Walter Moers Explained

Birth Name:Walter Moers
Birth Date:24 May 1957
Birth Place:Mönchengladbach, West Germany
Occupation:Author, comic artist and illustrator
Genre:Comics & Graphic Novels, Humor, Fantasy Literature
Signature:Moers Signatur.svg
Signature Type:Walter Moers artist's mark

Walter Moers (pronounced as /de/; born 24 May 1957) is a German comic artist, illustrator and writer. He is the creator of the character of Captain Bluebear and became a best-selling author in Europe with his Zamonia novels.[1]

Life

Moers was born in Mönchengladbach. According to his own statements, he ended his school career prematurely[2] [3] and initially supported himself by doing odd jobs.[4] He began a commercial apprenticeship, but did not finish it. The odd jobs included his first drawing commissions, such as little bedtime stories for the "Sandmännchen".[5] Moers acquired his drawing skills through self-study.[6]

Walter Moers is married and has lived in Hamburg since 1992.[7] He is considered publicity-shy, does not make public appearances, gives his few interviews by e-mail and rarely allows himself to be photographed. The only recordings of him that exist are older photographs and a short film in the NDR archives showing Moers at an exhibition in 1994.[8] [9] Some of the few pictures also date from before 2000, and in the case of some of them it is disputed whether the person depicted is really Walter Moers. His dealings with the public have meanwhile become a kind of trademark, so that he is often dubbed a "phantom".[10] [11] Therefore, biographical information on Moers must be treated with caution, as there are few truly reliable sources.

Work

Zamonia series

Walter Moers's Zamonia novels are works of fantasy literature presented as literary fragments of the world of Zamonia. In the course of the publications, Moers's authorship was fictitiously reduced further and further, from author and helper (The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear) to editor and illustrator (Ensel and Krete, The City of Dreaming Books) to second-tier editor (The Alchemaster's Apprentice).

The books are characterised by their intermedial and intertextual presentation. Thus, there are many references to other works of literature, film and music. The parallels are sometimes so obvious that the Zamonia novels have been called "plagiarism poetry" and "art of copying".[12] However, the combination of maps, illustrations and texts in which the novels are written also contributes to the intermediality. Both adolescent and adult readers are given as the target audience, although it can be assumed that Moers intended the works primarily for adults.

Language and style

Moers' style is overall strongly influenced by the tradition of the grotesque. The Zamonia novels are in themselves easy to understand and partly influenced by everyday language, and therefore belong more to popular literature. However, by repeatedly alluding to works that are usually considered "canonical" through intermedial and intertextual references, sometimes even whole set pieces, Moers blurs or negates the sometimes imaginary boundary between "high literature" and "trivial literature".

Among the obvious references are the dedication of entire novels; with Ensel und Krete, inspired by the Grimm's fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel, and Der Schrecksenmeister, behind which Gottfried Keller's novella Spiegel, das Kätzchen is hidden. In addition, elements from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, William Goldman's The Princess Bride or Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 are evident.

Translations

Walter Moers' works have already been translated into over 20 languages, including mainly the Zamonia novels.[13] Because of the many stylistic devices and word creations, translating Moers' novels is considered a particular challenge. For example, the translator of most of the works into English, John Brownjohn, describes how many names had to be Latinised and the large number of anagrams had to be re-imagined.[14] Several works dealt with translation problems based on Walter Moers' works and showed difficulties in translating neologisms and phrasemes.

Comics

His best-known comic characters are:

Works available in English translation

Works

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kirby . Jane . 2005-08-01 . The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers . 2023-07-05 . publishers weekly.
  2. Web site: 2022-06-21. Wolfgang Schütz. 2020-03-07. de. Ich habe im letzten Jahr vor dem Abitur das Handtuch geschmissen und konsequent die Schule geschwänzt.. Walter Moers: "Früher war ich dümmer, aber auch furchtloser".
  3. Web site: 2022-06-21. Jochen Siemens. 2006-10-21. de. Süskind des Nordens. Stern.
  4. Web site: 2022-06-21. 2014-01-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20140128072501/http://www.buchnews.com/autoren/walter-moers-walter-moers-der-allrounder-der-literaturszene/17614. 2013-12-29. Walter Moers - Der Allrounder im Literaturbetrieb. Buchnews.
  5. Web site: 2022-06-21. Cornelia Laufer. 2007-05-24. de. Ein Arschloch geht um die Welt. Stern.
  6. Web site: 2022-06-22. 2011-09-15. Wasserfarbenfeuchtfrisch. Die Zeit.
  7. Web site: 2022-06-21. de. Zamonien - Autor Walter Moers.
  8. Web site: 2022-07-15. Gerrit Lembke. Walter Moers - ein großes Missverständnis?. Literaturblatt.
  9. Auf der Suche nach dem Phantom: Walter Moers, Bericht im NDR (online bei youtube).
  10. Web site: 2022-06-21. Wolfgang Schütz. 2017-09-04. de. Augsburger Allgemeine. Das Phantom ist zurück.
  11. Web site: 2022-06-21. Anika Riegert. 2007-01-08. de-DE. Walter Moers, der Phantom-Star.
  12. Web site: 2022-07-15. Gerrit Lembke. Walter Moers - ein großes Missverständnis?. Literaturblatt.
  13. Web site: 2022-06-23. de. Zamonien - Romane Walter Moers.
  14. Web site: 2022-06-23. 2012-11-07. John Brownjohn on Walter Moers and Translation. Mad Hatter's Bookshelf & Book Review.

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