The novelist and essayist Libuse Moníková (1945-1998) made a unique contribution to German, Czech and world literature, writing in German from a distinctly Czech perspective in a manner which can best be described as encyclopaedic and highly intertextual. Positively received abroad, particularly in Germany and the US, her works remained until recently relatively unknown in the land of her birth.
This volume, whose appearance marks what would have been the sixtieth anniversary of her birth, is the first in-depth study of the work of this truly European writer. It contains specially commissioned articles by Czech, German, US and British scholars, as well as an appreciation by her friend and fellow writer F.C. Delius, an English translation of one of her last interviews, and the first comprehensive bibliography. The essays range from close readings of a single text, in particular the satirical, picaresque novel Die Fassade and the posthumously published Der Taumel, to surveys of themes, techniques or motifs within her oeuvre, for example nation, exile, history and myth, and studies of Moníková's intertextual references, particularly to film and the work of Arno Schmidt. The contributions emphasise the comic, the personal and the ambiguity in her works, as well as the sheer breadth of Moníková's interests and sources.
Table of contents:
Brigid HAINES and Lyn MARVEN: Preface
List of Abbreviations
Brigid HAINES: Libuse Moníková: Life, Works and Reception
Friedrich Christian DELIUS: Rede auf die Fürstin Libuse: Zum Tode von Libuse Moníková
Libuse MONÍKOVÁ interviewed by Petr KYNCL: Writing is a Murderous Occupation
Sarah GOODCHILD: National Performance and Visibility in Die Fassade
Beth LINKLATER: 'Könnten so nicht politisch Träume in den Himmel wachsen?': Women's Writing and Humour in Die Fassade
Lyn MARVEN: Falling Down: Images of Trauma in Moníková's Fragmentary Novel, Der Taumel
Karin WINDT: 'Die Zeit der Bilder ist noch nicht gekommen': Ästhetische Erfahrung, Kunstproduktion und Werkverweigerung in Der Taumel
Graham JACKMAN: 'Kde Domov Muj?': Nation, Exile and Return in Eine Schädigung and Verklärte Nacht
Valentina GLAJAR: 'Die wunde Naht der Grenze': Czechs and Germans in Libuse Moníková's Treibeis and Verklärte Nacht and Erica Pedretti's Engste Heimat
Brigid HAINES: 'Barren Territory for Grand Narratives'? Czech History in the Works of Libuse Moníková
Robert WENINGER and John J. WHITE: Cannibalising Texts: Libuse Moníková Digesting Arno Schmidt
Dana PFEIFEROVÁ: Zwischen Alltag und Ausnahmezustand: Zu Positionierungen des Mythos im Werk von Libuse Moníková
Helga G. BRAUNBECK: 'Der Roman muß sich die Bilder holen': Film Discourse in the Texts of Libuse Moníková
Lyn MARVEN: Libuse Moníková: Bibliography
Notes on Contributors
Index
This volume, whose appearance marks what would have been the sixtieth anniversary of her birth, is the first in-depth study of the work of this truly European writer. It contains specially commissioned articles by Czech, German, US and British scholars, as well as an appreciation by her friend and fellow writer F.C. Delius, an English translation of one of her last interviews, and the first comprehensive bibliography. The essays range from close readings of a single text, in particular the satirical, picaresque novel Die Fassade and the posthumously published Der Taumel, to surveys of themes, techniques or motifs within her oeuvre, for example nation, exile, history and myth, and studies of Moníková's intertextual references, particularly to film and the work of Arno Schmidt. The contributions emphasise the comic, the personal and the ambiguity in her works, as well as the sheer breadth of Moníková's interests and sources.
Table of contents:
Brigid HAINES and Lyn MARVEN: Preface
List of Abbreviations
Brigid HAINES: Libuse Moníková: Life, Works and Reception
Friedrich Christian DELIUS: Rede auf die Fürstin Libuse: Zum Tode von Libuse Moníková
Libuse MONÍKOVÁ interviewed by Petr KYNCL: Writing is a Murderous Occupation
Sarah GOODCHILD: National Performance and Visibility in Die Fassade
Beth LINKLATER: 'Könnten so nicht politisch Träume in den Himmel wachsen?': Women's Writing and Humour in Die Fassade
Lyn MARVEN: Falling Down: Images of Trauma in Moníková's Fragmentary Novel, Der Taumel
Karin WINDT: 'Die Zeit der Bilder ist noch nicht gekommen': Ästhetische Erfahrung, Kunstproduktion und Werkverweigerung in Der Taumel
Graham JACKMAN: 'Kde Domov Muj?': Nation, Exile and Return in Eine Schädigung and Verklärte Nacht
Valentina GLAJAR: 'Die wunde Naht der Grenze': Czechs and Germans in Libuse Moníková's Treibeis and Verklärte Nacht and Erica Pedretti's Engste Heimat
Brigid HAINES: 'Barren Territory for Grand Narratives'? Czech History in the Works of Libuse Moníková
Robert WENINGER and John J. WHITE: Cannibalising Texts: Libuse Moníková Digesting Arno Schmidt
Dana PFEIFEROVÁ: Zwischen Alltag und Ausnahmezustand: Zu Positionierungen des Mythos im Werk von Libuse Moníková
Helga G. BRAUNBECK: 'Der Roman muß sich die Bilder holen': Film Discourse in the Texts of Libuse Moníková
Lyn MARVEN: Libuse Moníková: Bibliography
Notes on Contributors
Index