Traven, B.

Traven, B.
born March 5, 1890?, Chicago, Ill., U.S.?
died March 27, 1969, Mexico City, Mex.

German-Mexican novelist.

A recluse, he refused to disclose to publishers his parentage, nationality, and general identity, but he may have been forced to leave Germany for his participation in its short-lived communist revolution in 1919. Most of his books were written in German. He is noted for adventure stories and as a chronicler of rural life in Mexico, where he settled in the 1920s. Among his novels are The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1927; film, 1948) and a series tracing the lives of impoverished Indians in southern Mexico, including The Carreta (1931) and The Rebellion of the Hanged (1936). His works are harsh and his themes compelling, and his lean prose has a hypnotic immediacy. Much confusion remains about both his life and his authorship.

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▪ American author
also called  Berick Traven Torsvan, or Ret Marut  
born March 5, 1890?, Chicago?, Ill., U.S.
died March 27, 1969, Mexico City, Mex.

      novelist noted as a writer of adventure stories and as a chronicler of rural life in Mexico. A recluse, Traven refused personal data to publishers; hence many theories have arisen as to his parentage, his nationality, and his general identity. Most of his books were originally written in German and were first published in Germany.

      In 1987 Karl S. Guthke published B. Traven: The Life Behind the Legends (originally in German), based in part on Traven's personal papers and conversations with his widow, Rosa Elena Luján. Luján revealed that Traven had been the Bavarian revolutionary Ret Marut; Marut itself, however, was an assumed name. Guthke's conclusion was that Traven himself did not know who his parents were. Other scholars have argued that Traven was Otto Feige (b. 1882, East Prussia); still others believed he was the illegitimate son of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

      Several years after Traven settled in Mexico in the 1920s, his first book came out in Berlin. Das Totenschiff (1926; The Death Ship) tells of a sailor who, having lost his papers, boards a ship that is destined to be sunk for insurance money. Another work, Der Schatz der Sierra Madre (1927; The Treasure of the Sierra Madre), about a search for gold in Mexico, was made into a motion picture in 1948. Traven's most important work is a series of novels that trace the exploitation, political awakening, and rebellion of a group of impoverished Indians in southern Mexico just before the start of the Mexican Revolution. Among the books in this series are Der Karren (1931; The Carreta), Regierung (1931; Government), Der Marsch ins Reich der Caoba (1933; March to the Monteria), Die Rebellion der Gehenkten (1936; The Rebellion of the Hanged), and Ein General kommt aus dem Dschungel (1940; General from the Jungle).

      Traven's works are harsh, filled with descriptions of danger, cruelty, and physical and emotional suffering, but his lean, direct prose has a hypnotic immediacy, and the narratives and themes are clear and compelling.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Traven, B. — Traven, B.,   andere Pseudonyme Ret Marut, (B.) Traven Tọrsvan, Hal Croves [krəʊvz], Schriftsteller, * San Francisco (Kalifornien) 25. 2. 1882 (?) oder Chicago (Illinois) 3. 5. (5. 3.?) 1890 (?), ✝ Mexiko 26. 3. 1969. Geburtsort und datum sind,… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Traven — (izg. tràvēn), B. (1890 1969) DEFINICIJA pisac koji je živio u Meksiku, pisao prozu na njemačkom jeziku, krio se pod pseudonimom »Traven«, a identitet mu nikad nije pouzdano utvrđen; privlačna naracija uzbudljivih pustolovnih fabula (romani… …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • Traven — (Trawen), Wolle, Baumwolle u. andere lose Ladung im Raum eines Schiffes zur besseren Aufbewahrung zusammenstampfen …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Traven — B. Traven († 26. März 1969 in Mexiko Stadt) ist das Pseudonym eines deutschsprachigen Schriftstellers, der während seiner Hauptschaffensperiode in Mexiko lebte, und vor allem durch sozialkritische Abenteuerromane weltweit bekannt wurde, darunter… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • tráven — vna m (á) star., v zvezah: mali traven april; veliki traven maj vna o prid. (ȃ) nanašajoč se na travo: travna bilka; travno seme / knjiž. travna odeja; travna ruša / travna barva ♦ agr. travna detelja detelja, mešana s travo; travna mešanica… …   Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika

  • Traven,B. — Tra·ven (trāʹvən), B. Probable original name Berick Traven Torsvan. 1890 1969. American born writer who is best known for his novel The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1935). * * * …   Universalium

  • Traven Torsvan — B. Traven († 26. März 1969 in Mexiko Stadt) ist das Pseudonym eines deutschsprachigen Schriftstellers, der während seiner Hauptschaffensperiode in Mexiko lebte, und vor allem durch sozialkritische Abenteuerromane weltweit bekannt wurde, darunter… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Traven B Traven — pseudonym used by Berick Traven Torsvan …   Eponyms, nicknames, and geographical games

  • Traven, Bruno — (¿5 mar. 1890, Chicago, Ill., EE.UU.?–27 mar. 1969, Ciudad de México, México). Novelista germano mexicano. Ermitaño, se negó a revelar su identidad y nacionalidad a sus editores, pero es posible que se haya visto forzado a abandonar Alemania por… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Traven, Bruno — pseud. di Torsvan, Berick Torsvan …   Sinonimi e Contrari. Terza edizione

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