CENTRE STAGE: CONTEMPORARY DRAMA IN AUSTRIA. FINLAY, Frank and Ralf JEUTTER (Eds.) Amsterdam/Atlanta, GA, 1999 VII,240 pp. Pb: 90-420-0525-4 EUR 47 / US$ 44 Series: Amsterdamer Publikationen zur Sprache und Literatur 137
In this volume, scholars and theatre practitioners from Austria, Britain and Germany explore the current state of Austrian drama in studies of the themes, forms and concerns of some of the most important contemporary playwrights. Many of the contributions address works which have not previously been the subject of scholarly analysis. The writers discussed include: Wolfgang Bauer, Thomas Bernhard, Elias Canetti, Peter Handke, Fritz Hochwälder, Elfriede Jelinek, Jakov Lind, Felix Mitterer, Hermann Nitsch, Gerhard Roth, Werner Schwab, Marlene Steeruwitz, Peter Turrini, and the film-maker, Wim Wenders. This collection, which includes photographs and an essay on the problems of translating, will be of particular interest to teachers, students and translators of German-language drama, as well as to a wider theatre-going public.
Table of Contents: Preface. Frank FINLAY & Ralf JEUTTER: Introduction. Julian PREECE: Form, Structure, and Poetry in the Varied Plays of Werner Schwab. Mike ROGERS: Die Unordnung der Ordnung. Anthony WAINE: Post-modern Moods and Morals in Wolfgang Bauer's Trilogy: Magic Afternoon, Change, Party for Six. Allyson FIDDLER: Modernist or Postmodernist? The Absurd Question in Marlene Steeruwitz. Jenny LANYON: The De(con)struction of Female Subjectivity in Elfriede Jelinek's play Krankheit oder moderne Frauen. Victoria MARTIN: Vox populae, vox Austriae: Linguistic Varieties and the Expression of Regional and National Identity in the Works of Felix Mitterer. Julie WILSON-BOKOWIEC: Human Beings in extremis. An Introduction to the Works of Hermann Nitsch. Silke HASSLER: In Wahrheit ist Jakov Lind ein Dramatiker: Ein Versuch über die Komödientragödien Die Heiden und Ergo. Axel SCHALK: Fritz Hochwälder - Der Fall eines vergessenen Dramatikers. Frank FINLAY: 'Das wirklich Ungeschminkte': Peter Turrini'ss Die Minderleister as a Critique of the Mass Media. Ralf JEUTTER: Polarity and Breathing - Aspects of Thomas Bernhard's Plays. Uwe SCHÜTTE: Operating on a 'Living Corpse': The Plays of Gerhard Roth. Fritz WEFELMEYER: Das Theater der verlichteten Erzählung bei Peter Handke und Wim Wenders. Penny BLACK: Peter Turrini - From German Page to English Stage: A Translator's View.