Elfriede Jelinek: Writing Woman, Nation, and Identity--A Critical Anthology

by Matthias Konzett (Editor ), Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger (Editor )

Elfriede Jelinek, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2004, is currently the most important living German-speaking author. She has influenced the German and European literary scene for almost four decades. Her historical status has also become evident with the recent release of the award-winning film The Piano Teacher, based on her novel of the same name. Her work has been translated into English and four of her novels (Women as Lovers; Wonderful, Wonderful Times; Lust; and The Piano Teacher) are currently available. The present volume provides a long overdue introduction to this unique and highly important prose writer, dramatist, and essayist of postwar German literature. Her works address diverse topics such as feminism, popular culture, consumerism, the legacy of the Holocaust, the ideological role of sports, formation of national myths, the emergence of multicultural discourses in Europe, and the rhetoric of the new political right.

317 pages, Hardcover

First published November 30, 2008