The Established Outsider: Thomas Bernhard

Summary

When Thomas Bernhard died in 1989 leaving a will stipulating that none of his works ever be performed again in Austria, critics had already established a consensus about the man and his work. Bernhard was the rebellious outsider par excellence, the most unrelenting Austria-critic. One paradox, however, remained. Despite his criticism of the Second Republic that had made him notorious, his writing was clearly paradigmatic of Austrian literature after 1945. His rhetoric notwithstanding, Bernhard, whose works were published by the prestigious Suhrkamp publishing house, was one of the most prominent and successful authors of his generation, one of the few Austrians who had won international acclaim. Often referred to as a Nestbeschmutzer (one who defiles his own “nest”) Bernhard had a reputation based precisely on what Austrian media critics and many of his fellow citizens perceived as a perpetual defamation of their national heritage and the postwar republic. Unlike other authors critical of Austrian society Bernhard occupied an unassailable position in Austrian mainstream culture. Residing in his native country until his death in 1989 he became a legend in his time and a canonical author. His plays, awaited with anticipation over the controversy they would cause, were part of the regular fare at Austrian national theaters, most notably the Vienna Burgtheater. Media events such as the public protest of the Austrian chancellor concerning Der Theatermacher (1984) and the stir over Heldenplatz (1988), commissioned by Klaus Peymann on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Burgtheater, added only to Bernhard's prominence.

In his staged self-exclusion from the Austrian mainstream, a reaction in part to the prevailing social and political conditions, and in part to Bernhard's own problematic socialization and life experiences, including professional conflicts and his oppositional relationship with the public, Bernhard is part of a notable line of established Austrian outsiders, including Franz Grillparzer, who withdrew from Austrian public life after the unsuccessful performance of Weh dem der lügt (1838) and did not allow any productions of his unpublished works on Austrian stages until his death in 1892. Like Bernhard, Grillparzer was celebrated as the foremost Austrian dramatist of his time, and there can be no question about his “mainstream” status as an author. The same is true for Johann Nestroy whose irony bordering on nihilism shows a certain affinity with Bernhard's negativism and penchant for the grotesque.