Max Blecher
Max Blecher | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | Romanian |
| Period | 1930-1938 |
| Genre | poetry, fiction, novel, diary, memoir, correspondence |
| Literary movement | Surrealism, Avant-Garde, Modernism |
| Notable works | Adventures in Immediate Unreality, Scarred Hearts, Transparent Body |
Max Blecher (b. September 8, 1909, Botoşani– d. May 31, 1938) was a writer from Romania.
His father was a well-to-do Jewish merchant and the owner of a porcelain shop. He attended primary and secondary school in Roman, Romania.[1] After receiving his baccalaureat, Blecher left for Paris to study medicine. Shortly thereafter, in 1928, he was diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis (Pott's disease) and forced to abandon his studies. He sought treatment at various sanatoriums: Berck-sur-Mer in France, Leysin in Switzerland and Tekirghiol in Romania.[2] For the remaining ten years of his life, he was confined to his bed and practically immobilized by the disease. Despite his illness, he wrote and published his first piece in 1930, a short story called "Herrant" in Tudor Arghezi's literary magazine Bilete de papagal.[3] He contributed to André Breton's literary review Le Surréalisme au service de la révolution and carried on an intense correspondence with the foremost writers and philosophers of his day such as André Breton, André Gide, Martin Heidegger, Illarie Voronca, Geo Bogza, Mihail Sebastian, and Saşa Pană.[4] In 1934 he published Corp transparent, a volume of poetry.
In 1935 his parents moved him to a house on the outskirts of Roman[5] where he continued to write until his death in 1938. During his lifetime he published two other major works, Întâmplări în irealitate imediată (Adventures in Immediate Unreality) and Inimi cicatrizate (Scarred Hearts), as well as a number of short prose pieces, articles and translations. Vizuina luminată: Jurnal de sanatoriu (The Lit Up Burrow: Sanatorium Journal) was published posthumously in part in 1947 and in full in 1971.[6]
Major works
1. Corp transparent (Transparent Body)
2. Întâmplări în irealitate imediată (Adventures in Immediate Unreality)
3. Inimi cicatrizate (Scarred Hearts)
4. Vizuina luminată: Jurnal de sanatoriu (The Lit Up Burrow: Sanatorium Journal)
Translations
Max Blecher's books have been translated into English, French, German, Spanish, Czech, Hungarian, Dutch and Swedish. The German translation of Inimi cicatrizate, Vernarbte Herzen in German, was number one on Die Zeit's list of Notable Books.[7]
English translations
1. Adventures in Immediate Unreality, Jeanie Han (trans.) (2008)
2. Scarred Hearts, Henry Howard (trans.) London: Old Street Publishing (2008) ISBN 13: 978-1-90584-718-1
3. Poem "Pastoral," Victor Pambuccian (trans.) [1]
Notable Translations in other Languages
1. Aus der unmittelbaren Unwirklichkeit, Ernest Wichner (Trans.), Frankfurt: Suhrkamp Verlag (2003) ISBN 978-3-518-22367-3
2. Aventures dans l'irréalité immédiate, Marianne Sora (Trans.), Paris: Editions Denoel (1972)
3. Vernarbte Herzen, Ernest Wichner (Trans.), Frankfurt: Suhrkamp Verlag (2006) ISBN 978-3-518-22399-4
4. Acontecimientos de la Irrealidad Inmediata; la Guarida Iluminada: Diario de Sanatorio, Joaquín Garrigós (Trans.), Valencia: Aletheia (2007) ISBN 978-84-932877-4-0
5. Cuerpo transparente, Joaquín Garrigós (Trans.), Barcelona: Rosa Cúbica (2008) ISBN 978-84-88927-21-7
6. "Occurrence in the Immediate Unreality", Alistair Ian Blyth (Trans.), University of Plymouth Press (2009) ISBN 978-1-84102-207-9
7. "Corpo transparente/Corp transparent", Fernando Klabin (Trans.), In. (n.t.) Revista Literária em Tradução nº 1 (set/2010), Fpolis/Brasil, ISSN 2177-5141 www.notadotradutor.com
References
- ^ Popa, Constantin M. Tabel Cronologic. Întâmplări în Irealitatea Imediată; Inimi Cicatrizate; Vizuina Luminată; Corp Transparent; Corespondenţă. Colecţia Cărţi Fundamentale ale Culturii Române. Ed. Constantin M. Popa and Nicolae Ţone. Craiova: Editura Aius; Bucureşti: Editura Vinea, 1999.
- ^ Popa, Constantin M. Tabel Cronologic. Întâmplări în Irealitatea Imediată; Inimi Cicatrizate; Vizuina Luminată; Corp Transparent; Corespondenţă. Colecţia Cărţi Fundamentale ale Culturii Române. Ed. Constantin M. Popa and Nicolae Ţone. Craiova: Editura Aius; Bucureşti: Editura Vinea, 1999.
- ^ Popa, Constantin M. Tabel Cronologic. Întâmplări în Irealitatea Imediată; Inimi Cicatrizate; Vizuina Luminată; Corp Transparent; Corespondenţă. Colecţia Cărţi Fundamentale ale Culturii Române. Ed. Constantin M. Popa and Nicolae Ţone. Craiova: Editura Aius; Bucureşti: Editura Vinea, 1999.
- ^ Glodeanu, Gheorghe. Tabel Cronologic. Max Blecher şi noua estetică a romanului românesc interbelic. Cluj-Napoca: Editura Limes, 2005.
- ^ Glodeanu, Gheorghe. Tabel Cronologic. Max Blecher şi noua estetică a romanului românesc interbelic. Cluj-Napoca: Editura Limes, 2005.
- ^ Glodeanu, Gheorghe. Tabel Cronologic. Max Blecher şi noua estetică a romanului românesc interbelic. Cluj-Napoca: Editura Limes, 2005.
- ^ Romanian Cultural Center London, Scarred Hearts by Max Blecher (review), http://www.romanianculturalcentre.org.uk/recommended-books/2008/08/scarred-hearts-by-max-blecher/, accessed August 13, 2008.