Abstract
In her paper, "An Introduction to the Work of Elfriede Jelinek, Nobel Laureate in Literature 2004," Andrea Bandhauer explores reactions of the press to the Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek after she received the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature. Bandhauer discusses how the extreme irritation following this announcement was frequently directed at the author's public persona rather than at her work. Against this background, Bandhauer explores the ambivalent relationship of the public towards a politically and socially engaged and outspoken public figure who in her literary work produces highly hermetical texts. As a writer, Jelinek is preoccupied with language and form and is often seen as contradicting cynically any justification for political and social engagement. For Jelinek, language is the instrument of her critical art, her own language, and that of her literary predecessors. Bandhauer thus argues for the recognition of Jelinek's work based on both social relevance and artistic merit.
Recommended Citation
Bandhauer, Andrea.
"An Introduction to the Work of Elfriede Jelinek, Nobel Laureate in Literature 2004."
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture
7.1
(2005):
<https://doi.org/10.7771/1481-4374.1252>
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