The controversy over Handke and his love of Serbia has seeped into the US media a bit. There was this exchange in the New York Times Magazine:
Why are you so moved by the former Yugoslavia?
I’m Austrian, but my mother was Slovenian. Her brother became a partisan of Yugoslavia between the two World Wars, and when Hitler annexed Austria — my uncle was Austrian — he was forced into the Nazi army. He died in Russia long ago. This was the beginning of my writing, the stories my mother told about her dead brother. It started very early for me when I was a child.
I see the Comédie-Française, the French national theater, has just canceled a scheduled production of your play "Voyage to the Sonorous Land, or the Art of Asking."
Yes, this is true, because of my assistance at the funeral.
And then Handke denies any association with avant-garde literary experimentation:
Me? No, I’m a classical writer. I’m a conservative classical writer.
What does that mean?
With a lot of air in it. With a lot of snow flurries and summer breezes in the books.
But your best writing is hardly naturalistic. I’m thinking of "A Sorrow Beyond Dreams," which has just been republished in this country.
When they review my books, the reviewers always say it is very beautiful, but it lacks plot or intrigue. I don’t like intrigue. I’m not a man of intrigue.
Actually, that is very good news that A Sorrow Beyond Dreams (Wunschloses Unglück) has been republished. If the ridiculous controversy causes American readers to pick up this beautiful book, then it is a very good thing indeed. And while we’re watching the World Cup, it might be a good time to reread Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter (The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick).
