Alicia Steimberg, William Makepeace Thackeray
Die argentinische Schriftstellerin Alicia Steimberg wurde am 18. Juli 1933 in Buenos Aires in eine Familie jüdischer Einwanderer geboren; ihre Vorfahren stammten aus Russland, Rumänien und der Ukraine. Ihr Vater verstarb früh, im Alter von 41 Jahren, als Alicia erst acht Jahre alt war, und ihre Mutter hatte große wirtschaftliche Schwierigkeiten, die kleine Familie durchzubringen. Viele dieser Kindheitserlebnisse sollten sich später in ihren autobiographisch gefärbten Romanen Músicos y relojeros und Su espíritu inocente fiktionalisiert wiederfinden. 1951 absolvierte Alicia Steimberg das Instituto Nacional del Profesorado in Buenos Aires als „Maestra Normal“ (Grundschullehrerin in Lebenden Fremdsprachen); drei Jahre später erwarb sie ebendort den Titel einer „Profesora Nacional“ mit einer Lehrbefähigung für Englisch. 1971 gelangte ihr erster Roman Músicos y relojeros in das Finale der Literaturpreise Seix Barral (Barcelona) und Monte Ávila (Caracas) und wurde daraufhin vom Centro Editor de América Latina in Buenos Aires veröffentlicht. Auch ihr zweiter Roman, La loca 101, erreichte 1973 die Endausscheidung des Premio Barral und wurde im selben Jahr in Buenos Aires publiziert. 1983 erhielt sie ein Fulbright-Stipendium, mit dem sie am International Writing Program in Iowa teilnehmen konnte. 1989 gelangte ihr Roman Amatista als einziger in die Finalrunde des erotischen Literaturwettbewerbs „La Sonrisa Vertical“ in Barcelona und erschien dort noch im selben Jahr auf Spanisch; er wurde daraufhin auch bei Eichborn in deutscher Übersetzung herausgebracht. 1992 erhielt Alicia Steimberg den renommierten Premio Planeta Biblioteca del Sur für ihren Roman Cuando digo Magdalena. Von 1995 bis 1997 bekleidete sie das Amt einer Direktorin in der Dirección del Libro de la Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación. Sie arbeitet auch als Übersetzerin vom Englischen ins Spanische.
Aus: Call Me Magdalena
“When you leave the main road you have to walk down a long dirt path to get to the entrance of Las Lilas. There's no gate: the wooden front door is tall and majestic, its topmost part safeguarded against furtive visitors by sharp little iron posts. On both sides of the door are walls whose uppermost portions are similarly protected. While the walls and door are almost impregnable, if you simply walk about fifty yards in either direction, you'll come upon a very thick, although not very tall, evergreen hedge. With the help of a machete, you can hack an opening in the hedge and pass through to the other side, or, by walking just a bit farther, the furtive visitor will discover that the evergreen hedge turns into a simple wire fence, not even barbed wire, that he can cross by placing one foot on the wire below and lifting up the wire on top with one hand. Once inside, the intruder will find himself in a cultivated field. He'll wend his way to the entry by sidling along close to the fence, and then next to the wall (since if he crosses the open field, his figure will be discernible from a distance).If the wheat is fully grown, he'll proceed waist-deep among the stalks. If he's not wearing boots, the thistles will prick him and he'll be exposed to snakebite, or he'll be covered by little red bugs that will torment him later on, because those red bugs get under your skin and you can get rid of them only by rubbing the affected part with soap, creating a layer of insulation that asphyxiates them.”
Alicia Steimberg (Buenos Aires, 18. Juli 1933)
Der englische Schriftsteller William Makepeace Thackeray wurde am 18. Juli 1811 in Kalkutta geboren. 1815 starb sein Vater. Thackeray wurde 1817 zum Schulbesuch auf Internate nach England geschickt. So lernte er in der Charter House-Schule das englische Schulwesen kennen, das er später in der Weihnachtserzählung Doctor Birch and his young friends und in verschiedenen seiner größeren Werke anschaulich und hinreißend schilderte. 1829/30 studiert er am Trinity College in Cambridge, verließ es aber ohne Abschluss und ging nach London. Im Jahr darauf unternahm er eine Reise auf den europäischen Kontinent und besuchte dabei neben Frankreich und Italien auch Deutschland, wo er unter anderen Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in Weimar kennenlernte. 1831/32 studierte er Rechtswissenschaft in London. 1833 verlor er sein geerbtes Vermögen und ging nach Paris, um Kunst zu studieren. 1836 heiratete er in Paris die Irin Isabella Shawe. Aus der Ehe gingen drei Töchter hervor, u. a. Anne Thackeray Ritchie, die selbst Schriftstellerin wurde.
Im selben Jahr erschien Thackerays erster Artikel in der von seinem Stiefvater begründeten Zeitung "The Constitutional", einem Blatt von liberaler Haltung, das jedoch schon nach einem Jahr wieder einging. 1837 kehrte er nach London zurück und begann als Journalist zu arbeiten. 1840 erschien sein erstes Buch in England. Das Erscheinen seines literarischen Meisterwerks Vanity Fair (deutsch: Jahrmarkt der Eitelkeit) 1847/48 machte ihn endgültig zu einem angesehenen Autor und verschaffte ihm auch materiellen Wohlstand
Aus: Roundabout Papers
“As some bells in a church hard by are making a great holiday clanging in the summer afternoon, I am reminded somehow of a July day, a garden, and a great clanging of bells years and years ago, on the very day when George IV. was crowned. I remember a little boy lying in that garden reading his first novel. It was called the "Scottish Chiefs." The little boy (who is now ancient and not little) read this book in the summer-house of his great grandmamma. She was eighty years of age then. A most lovely and picturesque old lady, with a long tortoise-shell cane, with a little puff, or tour, of snow-white (or was it powdered?) hair under her cap, with the prettiest little black-velvet slippers and high heels you ever saw. She had a grandson, a lieutenant in the navy; son of her son, a captain in the navy; grandson of her husband, a captain in the navy. She lived for scores and scores of years in a dear little old Hampshire town inhabited by the wives, widows, daughters of navy captains, admirals, lieutenants. Dear me! Don't I remember Mrs. Duval, widow of Admiral Duval; and the Miss Dennets, at the Great House at the other end of the town, Admiral Dennet's daughters; and the Miss Barrys, the late Captain Barry's daughters; and the good old Miss Maskews, Admiral Maskew's daughter; and that dear little Miss Norval, and the kind Miss Bookers, one of whom married Captain, now Admiral Sir Henry Excellent, K.C.B.? Far, far away into the past I look and see the little town with its friendly glimmer. That town was so like a novel of Miss Austen's that I wonder was she born and bred there? No, we should have known, and the good old ladies would have pronounced her to be a little idle thing, occupied with her silly books and neglecting her housekeeping. There were other towns in England, no doubt, where dwelt the widows and wives of other navy captains; where they tattled, loved each other, and quarrelled; talked about Betty the maid, and her fine ribbons indeed! took their dish of tea at six, played at quadrille every night till ten, when there was a little bit of supper, after which Betty came with the lanthorn; and next day came, and next, and next, and so forth, until a day arrived when the lanthorn was out, when Betty came no more: all that little company sank to rest under the daisies, whither some folks will presently follow them. How did they live to be so old, those good people?.”
William Makepeace Thackeray (18. Juli 1811 – 24. Dezember 1863)
Aus: Call Me Magdalena
“When you leave the main road you have to walk down a long dirt path to get to the entrance of Las Lilas. There's no gate: the wooden front door is tall and majestic, its topmost part safeguarded against furtive visitors by sharp little iron posts. On both sides of the door are walls whose uppermost portions are similarly protected. While the walls and door are almost impregnable, if you simply walk about fifty yards in either direction, you'll come upon a very thick, although not very tall, evergreen hedge. With the help of a machete, you can hack an opening in the hedge and pass through to the other side, or, by walking just a bit farther, the furtive visitor will discover that the evergreen hedge turns into a simple wire fence, not even barbed wire, that he can cross by placing one foot on the wire below and lifting up the wire on top with one hand. Once inside, the intruder will find himself in a cultivated field. He'll wend his way to the entry by sidling along close to the fence, and then next to the wall (since if he crosses the open field, his figure will be discernible from a distance).If the wheat is fully grown, he'll proceed waist-deep among the stalks. If he's not wearing boots, the thistles will prick him and he'll be exposed to snakebite, or he'll be covered by little red bugs that will torment him later on, because those red bugs get under your skin and you can get rid of them only by rubbing the affected part with soap, creating a layer of insulation that asphyxiates them.”
Alicia Steimberg (Buenos Aires, 18. Juli 1933)
Der englische Schriftsteller William Makepeace Thackeray wurde am 18. Juli 1811 in Kalkutta geboren. 1815 starb sein Vater. Thackeray wurde 1817 zum Schulbesuch auf Internate nach England geschickt. So lernte er in der Charter House-Schule das englische Schulwesen kennen, das er später in der Weihnachtserzählung Doctor Birch and his young friends und in verschiedenen seiner größeren Werke anschaulich und hinreißend schilderte. 1829/30 studiert er am Trinity College in Cambridge, verließ es aber ohne Abschluss und ging nach London. Im Jahr darauf unternahm er eine Reise auf den europäischen Kontinent und besuchte dabei neben Frankreich und Italien auch Deutschland, wo er unter anderen Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in Weimar kennenlernte. 1831/32 studierte er Rechtswissenschaft in London. 1833 verlor er sein geerbtes Vermögen und ging nach Paris, um Kunst zu studieren. 1836 heiratete er in Paris die Irin Isabella Shawe. Aus der Ehe gingen drei Töchter hervor, u. a. Anne Thackeray Ritchie, die selbst Schriftstellerin wurde.
Im selben Jahr erschien Thackerays erster Artikel in der von seinem Stiefvater begründeten Zeitung "The Constitutional", einem Blatt von liberaler Haltung, das jedoch schon nach einem Jahr wieder einging. 1837 kehrte er nach London zurück und begann als Journalist zu arbeiten. 1840 erschien sein erstes Buch in England. Das Erscheinen seines literarischen Meisterwerks Vanity Fair (deutsch: Jahrmarkt der Eitelkeit) 1847/48 machte ihn endgültig zu einem angesehenen Autor und verschaffte ihm auch materiellen Wohlstand
Aus: Roundabout Papers
“As some bells in a church hard by are making a great holiday clanging in the summer afternoon, I am reminded somehow of a July day, a garden, and a great clanging of bells years and years ago, on the very day when George IV. was crowned. I remember a little boy lying in that garden reading his first novel. It was called the "Scottish Chiefs." The little boy (who is now ancient and not little) read this book in the summer-house of his great grandmamma. She was eighty years of age then. A most lovely and picturesque old lady, with a long tortoise-shell cane, with a little puff, or tour, of snow-white (or was it powdered?) hair under her cap, with the prettiest little black-velvet slippers and high heels you ever saw. She had a grandson, a lieutenant in the navy; son of her son, a captain in the navy; grandson of her husband, a captain in the navy. She lived for scores and scores of years in a dear little old Hampshire town inhabited by the wives, widows, daughters of navy captains, admirals, lieutenants. Dear me! Don't I remember Mrs. Duval, widow of Admiral Duval; and the Miss Dennets, at the Great House at the other end of the town, Admiral Dennet's daughters; and the Miss Barrys, the late Captain Barry's daughters; and the good old Miss Maskews, Admiral Maskew's daughter; and that dear little Miss Norval, and the kind Miss Bookers, one of whom married Captain, now Admiral Sir Henry Excellent, K.C.B.? Far, far away into the past I look and see the little town with its friendly glimmer. That town was so like a novel of Miss Austen's that I wonder was she born and bred there? No, we should have known, and the good old ladies would have pronounced her to be a little idle thing, occupied with her silly books and neglecting her housekeeping. There were other towns in England, no doubt, where dwelt the widows and wives of other navy captains; where they tattled, loved each other, and quarrelled; talked about Betty the maid, and her fine ribbons indeed! took their dish of tea at six, played at quadrille every night till ten, when there was a little bit of supper, after which Betty came with the lanthorn; and next day came, and next, and next, and so forth, until a day arrived when the lanthorn was out, when Betty came no more: all that little company sank to rest under the daisies, whither some folks will presently follow them. How did they live to be so old, those good people?.”
William Makepeace Thackeray (18. Juli 1811 – 24. Dezember 1863)
froumen - 18. Jul, 18:30
