Guest of the ilb 2002
Herta Müller is a
novelist, lyrical poet and essayist, whose works are primarily
concerned with the Romanian Ceaucescu dictatorship and the uprooting in
exile. She was born in the German speaking Nitzkydorf, District
Banat in Romania in 1953. In Timisoara she studied Romanian and
German Literature.
After her studies she was employed as a translator in a machine
factory. Contacted by intermediaries of the Romanian Secret
Service, she strictly refused any collaboration which led to her losing
her job in the factory. The Secret Service expected to get
informations from her about the "Campaign Group Banat", of which she
was a member. During this period, she began writing her first
stories which she collected under the title of 'Niederungen'.
Nevertheless she had great difficulty getting her work through
the censors and so her story volume was only published in 1982 in a
much changed version.
The impressions which Herta Müller collected during her childhood in
the Romanian province, the observations of village life, the
denunciation amongst the village inhabitants, the difficulties of a
non-conformist life in the smallest unit of the dictatorial state, the
family, are impressions central to her early works and her most
important novels.
In 1984, 'Niederungen' was published in Germany in an uncensored
version. Awards and invitations to Germany followed.
Although Herta Müller hadn’t had the permission to leave Romania as
yet, travelling became possible for her hereupon. She even
achieved an employment as teacher shortly before. After she had
criticised severely the Ceaucescu dictatorship in interviews, however,
a publication and travelling ban was imposed on her – culminating in
death threats by the Secret Service. In 1987, she left Romania.
Since then she has lived in Berlin.
The novel 'Reisende auf einem Bein' portrays the difficulties of
settling anew in foreign surroundings. Alongside other novels
about the dictatorship in Romania ('Herztier' and 'Heute wär ich mir
lieber nicht begegnet'), she also wrote a series of political essays
and notes on poetological lectures. In 1993, under the title of
'Der Wächter nimmt seinen Kamm. Vom Weggehen und Ausscheren', she
published the first collection of lyical collages, followed by 'Im
Haarknoten wohnt eine Dame' in 2000. In the essays of 'Der
König verneigt sich und tötet' (2003), she
portrays impressively the experiences of her life under
an absolute regime. In 2005, her playful collage of poetry 'Die blassen
Herren mit den Mokkatassen' was published.
Beside the prizes for her debut (among others the 'aspekte
Literaturpreis'), she received many awards, such as the European
Literary Prize 'Aristeion', the 'International IMPAC Dublin Literary
Award', the 'Kleist-Preis', the 'Kafka-Preis' and the
'Carl-Zuckmayer-Medaille'. In 2006, she was awarded the
Walter-Hasenclever-Preis.
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