Silvia Bovenschen (5 March 1946 in Point bei Waakirchen,

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (, ; ) is one of the seven administrative regions 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 of the district gove ...

— 25 October 2017 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) 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 am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, 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, which were predominantly characterized by the rise of left-wing politics, Anti-war movement, anti-war sentiment, Civil and political rights, civil rights urgency, youth C ...

, she co-founded the women's council of the Socialist German Student Union. In 1979, she earned a doctorate from the

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of 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 Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

. 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 An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

in Berlin. She became a member of the German Academy for Language and Literature in 2013. Bovenschen lived in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

, 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 The Roswitha Prize () is the oldest German language prize for literature that is given solely to women. The Roswitha-Medal has been given almost yearly since 1973 by the city of Bad Gandersheim. In 1998 it received its modern designation along wi ...

*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 *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 German essayists 20th-century German women writers 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