SOURCE: “The Works of Thomas Bernhard: ‘Austrian Literature?’” in Modern Austrian Literature, Vol. 17, Nos. 3–4, December, 1984, pp. 171–92.

In the following essay, Fetz discusses the defining characteristics of Austrian literature and how Bernhard’s work fits within that category.

I: Introduction

The question posed in the title of this essay appears, at least on the most literal level, to be rather simple if not downright simplistic. Certainly the works of Thomas Bernhard form a part, even a very significant part of Austrian literature. Bernhard’s ancestors far into the past were Austrians and he still resides in Austria today. The doubts sometimes expressed about the legitimacy of claiming “Austrian writer” status for such authors as Rilke, Celan, or Canetti, who grew up in parts of the Habsburg Empire long lost to Austria and who spent most of their adult, creative lives away fom Austria, are not applicable to Bernhard: with...