Elfriede Jelinek

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Elfriede Jelinek (Template:IPA; born 20 October 1946) is an Austrian playwright and novelist. She is one of the most decorated authors to write in German and was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature for her "musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that, with extraordinary linguistic zeal, reveal the absurdity of society's clichés and their subjugating power".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She is considered to be among the most important living playwrights of the German language.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Biography

Elfriede Jelinek was born on 20 October 1946 in Mürzzuschlag, Styria, Austria, the daughter of Olga Ilona (née Buchner), a personnel director, and Friedrich Jelinek.<ref name="notablebiographies.com-2005" /> She was raised in Vienna by her Romanian-German Catholic mother and a non-observant Czech Jewish father (whose surname Jelínek means "little deer" in Czech).<ref name="notablebiographies.com-2005">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Elfriede Jelinek profile, The Poetry Foundation website; retrieved 7 September 2013.</ref> Her mother's family came from Stájerlakanina, Krassó-Szörény County, Banat, Kingdom of Hungary (now Anina, Romania),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Better source needed and was of a bourgeois background, while her father was a working-class socialist.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Her father was a chemist, who managed to avoid persecution during the Second World War by working in strategically important industrial production. However, many of his relatives became victims of the Holocaust. Her mother, with whom she had a strained relationship, was from a formerly prosperous Vienna family. As a child, Elfriede attended a Roman Catholic convent school in Vienna. Her mother planned a career for her as a musical "Wunderkind". She was instructed in piano, organ, guitar, violin, viola, and recorder from an early age. Later, she went on to study at the Vienna Conservatory, where she graduated with an organist diploma; during this time, she tried to meet her mother's high expectations, while coping with her psychologically ill father.<ref name="Boiter-1998" /> She studied art history and theater at the University of Vienna. However, she had to discontinue her studies due to an anxiety disorder, which resulted in self-isolation at her parents' house for a year. During this time, she began serious literary work as a form of therapy. After a year, she began to feel comfortable leaving the house, often with her mother.<ref name="Boiter-1998">Template:Cite book</ref> She began writing poetry at a young age. She made her literary debut with Lisas Schatten (Lisa's Shadow) in 1967, and received her first literary prize in 1969. During the 1960s, she became active politically, read a great deal, and "spent an enormous amount of time watching television".<ref name="Boiter-1998" />

She married Gottfried Hüngsberg on 12 June 1974.<ref name="Portrait of the 2004 Nobel Laureate in Literature">"Portrait of the 2004 Nobel Laureate in Literature", nobelprize.org; retrieved 13 July 2010.</ref><ref>Gottfried Hüngsberg profile IMDb.com; accessed 13 July 2010</ref>

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Work and political engagement

Despite the author's own differentiation from Austria (due to her criticism of Austria's Nazi past), Jelinek's writing is deeply rooted in the tradition of Austrian literature, showing the influence of Austrian writers such as Ingeborg Bachmann, Marlen Haushofer, and Robert Musil.<ref name="Honegger-2006">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Editor Friederike Eigler states that Jelinek has three major and inter-related "targets" in her writing: what she views as capitalist consumer society and its commodification of all human beings and relationships, what she views as the remnants of Austria's fascist past in public and private life, and what she views as the systematic exploitation and oppression of women in a capitalist-patriarchal society.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Jelinek has claimed in multiple interviews that the Austrian-Jewish satirical tradition has been a formative influence on her writing, citing Karl Kraus, Elias Canetti, and Jewish cabaret in particular. In an interview with Sigrid Löffler, Jelinek claimed that her work is considered an oddity in contemporary Austria, where she claims satire is unappreciated and misunderstood, "because the Jews are dead." She has stressed her Jewish identity as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, claiming a continuity with a Jewish-Viennese tradition that she believes has been destroyed by fascism and is dying out.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 2024, Jelinek signed an open letter denouncing the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Work

Jelinek's output has included radio plays, poetry, theatre texts, polemical essays, anthologies, novels, translations, screenplays, musical compositions, libretti and ballets, film and video art.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Jelinek's work is multi-faceted, and highly controversial. It has been praised and condemned by leading literary critics.<ref name="Gale-2003">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> In the wake of the Fritzl case, for example, she was accused of "executing 'hysterical' portraits of Austrian perversity".<ref>"Wife of incest dad under suspicion Template:Webarchive". The Australian, 5 May 2008.</ref> Likewise, her political activism has encountered divergent and often heated reactions. Despite the controversy surrounding her work, Jelinek has won many distinguished awards; among them are the Georg Büchner Prize in 1998; the Mülheim Dramatists Prize in 2002 and 2004; the Franz Kafka Prize in 2004; and the Nobel Prize in Literature, also in 2004.<ref name="Gale-2003"/>

Female sexuality, sexual abuse, and the battle of the sexes in general are prominent topics in her work. Texts such as Wir sind Lockvögel, Baby! (We are Decoys, Baby!), Die Liebhaberinnen (Women as Lovers) and Die Klavierspielerin (The Piano Teacher) showcase the brutality and power play inherent in human relations in a style that is, at times, ironically formal and tightly controlled. According to Jelinek, power and aggression are often the principal driving forces of relationships. Likewise Ein Sportstück (Sports Play) explores the darker side of competitive sports.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Her provocative novel Lust contains graphic description of sexuality, aggression and abuse. It received poor reviews by many critics, some of whom likened it to pornography. But others, who noted the power of the cold descriptions of moral failures, considered it to have been misunderstood and undervalued by them.<ref name="Gale-2003"/>

Incidentally, on 11 October 2005, just a few days before the announcement of the 2005 Nobel laureate for literature, Knut Ahnlund, a member of the Swedish Academy, which chooses the laureates for the Nobel Prize in Literature, declared that he would leave the Academy in protest over the prize the previous year being given to Jelinek, whose work Ahnlund characterized as chaotic and pornographic.<ref name="theguardian-oct2005">Template:Cite news</ref>

In April 2006, Jelinek spoke out to support Peter Handke, whose play Die Kunst des Fragens (The Art of Asking) was removed from the repertoire of the Comédie-Française for his alleged support of Slobodan Milošević. Her work is less known in English-speaking countries. However, in July and August 2012, a major English language premiere of her play Ein Sportstück by Just a Must theatre company brought her dramatic work to the attention of English-speaking audiences.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The following year, in February and March 2013, the Women's Project in New York staged the North American premiere of Jackie, one of her Princess Dramas.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Political engagement

Jelinek was a member of Austria's Communist Party from 1974 to 1991. She became a household name during the 1990s due to her vociferous clash with Jörg Haider's Freedom Party.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Following the 1999 National Council elections, and the subsequent formation of a coalition cabinet consisting of the Freedom Party and the Austrian People's Party, Jelinek became one of the new cabinet's more vocal critics.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Many foreign governments moved swiftly to ostracize Austria's administration, citing the Freedom Party's alleged nationalism and authoritarianism.<ref name="Badge-2007">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Festić-2011">Template:Cite book</ref> The cabinet construed the sanctions against it as directed against Austria as such, and attempted to prod the nation into a national rallying (Nationaler Schulterschluss) behind the coalition parties.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

This provoked a temporary heating of the political climate severe enough for dissidents such as Jelinek to be accused of treason by coalition supporters.<ref name="Badge-2007"/><ref name="Festić-2011"/>

Awards and honors

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  • 1998: Georg Büchner Prize<ref name="Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 2004: Franz Kafka Prize<ref name="Radio Prague International-2004">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 2004: Stig Dagerman Prize<ref name="Svenska Dagbladet-2004">Template:Cite news</ref>
  • 2004: Mülheimer Dramatikerpreis for Das Werk<ref name="Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung-2009" />
  • 2009: Mülheimer Dramatikerpreis for Rechnitz (Der Würgeengel)<ref name="Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung-2009">Template:Cite news</ref>
  • 2011: Mülheimer Dramatikerpreis for Winterreise<ref name="Fischer-2011">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Publications

Poetry

  • Lisas Schatten; München 1967
  • ende: gedichte von 1966–1968; München 2000 Template:ISBN

Novels

  • bukolit.hörroman (written 1968, published by Rhombus Verlag, 1979). bukolit: audio novel.
  • wir sind lockvögel baby! (Rowohlt, 1970).
  • Michael. Ein Jugendbuch für die Infantilgesellschaft (Rowohlt, 1972).
  • Die Liebhaberinnen (Rowohlt, 1975). Women as Lovers, trans. Martin Chalmers (London: Serpent's Tail, 1994). Template:ISBN.
  • Die Ausgesperrten (Rowohlt, 1980). Wonderful, Wonderful Times, trans. Michael Hulse (London: Serpent's Tail, 1990). Template:ISBN.
  • Die Klavierspielerin (Rowohlt, 1983). The Piano Teacher, trans. Joachim Neugroschel (New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988). Template:ISBN.
  • Oh Wildnis, oh Schutz vor ihr (Rowohlt, 1985).
  • Lust (Rowohlt, 1989). Lust, trans. Michael Hulse (London: Serpent's Tail, 1992). Template:ISBN.
  • Die Kinder der Toten (Rowohlt, 1995). The Children of the Dead, trans. Gitta Honegger (Yale, 2024).
  • Gier (Rowohlt, 2000). Greed, trans. Martin Chalmers (London: Serpent's Tail, 2006). Template:ISBN.
  • Neid (2007). Envy. Private novel published on Jelinek's website.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • rein GOLD. ein bühnenessay (Rowohlt, 2013). rein GOLD, trans. Gitta Honegger (Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2021).

Plays

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  • Die Straße. Die Stadt. Der Überfall (2012). Premiered at Munich Kammerspiele, 2012.
  • Schatten (Eurydike sagt) (2013). Shadow. Eurydice Says, trans. Gitta Honegger (2017).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Premiered at Burgtheater, 2013.
  • Aber sicher! (2013). Premiered at Theater Bremen, 2013.
  • Die Schutzbefohlenen (2013). Charges (The Supplicants), trans. Gitta Honegger (Seagull Books, 2016). First read at Hamburg, 2013; first produced at Mannheim, 23 May 2014.
  • Das schweigende Mädchen (2014). Premiered at Munich, 27 September 2014.
  • Wut (2016). Fury, trans. Gitta Honegger (Seagull Books, 2022). Premiered at Munich, 16 April 2016.
  • Am Königsweg (2017). On the Royal Road: The Burgher King, trans. Gitta Honegger (Seagull Books, 2020). Premiered at Hamburg, 28 October 2017.
  • Schnee Weiss (2018). Premiered at Cologne, 21 December 2018.
  • Schwarzwasser (2020). Premiered at Vienna, 6 February 2020.
  • Sonne, los jetzt! (2022). Premiered at Zürich, 15 December 2022.
  • Angabe der Person (2022). Premiered at Berlin, 17 December 2022.
  • Sonne / Luft (2022). Premiered at Zürich, 15 December 2022.
  • Asche (2024). Premiered at Münich, 26 April 2024.

Opera libretto

Translations

Jelinek's works in English translation

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  • Rechnitz and The Merchant's Contracts, trans. Gitta Honegger (Seagull Books, 2015). Template:ISBN.
  • Charges (The Supplicants), trans. Gitta Honegger (Seagull Books, 2016). Template:ISBN.
  • Three Plays: Rechnitz, The Merchant's Contracts, Charges (The Supplicants), trans. Gitta Honegger (Seagull Books, 2019).
  • On the Royal Road: The Burgher King, trans. Gitta Honegger (Seagull Books, 2020).
  • rein GOLD, trans. Gitta Honegger (Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2021).
  • The Children of the Dead, trans. Gitta Honegger (Yale, 2024).

Her novel The Piano Teacher was the basis for the 2001 film of the same title by Austrian director Michael Haneke, starring Isabelle Huppert as the protagonist.

In 2022, a documentary about Jelinek was created by Claudia Müller, Elfriede Jelinek – Language Unleashed (German: Elfriede Jelinek – Die Sprache von der Leine lassen).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See also

References

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Further reading

  • Bethman, Brenda. 'Obscene Fantasies': Elfriede Jelinek's Generic Perversions. New York, NY: Peter Lang, 2011; Template:ISBN
  • Fiddler, Allyson. Rewriting Reality: An Introduction to Elfriede Jelinek. Oxford: Berg, 1994; Template:ISBN
  • Gérard Thiériot (dir.). Elfriede Jelinek et le devenir du drame, Toulouse, Presses universitaires du Mirail, 2006; Template:ISBN
  • Flitner, Bettina. Frauen mit Visionen – 48 Europäerinnen (Women with Visions – 48 Europeans). With texts by Alice Schwarzer. Munich: Knesebeck, 2004; Template:ISBN, 122–125 p.
  • Konzett, Matthias. The Rhetoric of National Dissent in Thomas Bernhard, Peter Handke, and Elfriede Jelinek. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2000; Template:ISBN
  • Lamb-Faffelberger, Margarete and Matthias Konzett, editors. Elfriede Jelinek: Writing Woman, Nation, and Identity—A Critical Anthology. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2007; Template:ISBN
  • Rosellini, Jay. "Haider, Jelinek, and the Austrian Culture Wars". CreateSpace.com, 2009. Template:ISBN.

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Template:Elfriede Jelinek Template:Georg Büchner Prize Template:Nobel Prize in Literature Laureates 2001–2025 Template:2004 Nobel Prize winners Template:Stig Dagerman Prize winners Template:German literature Template:Authority control

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