Elfriede Jelinek: Encyclopedia II - Elfriede Jelinek - Critics and politics

Elfriede Jelinek - Critics and politics

Her work—before the Nobel Prize announcement largely unknown outside the German-speaking world, —resembles that of acclaimed Austrian playwright Thomas Bernhard: the pathology of destruction and its concomitant comedic abrogation. Nevertheless Jelinek's writing is deeply rooted in the tradition of Austrian literature. At its best it combines Robert Musil's sadness and Franz Kafka's sense of humor.

Jelinek's political philosophy, in particular her stance regarding feminism and her views regarding Austria's political parties, is of vital importance in assessing her work. It is also part of the reason for the vitriolic public controversy surrounding her. Jelinek was a member of Austria's Communist Party from 1974 to 1991, a fringe movement frequently accused of unreconstructed Stalinism by Austrian public intellectuals, even professedly left-leaning ones. She became a household name during the 1990s due to her vociferous clash with Jörg Haider's Freedom Party. 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 most vocal critics. Citing the Freedom Party's alleged nationalism and authoritarianism, many European and overseas administrations swiftly decided openly to ostracize Austria's administration. 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. Thia provoked a temporary heating of the political climate severe enough for dissidents such as Jelinek to be accused of treachery by coalition supporters.

Partly purposeful political writing, partly self-therapy, her work is many-faceted and highly controversial. Her prose and plays are acclaimed by some and criticized by other leading German critics. Likewise, her political activism, hardiness, consistency and persistence in following her convictions on and off the stage, evoke highly divergent reactions - either positive or negative, depending on one's personal views. Despite the fact that some who do not share her views devalue her work rather than merely objecting to her opinion, Jelinek has won many distinguished prizes, among those the Georg Büchner Prize (1998), the Müllheim Dramatists Prize (twice: 2002 and 2004), the Franz Kafka Prize (2004) and the Nobel Prize in Literature (2004, see below).

Prevalent topics in her prose and dramatic work are female sexuality, its abuse and the war of the sexes in general. Texts like Wir sind Lockvögel, Baby! (we are decoy, baby), Die Liebhaberinnen (Lovers) or Die Klavierspielerin (The Piano Teacher) illustrate her point nicely and shock the reader with the unemotional description of brutality and power play in human relations. According to Jelinek, power and aggression are often driving forces of relationships. Her provocative novel Lust is a description of sexuality, aggression and abuse with pornographic qualities. It received little acclaim by many critics, but was considered misunderstood and undervalued by others. Rather than the plot itself, the cold description of moral failures was perceived as haunting. Readers who wish to indulge in female "lust" will certainly fail to meet their expectations, as Jelinek rather aims at the contrary.

In her later work, Jelinek has somewhat abandoned female issues to focus her energy on social criticism in general and Austria's difficulties to owing up to its Nazi past in particular e.g. in Die Kinder der Toten (The Children of the Dead).

Her plays often involve an emphasis on choreography like Sportstück which explores the issue of violence and fascism in sports. From what has been pointed out above, it is not astonishing that her plays are considered taciturn, yet lavish productions by some people, and a celebrated new form of theater by others.

Jelinek's novel Die Klavierspielerin was turned into The Piano Teacher, an acclaimed movie by Austrian director Michael Haneke, with Isabelle Huppert playing the repressed pianist.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Critics and politics", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki