Synopses & Reviews
For much of her career, Elfriede Jelinek has been maligned in the press for both her unrelenting critique of Austrian complicity in the Holocaust and her provocative deconstructions of pornography. Despite this, her central role in shaping contemporary literature was finally recognized in 2004 with the award of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The committee acknowledged Jelinekandrsquo;s groundbreaking work that offers a andldquo;musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that with extraordinary linguistic zeal reveal the absurdity of societyandrsquo;s clichandeacute;s and their subjugating power.andrdquo; Although she is an internationally recognized playwright, Jelinekandrsquo;s work is difficult to find in English, which makes this new volume, which includes
Rechnitz: The Exterminating Angeland#160; and
The Merchantandrsquo;s Contracts, all the more valuable.and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; In Rechnitz, a chorus of messengers reports on the circumstances of the massacre of 180 Jews, an actual historical event that took place near the Austrian/Hungarian border town of Rechnitz. More than a docu-drama, this work explores the very transmission of historic memory and has been called Jelinekandrsquo;s best performance text to date. In The Merchantandrsquo;s Contracts, Jelinek brings us a comedy of economics, where the babble and media spin of spectators leave small investors alienated and bearing the brunt of the economic crisis. In the age of the global economy, Jelinek turns the story of a merchant of Vienna into a universal comedy of errors, making this her most accessible work.
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Along with an extensive introduction by the translator that both contextualizes and analyzes the two brilliant texts, a DVD of performances of both plays accompanies this volume. Available for the first time in English, this is a collection that testifies to the power and universality of Jelinekandrsquo;s work.
Review
andldquo;In this new publication, the well-experienced Honegger is clearly up to the task, embracing Jelinekandrsquo;s encouragement to imitate her linguistic ingenuity when word-for-word translations are out of the questionandmdash;which is almost always. . . . Still, no amount of translation, either on stage or on the page, can fully remove the textsandrsquo; hermetic character. In fact, the successful adaptations of Jelinekandrsquo;s work tend to acknowledge and even delight in its perplexity. DJ-worthy mixes and mash-ups of premade material, the originals are themselves born through an act of translation that continually calls into question the existence of a definitive Urtext. And as both Stemannandrsquo;s staging and Honeggerandrsquo;s translation demonstrate, this arduousness by no means rules out entertainment. Toiling through three hundred pages of her impenetrable prose is arguably worthwhile if only to be dazzled by her rhetorical savvy, an unflagging verbal virtuosity that is in equal parts Baroque fugue and West coast hip-hop. It is an art at which Jelinek is virtually without peer.andrdquo;
Synopsis
The first English translation of the astonishing play by Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek.
Synopsis
With translation assistance and a foreword by Karen Juers-Munby
First produced in 1998 at the famous Vienna Burgtheater, the remarkable and provocative Sports Play by Austrian playwright Elfriede Jelinek is a postdramatic theatrical exploration of the making, marketing and sale of the human body and of emotions in sport. It explores contemporary society's obsession with fitness and body culture bringing into sharp focus our need to belong to a group, a team or a nation. Sport is seen as a form of war in peacetime.
Synopsis
The first English translation of Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek's astonishing, provocative play, a post-dramatic theatrical exploration of the making, marketing and sale of the human body. It explores contemporary society's obsession with fitness and body culture, bringing into sharp focus our need to belong to a group, team, and nation.
Synopsis
Throughout her career, Elfriede Jelinek was maligned by the media for her unrelenting critique of Austriaand#8217;s refusal to account for its complicity in the Holocaust and her provocative deconstructions of pornography. But her central role in shaping contemporary literature was recognized internationally when in 2004 she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for and#145;for her musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that with extraordinary linguistic zeal reveal the absurdity of societyand#8217;s clichand#233;s and their subjugating powerand#8217;.
However, few of her works are available in English translation, least of all her ground-breaking plays. This volume collects two of her recent dramatic works, Rechnitz: The Exterminating Angel (2008), which won the prestigious Mand#252;lheim Dramatists Prize, and The Merchantand#8217;s Contract (2009). In Rechnitz a chorus of messengers reports what they have been told about the circumstances that led to the massacre of 180 Jews, which actually took place towards the end of World War II during a wild party for provincial Nazi administrators at a castle in the Austrian/Hungarian border town of Rechnitz. Rather than being a and#145;docu-dramaand#8217;, Jelinekand#8217;s text focuses on the transmission of historic memory.
If Rechnitz is Jelinekand#8217;s best performance text, then The Merchantand#8217;s Contracts, her and#145;comedy of economicsand#8217; is her most accessible work. With capitalism having gone global and Wall Street as its neo-mythical Walhalla, English has taken over as the marketand#8217;s universal language. Even in their respective native languages, speculatorsand#8217; lingo and media spin is babble to the ears of most small investors, who, after all, were and continue to be the biggest losers worldwide in the economic crisis. The play nevertheless has the alienating effect and universality of a Brechtian fable. In the age of global economy, Jelinek turns a merchant of Vienna into a universal comedy of errors.
Along with an extensive introduction by the translator that contextualizes and analyses the two brilliant texts, this volume is accompanied by a DVD of performances of both the plays, which further testify to the power of Jelinekand#8217;s work.
About the Author
Elfriede Jelinek is an Austrian playwright and novelist. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2004 as well as the Georg Büchner Prize in 1998; the Mülheim Dramatists Prize in 2002 and 2004; the Franz Kafka Prize in 2004. Jelinek's work is multi-faceted and highly controversial. Her plays often emphasize choreography. Some consider her plays taciturn, others lavish, and others still a new form of theatre altogether. Jelinek's novel,
Die Klavierspielerin was filmed as
The Piano Teacher by Austrian director Michael Haneke, with French actress Isabelle Huppert as the protagonist.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements and#160; Introduction -
Gitta Honegger and#160; Rechnitz
(The Exterminating Angel) and#160; The Merchants Contracts
A Comedy of Economics and#160; Appendix A
Bad Rap: Now What? and#160; Appendix B
You Bet (A Sequel)