Strategen im Literaturkampf: Thomas Bernhard, Peter Handke und die Kritik

Thomas Bernhard and Peter Handke’s examination of literary criticism has so far only been marginally noticed by research. She traces Strategists in the literary struggle in detail and devotes herself to the complex relationship between literary writing, poetological reflection and critical commentary. Again and again, Bernhard and Handke found themselves challenged by negative reviews of their books to raise public objections. Harald Gschwandtner shows how closely their aversions to literary criticism are linked to the principles of their writing. The spectrum spans from Bernhard’s early work as a cultural journalist to the reception of the debut novels Frost and Die Horissen to the feud between Handke and Marcel Reich-Ranicki and Bernhard’s attacks on Bruno Kreisky. Prose texts, plays, reviews, interviews, speeches, letters and numerous other materials tell the story of a conflicted relationship.