The Nihilism of Thomas Bernhard The Portrayal of Existential and Social Problems in His Prose Works |
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| Author:
| Martin, Charles W. |
| Series title: | Amsterdamer Publikationen Zur Sprache und Literatur Ser. |
| ISBN: | 978-90-5183-886-2 |
| Publication Date: | Jan 1995 |
| Publisher: | BRILL
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| Imprint: | Brill / Rodopi |
| Book Format: | Paperback |
| List Price: | USD $86.00 |
Book Description:
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This study examines the nihilistic basis of Bernhard's writing, and traces developments in the author's nihilistic stance throughout his career. In the first period of his prose fiction (1963-1975), nihilism is reluctantly accepted by Bernhard's fictional characters as a necessary response to a world perceived as meaningless. Various possible sources of transcendence are explored, and rejected. The autobiographical texts (1975-1982) then represent a sustained attempt by the author...
More DescriptionThis study examines the nihilistic basis of Bernhard's writing, and traces developments in the author's nihilistic stance throughout his career. In the first period of his prose fiction (1963-1975), nihilism is reluctantly accepted by Bernhard's fictional characters as a necessary response to a world perceived as meaningless. Various possible sources of transcendence are explored, and rejected. The autobiographical texts (1975-1982) then represent a sustained attempt by the author himself to transcend his own essentially nihilistic state. The apparent success of this attempt is quickly revealed to be illusory in the prose fiction of the second period (1978-1986), and it becomes apparent that nihilism is a no less necessary response to Austrian social reality than to the (more purely) personal problems which first motivated Bernhard's writing.