Thomas Bernhard im dialog mit der Oesterreichischen Oueffentlichkeit: Zwischen presse, theater und justiz

Thomas Bernhard\u27s play Heldenplatz and his novel Holzfällen provoked the Austrian public sphere in the 1980\u27s because of his sharp criticism of the country. The strong public reactions to these two texts stand at the climax of a dialogue that Bernhard engaged in with the Austrian public beginning with his early journalistic writings in the 1950\u27s. Departing from previous research, in which Bernhard has usually been regarded as a monologuist, this dissertation proves that Bernhard engaged in a dialogue with his readers and his audience in the press, on the theater stage, and in the court room. This dissertation explores the interrelationship between Bernhard\u27s texts and the reception of Bernhard and his works in the public discourse. Newspaper reviews from four decades, gathered at various literature archives in Austria, give quantitative evidence that Bernhard\u27s critical stance on Austria can be traced back to his first writings in the fifties. A new and thorough reading of Bernhard\u27s texts corroborates the findings of this research that a dialogue evolved between Bernhard\u27s literary writings and the criticism he and his works received in the German-language press, and that he and his writings have increasingly occupied the public\u27s attention since the late 1960\u27s. This cultural study explores the impact that Bernhard\u27s writings had on the Austrian political discourse and the country\u27s re-evaluation of its Nazi past. While he was critical of Austria, Bernhard was not an agent provocateur with activist inclinations, but rather an individualist and an artist who promoted a discussion that challenged Austria\u27s political, cultural and historical identities. This examination of Bernhard\u27s complex and contradictory relationship with the public discourse will further an understanding of Bernhard as Austria\u27s most dominant literary and public figure since 1945