Jelinek Interview

Yesterday’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung included an extraordinary interview (long) with Nobel Prize winner Elfrieda Jelinek.  The interview provides a rare glimpse into the artistic mind and deserves to be translated in English (I hope to have the time to do so) .  Jelinek discusses many different things:  Freud, Austria, politics, and, of course, writing. 

She is still astonished that she received the Nobel Prize, since she views her work as completely "untranslatable."  Actually, she considers herself a "provincial writer" whose texts are indecipherable to the world outside of Austria.  Even German readers are unable to understand the humor in her work. She sees herself as in the tradition of the Ludwig Wittgenstein, Karl Kraus, and the Vienna Circle (Wiener Gruppe) in that her work is "language-centered" – that is, more concerned  with the actual sound of language as opposed to the content. 

The interview takes a fascinating turn when Jelinek compares herself with the great Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard.  Bernhard’s novels and autobiographical works are very popular in Germany, but little-known in the United States.  English readers who are interested in learning more about Bernhard can find some good introductory material (and a discussion forum) on this Web site.

Bernhard shared Jelinek’s loathing of Austria, but she sees him as a much more rhythmic prose writer, while her language is more melodic. Also, Bernhard displays a narrative sovereignty (Herrschaftsanspruch) which she – as a woman – could never achieve as a writer.  She is therefore forced to "create" her own language:

I would say: I make this language, I create it.  What I write is not a normal language, it is rather a kind of artificial language, even when I am using the montage technique. It’s really a ‘language composition’.  To keep going, a sentence appears out of nothing, which I can use, and then this sentence pulls me forward and I can go on from there.  I’ve often said that language is like a dog – I’ve always had dogs – a dog that pulls you forward on the leash, and you have no choice but to tag along behind. 

Another interesting section in the interview is where Jelinek contrasts the cultural scene in Germany and Austria.  She divides her time between  Vienna and Munich, and so is very familiar with both.  Austria, she says, is hostile to art and worships sports. Looking at the postwar developments in both countries she says:

West Germany had Augstein, who could found a publication like Der Spiegel.  Germany has a multifaceted press with highly interesting debates, whether it has to do with a memorial in Berlin or the future of the social welfare state. …In Germany there are political philosophers who naturally  participate in the public debate, like Habermas.  We have none of this in Austria.  We really don’t have theoretical minds….That’s left up the artist.  No one else could do the dirty work. And the artist is always an anarchist – that’s the way it should be.

It is good to see that even though Jelinek’s works resist translation, they are sold out on Amazon in the US.