Arno Schmidt
The title of this article is ambiguous. For other meanings, see Arno Schmidt (disambiguation).
Arno Otto Schmidt (* 18 January 1914 in Hamburg-Hamm; † 3 June 1979 in Celle) was a German writer.
Schmidt grew up in Hamburg and Lauban near Görlitz. Since 1938 he lived in Greiffenberg. From 1946 he lived as a freelance writer, first in Cordingen, then in Gau-Bickelheim, Kastel an der Saar and in Darmstadt, and since 1958 in Bargfeld in the Lüneburger Heide near Celle. His first volume of stories, Leviathan, appeared in 1949, and this and his works of the 1950s are linguistically characterised by an unusual choice of words, often inspired by Expressionism. Formally, they are characterized by an effort to create new prose forms; in terms of content, they are marked by a culturally pessimistic worldview and a belligerent opposition to the West Germany of the Adenauer era. Schmidt further developed his theoretical reflections on prose and language in the 1960s in confrontation above all with James Joyce and Sigmund Freud, and sought to implement his findings in the works produced during this period (Ländliche Erzählungen in the volume Kühe in Halbtrauer, KAFF also Mare Crisium). The sum of this development was the monumental magnum opus Zettel's Traum, published in 1970. His later works (Die Schule der Atheisten, Abend mit Goldrand and the fragmentary Julia, oder die Gemälde) appeared, like Zettel's Traum, in large-format typescript volumes. In addition to the prose works that were important for the author, he produced numerous translations from English, short stories, (radio) essays on literary history and theory, a detailed biography of Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, and a study of Karl May (Sitara) inspired by psychoanalysis.
Cows in Half-Mourning . Etching by Jens Rusch to Arno Schmidt's story Kühe in Halbtrauer (Cows in Half-Mourning)
Radio play adaptations
- From the life of a faun. Radio play with Ulrich Wildgruber. Edited and directed by Klaus Buhlert. BR Hörspiel und Medienkunst 1998. length: 86'40. as podcast/download in the BR Hörspiel Pool.
- Brand's Haide. Radio play with Ulrich Wildgruber, Juliane Köhler, Jacqueline Macaulay. Editing and direction: Klaus Buhlert. BR Hörspiel und Medienkunst 1998. length 71'20. as podcast/download in the BR Hörspiel Pool.
- Black Mirrors. Radio play with Corinna Harfouch, Ulrich Wildgruber. Editing: Klaus Buhlert/Herbert Kapfer, composition and direction: Klaus Buhlert. BR Hörspiel und Medienkunst 1997. length: 86'03. as podcast/download in the BR Hörspiel Pool.
- Seascape with Pocahontas. Radio play direction: Oliver Sturm, production RBB/HR 2010, length: 75 minutes
Film
- Arno Schmidt - "My heart belongs to my head!" Documentary, Germany, 2013, 60 min, Written and directed by: Oliver Schwehm, Quotes: Mechthild Großmann, Production: Bremedia, Radio Bremen, arte, First broadcast: 15 January 2014 on arte, Synopsis by ARD, including Jan Philipp Reemtsma, Marie Darrieussecq, Wenzel Storch, Uwe Timm, Antiquarian bookseller and publisher Hermann Wiedenroth (Bargfeld); Reviews: .
