Aus groÃer Nähe. Karl Kraus in Berichten von Weggefährten und Widersachern. (Bibliothek Janowitz 16) by Friedrich Pfäfflin
2009; Modern Humanities Research Association; Volume: 17; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/aus.2009.0006
ISSN2222-4262
Autores Resumo200 Reviews presentedNestroy's role inKraus's work as being essentially taken over at this stage by Offenbach; in fact, as Lacheny shows,Nestroy remained a constant and much invoked presence to the last. Lacheny has succeeded in reducing an exhaustively documented dissertation of 724 pages to a lucidlywritten book of less thanhalf the length, a splendid example of how revising and paring an academic thesis can benefit book publication. The result is both thorough and admirably readable, with all quotations given in the original Geman. Lacheny has considerably shortened the bibliography (the dissertation, now lodged in the library of the Sorbonne Nouvelle [Paris III], has a voluminous bibliography that could serve as a useful reference source). He has added as an appendix a 'glossary' of names, a last-minute addition designed as an aid for the general reader (signs of haste here in unreliable details are a small blemish in an excellent book); and there are useful indexes. In a convincing conclusion, Lacheny sums up how Kraus's revaluation drew on a cultural reassessment of Nestroy in the context of several 'fields',Nestroy being 'notjust a barb but one of the very bases ofKraus's satire' (p. 277). He spells out thatNestroy scholarship is no longer tied toKraus's interpretation; to accord the comedy of language priority over stage production is,he observes, to labour an obsolete distinction. One might add thatwhile Kraus's advocacy was decisive in driving the 'Nestroy renascence' of the early twentieth century and remains an inspiring voice, the total novelty of his insight should not be overestimated; the sharpness ofNestroy's satire and the power of the language through which he worked were not lost on his contemporaries. 'Nestroy's greatness', as Lacheny reminds us, is 'based on the indissoluble unity of thewriter and theman of the theatre' (p. 279). A corollary of thisdefence of his theatrical vitality ? speltout in theblurb on the back cover of thebook ? is the potential for further translations and productions ofNestroy in France, the country fromwhich, after all, he drew so many of his sources. University of Exeter W. E. Yates Aus gro?erN?he. Karl Kraus inBerichtenvonWeggef?hrtenundWidersachern. Ed. by Friedrich Pf?fflin. (Bibliothek Janowitz 16). G?ttingen: Wallstein. 2008. 480 pp. 39,90 [D], 41,10 [A]. isbn 978-3-8353-0304-1. Friedrich Pf?fFlin, formany years inspirational as curator of exhibitions of the treasuresof the Schiller-Nationalmuseum in Marbach, has forjust as long been the prime mover in assembling invaluable biographical material on Karl Kraus from thewriter's fragmented archive. The monumental revised and enlarged edition of the Briefe an SidonieN?dherny vonBorutin 1913-1936 (G?ttingen, 2005) is not the least of his labours of love that have been devoted to documenting thewriter's network of personal friendships (unknown to readers ofDie Fackel; seemy review 'Love, Distance, Bereavement: New Sources for Karl Kraus's Relationships' in Austrian Studies, 11, 196-202) and his attachment to the idyllic landscape of the N?dherny family's estate, Janowitz inBohemia, which is also commemorated in the series name for these compilations and bibliophile editions. The new project Reviews 201 partly draws upon these and other recent editions of correspondence. Documents included in the 1999Marbach exhibition catalogue, Karl Kraus, co-edited by Pfafflin and Eva Dambacher, also revealed more of the history ofDie Fackel and Kraus's literary relations. (See their compilation Der 'Fackel'-Lauf, [Marbach a. ., 1999] and Pfafflin's Vom Vergl?hender 'Fackel'.Karl Kraus und seinVerlag, 1930-1936 [Warmbronn, 2004]; also Zwischen J?ngstemTag undWeltgericht [G?ttingen, 2007], his new edition ofKraus's correspondence with the publisher KurtWolff). Aus gro?er N?he assembles some 360 extracts from a vast range of sources, both known and previously unpublished (like FranzWerfel's dissection of Kraus in a letter to Willy Haas from 1916).Of themany eye-witness accounts, anecdotes and memoirs (such as Berthold Viertel's fine portrait) some are familiar, others are from quite remote sources, and theirjuxtaposition creates amulti-faceted mosaic of theman, his process ofworking, his impact and his varied reception. The first of the thematic chapters is ratherdiffuse, comprising sketches of the personality, entitled (afteran early remark ofAlma Mahler-Werfel's) 'Der...
Referência(s)