Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Elfriede Jelinek shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Elfriede Jelinek offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Elfriede Jelinek at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Elfriede Jelinek? Wrong! If the Elfriede Jelinek is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Elfriede Jelinek then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Elfriede Jelinek? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Elfriede Jelinek and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Elfriede Jelinek wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Elfriede Jelinek then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Elfriede Jelinek site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Elfriede Jelinek, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Elfriede Jelinek, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
{{Infobox Writer| bgcolour = silver| name = Elfriede Jelinek | image = Replace this image female.svg| pseudonym =| birth_date = | birth_place = Mürzzuschlag,
Styria (state),
Austria, [novelist, [social criticism| influences =| influenced =| website = Elfriede Jelinek website| footnotes =-->
Elfriede Jelinek () (born [20 October 1946) is an
Austrian
feminism playwright and
novelist, and
Nobel Prize in Literature List of Nobel laureates#Literature for her "musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that with extraordinary linguistic zeal reveal the absurdity of society's clichés and their subjugating power."
Biography
Jelinek was born on
20 October 1946 in Mürzzuschlag,
Styria (state), Austria. Her father, a
chemist of
Jewish-Czech people origin ("Jelinek" means "little deer" in Czech language) managed to avoid persecution during the Second World War by working in strategically important industrial production. However, several dozen family members became victims of the Holocaust. Her mother, with whom she shared the household even as an adult, and with whom she had a difficult relationship, was from a formerly prosperous
Vienna family. As a child, Elfriede suffered much from what she considered an over-restrictive education in a Roman Catholic convent school in Vienna. Her mother planned for Elfriede a career as a musical
Wunderkind. From an early age, Elfriede was instructed in piano, organ, guitar, violin, viola and recorder. Later, she went on to study at the Vienna Conservatory, where she graduated with an organist diploma. Jelinek also studied art history and drama at the
University of Vienna. However, she had to discontinue her studies due to an anxiety disorder that prevented her from following courses. Critics have noted that Jelinek's biography is often reflected in her opus.
Jelinek started writing poetry at a young age. She made her literary debut with the collection
Lisas Schatten in 1967.
In the early 1970s, Jelinek married Gottfried Hüngsberg.
Work and politics
Prior to winning the Nobel Prize, her work was largely unknown outside the
German language-speaking world and was said to resemble that of acclaimed Austrian playwright Thomas Bernhard, with its pathology of destruction and its concomitant comedic abrogation. In fact, despite the author's own differentiation from Austria, Jelinek's writing is deeply rooted in the tradition of
Austrian literature, showing the influence of Austrian writers such as Ingeborg Bachmann and
Robert Musil.
Jelinek's political positions (in particular her
feminism stance and her party affiliations) are of vital importance to any assessment of her work. They are also a part of the reason for the vitriolic controversy surrounding Jelinek and her work.
Brief history of Jelinek's political engagements
Jelinek was a member of Austria's
Communist Party of Austria from 1974 to 1991. The CPA is a fringe movement; public Austrian intellectuals, even professedly left-leaning ones, have frequently accused it of unreconstructed
Stalinism. Jelinek became a household name during the 1990s due to her vociferous clash with Jörg Haider's far-right Freedom Party of Austria. Following the 1999
National Council of Austria elections and the subsequent formation of a coalition cabinet consisting of the Freedom Party and the
Austrian People's Party, Jelinek became one of the new cabinet's most vocal critics. Citing the Freedom Party's alleged
nationalism and authoritarianism, many European and overseas administrations swiftly decided openly to ostracize Austria's administration. The cabinet construed the sanctions against it as directed against Austria as such and attempted to prod the nation into a national rallying (
Nationaler Schulterschluss) behind the coalition parties. This provoked a temporary heating of the political climate severe enough for dissidents such as Jelinek to be accused of
treason by coalition supporters.
Jelinek's work
Jelinek's work is multi-faceted and highly controversial. It has been by turns praised and condemned by leading
literary criticism. Likewise, her
political activism evokes divergent and often heated reactions. Despite the public controversy surrounding her work, Jelinek has won many distinguished prizes, among them are the Georg Büchner Prize in 1998; the Müllheim Dramatists Prize in 2002 and 2004; the Franz Kafka Prize in 2004; and the Nobel Prize in Literature, also in 2004.
Prevalent topics in her prose and dramatic works are
female sexuality, its abuse and the Sex war in general. Texts such as
Wir sind Lockvögel, Baby! (
We are Decoys, Baby!),
Die Liebhaberinnen (
The Lovers) and
Die Klavierspielerin (
The Piano Player) showcase the brutality and power play inherent in human relations in a style that is at times ironically formal and tightly controlled. According to Jelinek, power and aggression are often the principal driving forces of Interpersonal relationship. Her provocative novel
Lust (novel) contains graphically-delineated descriptions of sexuality, aggression and abuse. It received poor reviews by many critics, some of whom considered it little more than pornography, but was considered misunderstood and undervalued by others, who noted the power of the cold descriptions of moral failures.
In her later work, Jelinek has somewhat abandoned female issues to focus her energy on social criticism in general and Austria's difficulties to owning up to its
Nazism past in particular; an example is
Die Kinder der Toten (
The Children of the Dead).
Her
plays often involve an emphasis on
choreography. In
Sportstück, for example, the issue of
violence and
fascism in sports is explored. Some consider her plays taciturn, others lavish, and others still a new form of theater altogether.
Jelinek's novel
Die Klavierspielerin (
The Piano Player) was filmed with title The Piano Teacher by Austrian director Michael Haneke, with French actress Isabelle Huppert as the protagonist.
In late April 2006, Jelinek stood up to protect Peter Handke, whose play
Die Kunst des Fragens (
The Art of Asking) was removed from the repertoire of Comedie Francaise for his alleged support of
Slobodan Milosevic .
The Nobel Prize
Commenting on the Nobel Prize, she said she felt very happy to receive the Prize, but also felt despair: "despair for becoming a known, a person of the public". Paradigmatic for her modesty and subtle Irony#Metafiction, she - a reputed feminist writer - wondered if she had not been awarded the prize mainly for "being a woman" and suggested that among authors writing in German, Peter Handke whom she praises as a "living classic", would have been a more worthy recipient.
Jelinek was criticized for not accepting the prize in person; instead, a video message was presented at the ceremony. Others appreciated that Jelinek openly disclosed that she suffers from agoraphobia and social phobia, anxiety disorders which can be highly disruptive to everyday functioning yet are often concealed by those affected out of shame or feeling of inadequacy. Jelinek has said that her anxiety disorders make it impossible for her even to go to the cinema or to board an airplane (in an interview she wished to be able to fly to
New York to see the skyscrapers one day before dying), and she felt incapable of taking part in any ceremony. However, in her own words as stated in another tape message: "I would also very much like to be in Stockholm, but I cannot move as fast and far as my language."
In 2005,
Knut Ahnlund left the Swedish Academy in protest, describing Jelinek's work as "whining, unenjoyable public pornography" as well as "a mass of text shoveled together without artistic structure". He said later her selection for the prize "has not only done irreparable damage to all progressive forces, it has also confused the general view of literature as an art".
Bibliography
Novels
- bukolit. hörroman; Wien 1979 ISBN 3853940234
- wir sind lockvögel baby!; Reinbek 1970 ISBN 349912341X
- Michael. Ein Jugendbuch für die Infantilgesellschaft; Reinbek 1972 ISBN 3499250128
- Die Liebhaberinnen; Reinbek 1975 ISBN 3499250640
- Die Ausgesperrten; Reinbek 1980 ISBN 349803314X
- Die Klavierspielerin; Reinbek 1983 ISBN 3498033166
- Oh Wildnis, oh Schutz vor ihr; Reinbek 1985 ISBN 3499134071
- Lust; Reinbek 1989 ISBN 3498033239
- Die Kinder der Toten; Reinbek 1997 ISBN 3499221616
- Gier; Reinbek 2000 ISBN 349923131X
- Neid: Privatroman; 2007
Plays
- Was geschah, nachdem Nora ihren Mann verlassen hatte; 1977
- Clara S.; 1981
- Burgtheater; 1983
- Krankheit oder Moderne Frauen; 1984
- Präsident Abendwind; 1987
- Wolken.Heim; 1988
- Totenauberg; 1991
- Raststätte; 1994
- Stecken, Stab und Stangl; 1996
- Ein Sportstück; 1998
- er nicht als er; 1998
- In den Alpen
- Das Werk
- Prinzessinnendramen
- Bambiland; 2003
- Ulrike Maria Stuart; 2006
Translations
- Die Enden der Parabel (Gravity's Rainbow) novel by Thomas Pynchon; 1976
- Herrenjagd Drama by Georges Feydeau; 1983
- Floh im Ohr Drama by Georges Feydeau; 1986
- Der Gockel Drama by Georges Feydeau; 1986
- Die Affaire Rue de Lourcine Drama by Eugène Labiche; 1988
- Die Dame vom Maxim Drama by Georges Feydeau; 1990
- Der Jude von Malta Drama by Christopher Marlowe; 2001
- Ernst sein ist alles Drama by Oscar Wilde; 2004
- Lyrik und Kurzgeschichten (latein)amerikanischer AutorInnen
Opera libretto
- Lost Highway (2003), adapted from the film by David Lynch, with music by Olga Neuwirth
Jelinek's novels in English
- The Piano Teacher (1988), translation of Die Klavierspielerin by Joachim Neugroschel. New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 9781555840525.
- Wonderful, Wonderful Times (1990), translation of Die Ausgesperrten by Michael Hulse. London: Serpent's Tail, ISBN 9781852421687.
- Lust (1992), translated by Michael Hulse. London: Serpent's Tail, ISBN 9781852421830.
- Women as Lovers (1994), translation of Die Liebhaberinnen by Martin Chalmers. London: Serpent's Tail, 1994, ISBN 1852422378.
- Greed (2007), translation by Martin Chalmers. Seven Stories Press, ISBN 9781583227572.
References
- " Member's abrupt resignation rocks Nobel Prize community". (Boston Globe, October 12, 2005)
External links
- Official website
- Elfriede Jelinek: New German dramatic art. Goethe-Instituts
- Elfriede Jelinek-Forschungszentrum
- Nobel site biography
- BBC synopsis
- Biography at FemBio
- Die Gewaltproblematik bei Elfriede Jelinek
- Elfriede Jelinek: Nichts ist verwirklicht. Alles muss jetzt neu definiert werden.
{{Infobox Writer| bgcolour = silver| name = Elfriede Jelinek | image = Replace this image female.svg| pseudonym =| birth_date = | birth_place =
Mürzzuschlag,
Styria (state), Austria, [novelist, [social criticism| influences =| influenced =| website = Elfriede Jelinek website| footnotes =-->
Elfriede Jelinek () (born [20 October
1946) is an Austrian feminism
playwright and novelist, and
Nobel Prize in Literature List of Nobel laureates#Literature for her "musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that with extraordinary linguistic zeal reveal the absurdity of society's clichés and their subjugating power."
Biography
Jelinek was born on 20 October 1946 in
Mürzzuschlag, Styria (state),
Austria. Her father, a
chemist of
Jewish-Czech people origin ("Jelinek" means "little deer" in
Czech language) managed to avoid persecution during the Second World War by working in strategically important industrial production. However, several dozen family members became victims of the
Holocaust. Her mother, with whom she shared the household even as an adult, and with whom she had a difficult relationship, was from a formerly prosperous
Vienna family. As a child, Elfriede suffered much from what she considered an over-restrictive education in a
Roman Catholic convent school in Vienna. Her mother planned for Elfriede a career as a musical
Wunderkind. From an early age, Elfriede was instructed in piano, organ, guitar, violin, viola and recorder. Later, she went on to study at the Vienna Conservatory, where she graduated with an organist diploma. Jelinek also studied
art history and
drama at the
University of Vienna. However, she had to discontinue her studies due to an anxiety disorder that prevented her from following courses. Critics have noted that Jelinek's biography is often reflected in her opus.
Jelinek started writing poetry at a young age. She made her literary debut with the collection
Lisas Schatten in 1967.
In the early 1970s, Jelinek married Gottfried Hüngsberg.
Work and politics
Prior to winning the Nobel Prize, her work was largely unknown outside the German language-speaking world and was said to resemble that of acclaimed Austrian playwright Thomas Bernhard, with its pathology of destruction and its concomitant comedic abrogation. In fact, despite the author's own differentiation from Austria, Jelinek's writing is deeply rooted in the tradition of
Austrian literature, showing the influence of Austrian writers such as Ingeborg Bachmann and
Robert Musil.
Jelinek's political positions (in particular her feminism stance and her party affiliations) are of vital importance to any assessment of her work. They are also a part of the reason for the vitriolic controversy surrounding Jelinek and her work.
Brief history of Jelinek's political engagements
Jelinek was a member of Austria's
Communist Party of Austria from 1974 to 1991. The CPA is a fringe movement; public Austrian intellectuals, even professedly left-leaning ones, have frequently accused it of unreconstructed
Stalinism. Jelinek became a household name during the 1990s due to her vociferous clash with
Jörg Haider's far-right
Freedom Party of Austria. Following the 1999 National Council of Austria elections and the subsequent formation of a coalition cabinet consisting of the Freedom Party and the
Austrian People's Party, Jelinek became one of the new cabinet's most vocal critics. Citing the Freedom Party's alleged
nationalism and
authoritarianism, many
European and overseas administrations swiftly decided openly to ostracize Austria's administration. The cabinet construed the sanctions against it as directed against Austria as such and attempted to prod the nation into a national rallying (
Nationaler Schulterschluss) behind the coalition parties. This provoked a temporary heating of the political climate severe enough for dissidents such as Jelinek to be accused of treason by coalition supporters.
Jelinek's work
Jelinek's work is multi-faceted and highly controversial. It has been by turns praised and condemned by leading
literary criticism. Likewise, her political activism evokes divergent and often heated reactions. Despite the public controversy surrounding her work, Jelinek has won many distinguished prizes, among them are the Georg Büchner Prize in 1998; the Müllheim Dramatists Prize in 2002 and 2004; the Franz Kafka Prize in 2004; and the Nobel Prize in Literature, also in 2004.
Prevalent topics in her prose and dramatic works are
female sexuality, its abuse and the
Sex war in general. Texts such as
Wir sind Lockvögel, Baby! (
We are Decoys, Baby!),
Die Liebhaberinnen (
The Lovers) and
Die Klavierspielerin (
The Piano Player) showcase the brutality and power play inherent in human relations in a style that is at times ironically formal and tightly controlled. According to Jelinek, power and aggression are often the principal driving forces of
Interpersonal relationship. Her provocative novel
Lust (novel) contains graphically-delineated descriptions of sexuality, aggression and abuse. It received poor reviews by many critics, some of whom considered it little more than
pornography, but was considered misunderstood and undervalued by others, who noted the power of the cold descriptions of moral failures.
In her later work, Jelinek has somewhat abandoned female issues to focus her energy on social criticism in general and Austria's difficulties to owning up to its Nazism past in particular; an example is
Die Kinder der Toten (
The Children of the Dead).
Her
plays often involve an emphasis on choreography. In
Sportstück, for example, the issue of violence and fascism in sports is explored. Some consider her plays taciturn, others lavish, and others still a new form of theater altogether.
Jelinek's novel
Die Klavierspielerin (
The Piano Player) was filmed with title
The Piano Teacher by Austrian director
Michael Haneke, with French actress Isabelle Huppert as the protagonist.
In late April 2006, Jelinek stood up to protect Peter Handke, whose play
Die Kunst des Fragens (
The Art of Asking) was removed from the repertoire of
Comedie Francaise for his alleged support of Slobodan Milosevic .
The Nobel Prize
Commenting on the Nobel Prize, she said she felt very happy to receive the Prize, but also felt despair: "despair for becoming a known, a person of the public". Paradigmatic for her modesty and subtle Irony#Metafiction, she - a reputed feminist writer - wondered if she had not been awarded the prize mainly for "being a woman" and suggested that among authors writing in German,
Peter Handke whom she praises as a "living classic", would have been a more worthy recipient.
Jelinek was criticized for not accepting the prize in person; instead, a video message was presented at the ceremony. Others appreciated that Jelinek openly disclosed that she suffers from agoraphobia and
social phobia, anxiety disorders which can be highly disruptive to everyday functioning yet are often concealed by those affected out of shame or feeling of inadequacy. Jelinek has said that her anxiety disorders make it impossible for her even to go to the cinema or to board an airplane (in an interview she wished to be able to fly to
New York to see the skyscrapers one day before dying), and she felt incapable of taking part in any ceremony. However, in her own words as stated in another tape message: "I would also very much like to be in Stockholm, but I cannot move as fast and far as my language."
In 2005,
Knut Ahnlund left the
Swedish Academy in protest, describing Jelinek's work as "whining, unenjoyable public pornography" as well as "a mass of text shoveled together without artistic structure". He said later her selection for the prize "has not only done irreparable damage to all progressive forces, it has also confused the general view of literature as an art".
Bibliography
Novels
- bukolit. hörroman; Wien 1979 ISBN 3853940234
- wir sind lockvögel baby!; Reinbek 1970 ISBN 349912341X
- Michael. Ein Jugendbuch für die Infantilgesellschaft; Reinbek 1972 ISBN 3499250128
- Die Liebhaberinnen; Reinbek 1975 ISBN 3499250640
- Die Ausgesperrten; Reinbek 1980 ISBN 349803314X
- Die Klavierspielerin; Reinbek 1983 ISBN 3498033166
- Oh Wildnis, oh Schutz vor ihr; Reinbek 1985 ISBN 3499134071
- Lust; Reinbek 1989 ISBN 3498033239
- Die Kinder der Toten; Reinbek 1997 ISBN 3499221616
- Gier; Reinbek 2000 ISBN 349923131X
- Neid: Privatroman; 2007
Plays
- Was geschah, nachdem Nora ihren Mann verlassen hatte; 1977
- Clara S.; 1981
- Burgtheater; 1983
- Krankheit oder Moderne Frauen; 1984
- Präsident Abendwind; 1987
- Wolken.Heim; 1988
- Totenauberg; 1991
- Raststätte; 1994
- Stecken, Stab und Stangl; 1996
- Ein Sportstück; 1998
- er nicht als er; 1998
- In den Alpen
- Das Werk
- Prinzessinnendramen
- Bambiland; 2003
- Ulrike Maria Stuart; 2006
Translations
- Die Enden der Parabel (Gravity's Rainbow) novel by Thomas Pynchon; 1976
- Herrenjagd Drama by Georges Feydeau; 1983
- Floh im Ohr Drama by Georges Feydeau; 1986
- Der Gockel Drama by Georges Feydeau; 1986
- Die Affaire Rue de Lourcine Drama by Eugène Labiche; 1988
- Die Dame vom Maxim Drama by Georges Feydeau; 1990
- Der Jude von Malta Drama by Christopher Marlowe; 2001
- Ernst sein ist alles Drama by Oscar Wilde; 2004
- Lyrik und Kurzgeschichten (latein)amerikanischer AutorInnen
Opera libretto
- Lost Highway (2003), adapted from the film by David Lynch, with music by Olga Neuwirth
Jelinek's novels in English
- The Piano Teacher (1988), translation of Die Klavierspielerin by Joachim Neugroschel. New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 9781555840525.
- Wonderful, Wonderful Times (1990), translation of Die Ausgesperrten by Michael Hulse. London: Serpent's Tail, ISBN 9781852421687.
- Lust (1992), translated by Michael Hulse. London: Serpent's Tail, ISBN 9781852421830.
- Women as Lovers (1994), translation of Die Liebhaberinnen by Martin Chalmers. London: Serpent's Tail, 1994, ISBN 1852422378.
- Greed (2007), translation by Martin Chalmers. Seven Stories Press, ISBN 9781583227572.
References
- " Member's abrupt resignation rocks Nobel Prize community". (Boston Globe, October 12, 2005)
External links
- Official website
- Elfriede Jelinek: New German dramatic art. Goethe-Instituts
- Elfriede Jelinek-Forschungszentrum
- Nobel site biography
- BBC synopsis
- Biography at FemBio
- Die Gewaltproblematik bei Elfriede Jelinek
- Elfriede Jelinek: Nichts ist verwirklicht. Alles muss jetzt neu definiert werden.