The Nihilism of Thomas Bernhard
The portrayal of existential and social problems in his prose works
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This study examines the nihilistic basis of Bernhard's writing, and traces developments in the author's nihilistic stance throughout his career. In the first period of his prose fiction (1963-1975), nihilism is reluctantly accepted by Bernhard's fictional characters as a necessary response to a world perceived as meaningless. Various possible sources of transcendence are explored, and rejected. The autobiographical texts (1975-1982) then represent a sustained attempt by the author himself to transcend his own essentially nihilistic state. The apparent success of this attempt is quickly reveale...
This study examines the nihilistic basis of Bernhard's writing, and traces developments in the author's nihilistic stance throughout his career. In the first period of his prose fiction (1963-1975), nihilism is reluctantly accepted by Bernhard's fictional characters as a necessary response to a world perceived as meaningless. Various possible sources of transcendence are explored, and rejected. The autobiographical texts (1975-1982) then represent a sustained attempt by the author himself to transcend his own essentially nihilistic state. The apparent success of this attempt is quickly revealed to be illusory in the prose fiction of the second period (1978-1986), and it becomes apparent that nihilism is a no less necessary response to Austrian social reality than to the (more purely) personal problems which first motivated Bernhard's writing.
Contents: I. INTRODUCTION AND SURVEY OF SECONDARY LITERATURE. 1. Introduction. 2. Thomas Bernhard and Austria. 3. A critique of Western civilisation? 4. Existential problems. 5. A moral purpose? 6. Nihilism. II. NARRATIVE FICTION 1963-1975: EXISTENTIAL PROBLEMS. 1. Frost (1963). 2. Amras (1964). 3. Prosa (1967). 4. Verstörung (1967). 5. Ungenach (1968). 6. Watten (1969). 7. Das Kalkwerk (1970). 8. Midland in Stilfs (1971). 9. Gehen (1971). 10. Korrektur (1975). 11. Conclusion. III. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL WORKS: PERSONAL PROBLEMS. 1. Introduction. 2. Die Ursache (1975). 3. Der Keller (1976). 4. Der Atem (1978) and Die Kälte (1981). 5. Ein Kind (1982). 6. Conclusion. IV. NARRATIVE FICTION 1978-1986: SOCIAL PROBLEMS. 1. Introduction. 2. Ja (1978). 3. Die Billigesser (1980). 4. Beton (1982). 5. Wittgensteins Neffe (1982). 6. Der Untergeher (1983). 7. Holzfällen (1984). 8. Alte Meister (1985). 9. Auslöschung (1986). V. CONCLUSION. APPENDIX A. TWO PLAYS. 1. Vor dem Ruhestand (1979). 2. Heldenplatz (1988). APPENDIX B. DOES AUSTRIAN HISTORY JUSTIFY HELDENPLATZ? 1. The Waldheim era. 2. The postwar background. 3. Nazism and the Church. Notes and References. Bibliography. Index.
Contents: I. INTRODUCTION AND SURVEY OF SECONDARY LITERATURE. 1. Introduction. 2. Thomas Bernhard and Austria. 3. A critique of Western civilisation? 4. Existential problems. 5. A moral purpose? 6. Nihilism. II. NARRATIVE FICTION 1963-1975: EXISTENTIAL PROBLEMS. 1. Frost (1963). 2. Amras (1964). 3. Prosa (1967). 4. Verstörung (1967). 5. Ungenach (1968). 6. Watten (1969). 7. Das Kalkwerk (1970). 8. Midland in Stilfs (1971). 9. Gehen (1971). 10. Korrektur (1975). 11. Conclusion. III. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL WORKS: PERSONAL PROBLEMS. 1. Introduction. 2. Die Ursache (1975). 3. Der Keller (1976). 4. Der Atem (1978) and Die Kälte (1981). 5. Ein Kind (1982). 6. Conclusion. IV. NARRATIVE FICTION 1978-1986: SOCIAL PROBLEMS. 1. Introduction. 2. Ja (1978). 3. Die Billigesser (1980). 4. Beton (1982). 5. Wittgensteins Neffe (1982). 6. Der Untergeher (1983). 7. Holzfällen (1984). 8. Alte Meister (1985). 9. Auslöschung (1986). V. CONCLUSION. APPENDIX A. TWO PLAYS. 1. Vor dem Ruhestand (1979). 2. Heldenplatz (1988). APPENDIX B. DOES AUSTRIAN HISTORY JUSTIFY HELDENPLATZ? 1. The Waldheim era. 2. The postwar background. 3. Nazism and the Church. Notes and References. Bibliography. Index.