Nicholas J. Meyerhofer Libri

The Fiction of the I is an introduction for the English-speaking reader to eight contemporary Austrian writers who have achieved critical acclaim and who, to a greater or lesser degree, write autobiographical prose. This thematic introduction to Barbara Frischmuth, Peter Handke, Peter Henisch, Edgar Hilsenrath, Elfriede Jelinek, Peter Rosei, Gerhard Roth and Fred Wander will make the reader want to discover at first hand the works of these various authors, all of whom have been translated into English.-- Even a cursory consideration of 'autobiographical' texts will reveal their great variety and their idiosyncratic relationship to the question of subjectivity. When and how does a text become autobiographical? How is autobiographical writing related to the search of self-identity? Does gender modulate the articulation of the autobiographical voice?

During the last decades, the contemporary author Felix Mitterer has grown steadily in both critical and popular acclaim throughout the German-speaking world. He is a native of Aachenkirch in Tirol; his folk plays are today performed on all of the major stages in Germany and Austria, and his television plays and series attract large audiences. In recent years Mitterer's works have also attracted serious interest abroad, and they have been translated into twelve different languages. To date, however, no scholarly or general introduction to Mitterer and his works exist in English; it is this latter point that the present volume is meant to address. It is comprised of four a general introduction to the life of Mitterer; an analysis of the reception of his works on the German stage; an extensive interview with Mitterer regarding relevant biographical information, literary forms and his salient themes; invited essays by eleven prominent Germanists who specialize in Mitterer and contemporary Austrian literature. Topics cover a broad range in section three, including the various roles of female protagonists in his works, innovation in the use of traditional theatrical devices, aspects of provincialism and universality in his oeuvre, and the interpretation of individual works.