Weidermann marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of

Max Frisch Max Rudolf Frisch (; 15 May 1911 – 4 April 1991) was a Swiss playwright and novelist. Frisch's works focused on problems of identity, individuality, responsibility, morality, and political commitment. The use of irony is a significant featur ...

with a critical new biography, published in 2010, entitled ''Max Frisch. Sein Leben, seine Bücher ("Max Frisch: His life and his books")''.

Volker Weidermann: Principal publications

* ''Lichtjahre: Eine kurze Geschichte der deutschen Literatur von 1945 bis heute''. Kieperheuer & Witsch, Köln 2006, . ** Als Taschenbuch: btb, München 2007, . ** Als Hörbuch: Hörverlag, München 2006, . * ''Das Buch der verbrannten Bücher''. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln 2008, . * ''Max Frisch. Sein Leben, seine Bücher.'' Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln 2010, . * ''Ostende: 1936, Sommer der Freundschaft''. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln 2014, . * ''Dreamers: When the Writers Took Power, Germany 1918''. Pushkin Press, 2018.

In 2008 the "Book of the Burned Books" (''"Buch der verbrannten Bücher"'') appeared, comprising 131 miniature overviews of the lives and works of authors whose works were included in the 1933 Book Burnings. In 2009 this book won Weidermann the

Kurt-Tucholsky-Preis Kurt-Tucholsky-Preis is a literary prize of Germany. The prize amount is currently €5,000. The prize, for "committed and succinct literary works" was first awarded in 1995, and thereafter annually till 1997, since when it has been awarded every t ...

for "literary journalism". The

biographical novel The biographical novel is a genre of novel which provides a fictional account of a contemporary or historical person's life. Like other forms of biographical fiction, details are often trimmed or reimagined to meet the artistic needs of the fiction ...

''Ostende: 1936, Sommer der Freundschaft'' (''

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

1936: Summer of Friendship'') appeared in 2014. It concerns the friendship of two very different writers,

Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig (; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist, and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular write ...

and

Joseph Roth Moses Joseph Roth (2 September 1894 – 27 May 1939) was an Austrian journalist and novelist, best known for his family saga ''Radetzky March'' (1932), about the decline and fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his novel of Jewish life ''Job'' ( ...

, and their meeting up at the Belgian coastal resort in 1936. Weidermann addressed the same subject in a nonfiction book that has been translated into English.Weidermann, Volker (

Carol Brown Janeway Carol Janet Brown Janeway (1 February 1944 – 3 August 2015) was a Scottish-American editor and literary translator into English. She is best known for her translation of Bernhard Schlink's ''The Reader''. Biography Carol Janet Brown was bor ...

, translator), ''

, Joseph Roth, and the Summer Before the Dark''. New York: Pantheon Books, 2016; ''Summer Before the Dark: Stefan Zweig and Joseph Roth, Ostend 1936''. London: Pushkin Press, 2017. Other exiled German writers and artists were at Ostend at the same time, including Roth's latest love,

Irmgard Keun Irmgard Keun (; 6 February 1905 – 5 May 1982) was a German novelist. Noted for her portrayals of the life of women, she is described as "often reduced to the bold sexuality of her writing, eta significant author of the late Weimar period and ' ...

, along with

Hermann Kesten Hermann Kesten (28 January 1900 – 3 May 1996) was a German novelist and dramatist. He was one of the principal literary figures of the New Objectivity movement in 1920s Germany. The literary prize Hermann Kesten Medal has been given in his hon ...

Egon Erwin Kisch Egon Erwin Kisch (29 April 1885 – 31 March 1948) was an Austrian and Czechoslovak writer and journalist, who wrote in German. He styled himself ''Der Rasende Reporter'' (The Raging Reporter) for his countless travels to the far corners of the ...

Arthur Koestler Arthur Koestler, (, ; ; hu, Kösztler Artúr; 5 September 1905 – 1 March 1983) was a Hungarian-born author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest and, apart from his early school years, was educated in Austria. In 1931, Koestler join ...

Willi Münzenberg Wilhelm "Willi" Münzenberg (14 August 1889, Erfurt, Germany – June 1940, Saint-Marcellin, France) was a German Communist political activist and publisher. Münzenberg was the first head of the Young Communist International in 1919–20 and est ...

Ernst Toller Ernst Toller (1 December 1893 – 22 May 1939) was a German author, playwright, left-wing politician and revolutionary, known for his Expressionism (theatre), Expressionist plays. He served in 1919 for six days as President of the short-lived B ...

and Toller's young wife, Christiane Grautoff.

External links

* *
Zusammenfassung der Reaktionen auf ''Lichtjahre'' bei single-generation.de

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weidermann, Volker 1969 births Writers from Darmstadt German journalists German male journalists German newspaper journalists German literary critics 20th-century German writers Living people 20th-century German male writers ZDF people Der Spiegel people Die Tageszeitung people