JOHNSON, UWE

born July 20, 1934, Cammin, Ger. died March 12, 1984, Sheerness, Kent, Eng. German author, many of whose novels explore the contradictions of life in a Germany divided after World War II. Johnson was born into a Mecklenburg family of ancient Swedish descent. He studied German at the universities of Rostock and Leipzig, where he received a diploma in 1956. He translated the work of several American and British authors before beginning to write himself. His first novel, Ingrid Babendererde, was refused by East German publishers when he declined to make various alterations to it. The novel remained unpublished. Aware that the same problem might well arise repeatedly, he moved to West Berlin in 1959. His subsequent work focused on the estrangement between people in the two Germanys. Once in the West, Johnson published Mutmassungen ber Jakob (1959; Speculations About Jakob, 1963), Das dritte Buch ber Achim (1961; The Third Book About Achim, 1967), shorter fiction in Karsch, und andere Prosa (1964; the novella Eine Reise wegwohin translated as An Absence, 1969), and Zwei Ansichten (1965; Two Views, 1966). All of Johnson's work was experimental: the narrative abruptly shifts from one consciousness or place to another; words assume different meanings when used by different characters; objects and events are described with intricate exactness, as if to emphasize their constancy against the mutability of emotions and reminiscences. In the tetralogy Jahrestage. Aus dem Leben von Gesine Cresspahl (197083; Anniversaries: From the life of Gesine Cresspahl), Johnson used a montage technique, combining newspaper clippings, notes, and narrative to describe problems in New York in the 1960s and events in German history between the 1920s and 1960s as recalled by the heroine's family. Johnson lived in New York (196668), returned to West Berlin, and moved to England in 1974. Although younger than many of them, he was a member of the Gruppe 47 authors of postwar Germany. Later works included an essay on the poet Ingeborg Bachmann, Eine Reise nach Klagenfurt (1974; A Journey to Klagenfurt); a volume of essays, including two in English, Berliner Sachen (1975; Berlin Affairs); and Begleitumstnde: Frankfurter Vorlesungen (1980; Circumstances: Frankfurt Lectures). Additional reading Mark Boulby, Uwe Johnson (1974).