Aneignungen, Entfremdungen. The Austrian Playwright Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872) by Marianne Henn, Clemens Ruthner, Raleigh Whitinger

Abstract

AUSTRIAN STUDIES l6 (20 8) 207 give us an Alltagsgeschichte of the court but they do document key moments of interaction between the Emperor, his higher officials and third parties of the most diverse kind. They also repeatedly underline the key role of the Obersthofmeisterin deciding which events were worthy of being recorded and in balancing the volatile microclimate of the court. In general the contributors confirm the established view that court ceremonial was diminished under Emperor Joseph II only to be revived under Leopold II and Francis II (I). In some ways things became even more elaborate after 1800 with the creation of the office of Oberzeremonienmeister.Some have seen this as the prelude to nothing more than the elaboration of ceremony for itsown sake. However, as Karin Schneider points out in a concluding survey of the nineteenth century, even less is known about the nineteenth-century court than about its earlymodern predecessor. It can only be hoped that this stimulating volume will inspire further attempts to decode the language of ceremonial and to ascertain its meaning in the political and social system of theHabsburg Monarchy. GONVILLE & CaIUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE JOACHIMWhALEY Aneignungen, Entfremdungen. TheAustnan PlayurrightFranzGrillparzer (1791-1872). Ed. byMarianne Henn, Clemens Ruthner and Raleigh Whitinger. New York: Peter Lang. 2007. + 141 pp. 47,70. isbn 978-0-8204-6375-9. The nine essays bymainly American and Austrian scholars were given as papers at a symposium held in 2004 at the University of Alberta, Canada. From the original theme of 'Inter/Nationalism' other lines of approach developed (academics, unlike their students, cannot be expected to adhere to a topic!) that are broadly encompassed by the title of the volume: Aneignung is understood in the context of Grillparzer's use of mythical and historical subject matter and also the often political message derived from his plays in different periods of theatrical history, whilst Entfremdung refers to Grillparzer's treatment of 'otherness', whether cultural, ethnic or in terms of gender. The essays on nationalism and stage productions most clearly relate to the original theme of the symposium. Dagmar Lorenz discusses Grillparzer's opposition to war and militarism and his belief in a multinational Habsburg state as an antidote to the concept of theGerman nation-state which, ironically, Laube in his period as director of the Burgtheater from 1849 to 1867 sought to foreground at the expense of Grillparzer's complex character portrayal and view of the unpredictability of historical developments. Clemens Ruthner attempts a postcolonial reading of encounters with an often barbaric 'other'; inGrillparzer's plays and travel journals attractive women are able to transcend any discussion of the barbaric (p. 63), although Jason's marriage toMedea is a nightmare vision of the possible consequences of any interplay of civilization and barbarism. In the essays on theatre history Johann H?ttner sketches the course of pro ductions in Habsburg Austria, while Evelyn Deutsch-Schreiner usefully reconsiders theways inwhich official views of the dramatist (Nazi or Aus trocen trie) coloured 2 8 AUSTRIAN STUDIES l6 (20 8) productions and robbed the plays of their ambiguity and vitality. In recent decades that situation has improved, with inner conflicts and confusions within the characters being highlighted in productions such as Thomas Langhoff s J?din (Salzburg, 1990/1, with Ulrich M?he as Alphons) or Martin Kusej's K?nig Ottokar (Salzburg, 2005, and subsequently at the Burgtheater). No doubt wisely, Deutsch-Schreiner chooses to ignore some of themore ludicrous manifestations of Regietheater in recent years. On a related note, Clifford Bernd uses Ottok?r to emphasize Grillparzer's sense of pageant and theatricality, even ifhis plays lack the dramatic clash of powerful characters. In other contributions Wolfgang M?ller-Funk contrasts LibussawiXh Brentano's Die Gr?ndung Prags as examples of 'the narrative matrix of gynaecocracy' (p. 72). William Reeve provides a Freudian analysis of sexual symbolism in Rustan's humiliating 'failure as aman' as his dream punishes him forhis 'repressed desire to kill his father' (pp. 129, 131). Katherine Arens seeks to present Das Kloster von Sendomir as a complex tale of political and historical allusions and literary intertextuality that allows a fourfold narratological approach: Grillparzer, she concludes, is 'realistic without being realist, historical...