Jean Améry: Revolte in der Resignation by Irene Heidelberger-Leonard

Abstract

902 Reviews altogether this material takes up the first half of the book. The second half is taken up by a discussion of Bachmann's novel Malina and Bernhard's play Der Ignorant und der Wahnsinnige, giving slightly more space to the former. Solibakke asserts that various operas had an impact on Bachmann's work: Tristan und Isolde, Aida, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, and others are treated in turn, each again neatly sorted under subheadings. In addition, he devotes sections to 'the telephone' and to 'Naturlaute als Orchestergewebe'. The chapter about Der Ignorant und der Wahnsinnige discusses the play in terms ofMozart's Die Zauberfldte, by comparing the character configurations in the two works. Finally, Solibakke gauges the influence of Nietzsche and Heidegger on Bernhard's concept of repetition. Imust admit that I found this book extremely hard to get into. The language used is in places opaque, in others stilted and imprecise. Some awkward phrases seem to go on the account of Solibakke's non-native German background. In addition, the over-scientific structure of the book makes it actually difficult to follow the author's argumentative line. Its disjointedness caused by the excessive use of subdivisions does not help the reader engage with the discussion. For this reason, Iwould not like to attempt a comprehensive judgement of this book. Yet there are some specific points that Iwant tomake. I found it disappointing, for example, that an expert inmusic has not made more of an effort to explain how Bachmann and Bernhard actually conceive musical structures in their work. Without such a demonstration concretized by music examples, the discussion must remain theoretical. Nor does Solibakke provide suf ficient evidence regarding the extent towhich Bachmann and Bernhard were familiar with the works of the philosophers of music and the composers he claims they have drawn on. Moreover, the use of two literary examples from different genres, without referring to the different ways in which they utilize musical discourse, makes his analysis open to criticism. While the detailed mapping of 'pre-texts' and their concrete relationship to the literary texts in question could have provided useful groundwork for future scholars, the claimed references are, in the main, not made sufficiently plausible. The 'infor mation overkill' often includes lengthy historical data that are not directly relevant to the discussion; in some cases, particularly with the references to Beethoven, the information stated has been superseded by more recent research. The impression of the author's encyclopaedic intention, inwhich every shred of information has the same value but does not necessarily contribute much to our understanding of the works under discussion, predominated in every section of the book. It ismy view, hence, that Geformte Zeit realizes the author's ambition to locate Bachmann's and Bernhard's texts in their respective cultural critical contexts only to a very limited degree. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ANDREA REITER JreanAmery: Revolte in der Resignation. By IRENEHEIDELBERGER-LEONARD. Stutt gart: Klett-Cotta. 2004. 408 pp. E24. ISBN 3-608-93539-8. Why has it taken so long for Jean Amery's biography to be written? This is the question which this excellent and necessary book now raises. Irene Heidelberger Leonard, the general editor of the Amery Werkausgabe which is gradually emerging volume by volume from Klett-Cotta, illustrates with commendablejudiciousness that awriter as subjective and self-consuming asAmery can only be fully appreciated in the context of his life and times. Ironically, and this isnot the least achievement of this biography, this is not because as a celebrated survivor of the Holocaust he became an icon of Jewish experience, but rather precisely because he resisted this categorization, MLR, IOI.3, 2006 903 sensing that there could be no worse fate for him than to be reduced to a 'Berufs KZler' (p. 233). The bitter truth of Amery's life is of course that this is exactly what happened: he waited so long and suffered somuch for his literary breakthrough, only then to become a victim of his own success. Heidelberger-Leonard traces the facts of his life with exemplary clarity. The provincial Hans Mayer from Vorarlberg was attempting to establish himself as a writer inVienna when the war intervened...