SyntaxÃ¤sthetik oder: die Kunst des KÃ¼nstlichen, das KÃ¼nstliche in der Kunst. Zu einem PhÃ¤nomen bei Thomas Bernhard

RÃ¼diger GÃ¶rner

2 SyntaxÃ¤sthetik oder: die Kunst des KÃ¼nstlichen, das KÃ¼nstliche in der Kunst. Zu einem PhÃ¤nomen bei Thomas Bernhard

In: Thomas Bernhard: Language, History, Subjectivity

Author:

RÃ¼diger GÃ¶rner

RÃ¼diger GÃ¶rner Queen Mary, University of London, School of Languages, Linguistics and Film London E1 4NS UK +44 (0)20 7882 8304

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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 31â46

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004545854_004

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Abstract

Even though by now an almost ubiquitous requirement for academic publications, the so-called âabstractâ is an anomaly. To begin with, abstracts are too â abstract. They demand a highly artificial meta-language that needs to apply a linguistic register, which would become utterly indigestible if it went only a few words beyond the usual three hundred. And yet, we âneed toâ comply with this bizarre convention, finding, or inventing, concepts that are, in most cases, vastly inferior in terms of linguistic quality to what they pretend to have abstracted from. Well, as far as this contribution is concerned, its abstraction may read as follows: This chapter argues that verbal artistry cannot become art in language without structure. One such prominent structure is syntax. In Thomas Bernhardâs works, the complexity of syntax and the simplicity of content form an intriguing dichotomy. Different from the verbal art in his poems, the language of his protagonists, be it on stage or in the field of prose, is at once differentiating and formulaic. This integral characteristic of Bernhardâs highly evocative, suggestive and provocative language is examined with reference to, among others, HolzfÃ¤llen / Woodcutters, Korrektur / Correction, Frost and Der Untergeher / The Loser. But this is only half of what this particular âabstractâ could, or should, contain. For I have written this text in the final months leading up to Britainâs dissociation from the European Union. I argued in a public statement on this perversion of so-called âsovereigntyâ, as it happened shortly before the beginning of our conference in Glasgow, that it would require an Anglophone equivalent to Thomas Bernhard and his vitriolic comments on Austria in order to lambast this fact and its consequences appropriately. And now, when we prepare our texts for publication, we learn that the UK has decided to leave the ERASMUS+ programme, aptly termed by the First Minister of the very country where this conference had taken place as an act of âcultural vandalismâ. All this considered, we have urgent reason to modify Ortega y Gassetâs plea of 1932 and engage collectively âIn Search of Thomas Bernhard from Withinâ â in no uncertain, and certainly no abstract, terms.¹ Even though this contribution does not explicitly deal with the political dimension of its theme, it is mindful of the fact that the problematic interplay of âartâ and âartificialityâ is never merely an aesthetic issue and concern. Few writers were more acutely aware of this than Bernhard.

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Thomas Bernhard: Language, History, Subjectivity

Series:Â Amsterdamer BeitrÃ¤ge zur neueren Germanistik, Volume: 95Â andÂ Amsterdamer BeitrÃ¤ge zur neueren Germanistik, Volume: 95

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004545854

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 26 Jun 2023

Subjects
- Literature and Cultural Studies

Front Matter

Part 1 Bernhardâs Poetics

Part 2 Bernhardâs Early Fiction

Part 3 Bernhardâs Plays

Part 4 Bernhardâs Later Fiction

Part 5 Bernhardâs Persona

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2 SyntaxÃ¤sthetik oder: die Kunst des KÃ¼nstlichen, das KÃ¼nstliche in der Kunst. Zu einem PhÃ¤nomen bei Thomas Bernhard

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Thomas Bernhard: Language, History, Subjectivity

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