Elfriede Gerstl’s work journal of 1955

Eine Notiz von Elfriede Gerstl aus dem Jahr 1991 lautet: „Tagebücher sind zwar Dokumente der Zeit, aber immer auch Dokumente persönlichen Unglücks.“ Wohl auch aus diesem Grund hat Gerstl kein Tagebuch im eigentlichen Sinn geschrieben, obwohl sie dennoch datierte Aufzeichnungen geführt hat. Die frühesten stammen aus den Jahren 1954/55. Sie lassen sich am ehesten als ‚Arbeitsjournal‘ bezeichnen: Es sind Prosaskizzen und lyrische Versuche, die korrigiert und mitunter in Hinblick auf eine Veröffentlichung durchaus nachdrücklich redigiert worden sind. Sie zeigen sowohl zeitgenössisch typische wie poetisch-witzige Formen der Vergangenheitsbewältigung, der Erinnerung und der Selbstreflexion. Elfriede Gerstl’s work journal of 1955: A note by Elfriede Gerstl from 1991 says: “Diaries may be documents of their time, but they always are documents of personal tragedy, too.” As Konstanze Fliedl states in her contribution, this may be one of the reasons Gerstl did not keep a diary in the proper sense, although she still kept dated notes. The earliest ones date from the years 1954–55. They may best be characterized as ‘work journal’: They include prose sketches and lyrical attempts that were corrected and sometimes emphatically revised for publication. They present some forms of coming to terms with the past, of remembering and self-reflection that are typical of their time, but also poetic-witty ones.A note by Elfriede Gerstl from 1991 says: “Diaries may be documents of their time, but they always are documents of personal tragedy, too.” As Konstanze Fliedl states in her contribution, this may be one of the reasons Gerstl did not keep a diary in the proper sense, although she still kept dated notes. The earliest ones date from the years 1954–55. They may best be characterized as ‘work journal’: They include prose sketches and lyrical attempts that were corrected and sometimes emphatically revised for publication. They present some forms of coming to terms with the past, of remembering and self-reflection that are typical of their time, but also poetic-witty ones