Beschimpft OEsterreich!: Der Skandal um die Staatspreisrede Thomas Bernhards im Marz 1968

March 4, 1968, Vienna Ministry of Education: Thomas Bernhard is awarded the Roman State Prize. His unconventional acceptance speech arouses the displeasure of the minister, whose reaction again snubbers Bernhard, and a newspaper headlines: So ‘thanks’ a state award winner: insults Austria! This goes down in literary history as a state prize scandal. But what really happened? How did that incident occur and how did he justify Bernhard’s reputation as a scandal author, long before the clashes over woodfalls and Heroes’ Square ? Olaf Lahayne studied the sources and interviewed eyewitnesses. His portrayal allows a look behind the scenes of the literary scene, and Bernhard’s staging strategies appear in a new light.