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Traven, B.
Traven, B., pseudonym of a mysterious author whose full name is believed to be Berick Traven Torsvan. He is said to have been born in Chicago in 1890 of Swedish parents, but it has also been said that he was a German named Ret Marut or used that name during residence in Germany. He seems to have been active in the I.W.W. in the U.S., to have been in Germany during World War I, and to have lived in Mexico from the 1920s or '30s to his death in 1969. His novels include The Death Ship (Germany, 1926; U.S., 1934), about a New Orleans sailor stranded in Antwerp, shunted around Europe, and finally hired on a ship which the owners plan to sink for insurance money; The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Germany, 1927; U.S., 1935), analyzing the psychology of greed in telling of three Americans searching for a lost gold mine in Mexican mountains; The Bridge and the Jungle (Germany, 1929; U.S., 1938), in which an explorer in a Central American jungle becomes involved in the drowning of a boy; and The Rebellion of the Hanged (Germany, 1936; U.S., 1952), treating the exploitation of Indian lumber camp workers in Mexico during the 1910 revolt against Diaz. This novel was one of a series of six in The Caoba Cycle, the latest of which to be translated is Trozas (1994). Other novels were published in Germany and England, and shorter fiction is collected in the U.S. as Stories by the Man Nobody Knows (1961) and The Night Visitor (1973).
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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Traven, B." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Traven, B." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-TravenB.html James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Traven, B." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-TravenB.html |
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B. Traven
B. Traven 1890-1969, German language novelist. During his life Traven refused to divulge any information concerning himself. His birth name is still uncertain, as is his birthplace. As Ret Marut he was involved in Communist uprisings in Germany after World War I. In the 1920s he moved to Mexico, where he lived for the remainder of his life, assuming the name B. Traven. On his passport, he claimed his given name was Berick Traven Torsvan, though this is now thought to have been another subterfuge. His novels are often set in exotic locations and usually treat exploiters and those they exploit. Among his works are The Death Ship (1926, tr. 1934), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1927, tr. 1935), The Rebellion of the Hanged (1934, tr. 1952), and The Night Visitors (tr. 1966). |
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Cite this article
"B. Traven." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "B. Traven." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Traven-B.html "B. Traven." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Traven-B.html |
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Traven, B.
Traven, B. (?1882–1969), novelist and short story writer, whose first stories (The Cottonpickers) appeared in German in Berlin in 1925. His successful novel The Death Ship (1925) recounts the wanderings of an American seaman after the First World War, bereft of passport and nationality. Traven, whose identity remained for many years shrouded in mystery, went to Mexico in the 1920s, whence appeared some 12 novels and collections of stories, including The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1934) filmed by John Huston in 1947. The Man who was B. Traven (1980) by W. Wyatt established that he was Albert Otto Max Feige, later known as Ret Marut, born in Swiebodzin, a Polish town then in Germany.
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Traven, B." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Traven, B." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-TravenB.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Traven, B." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-TravenB.html |
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