The Burgtheater and Austrian Identity: Theatre and Cultural Politics in Vienna 1918-38 by Robert Pyrah

Abstract

II64 Reviews Hermann Schl6sser, the feuilleton editor of theWiener Zeitung, spentmore than a decade assembling themultitude of details in the private and professional lifeof his subject aswell as conscientiously examining these details from the macro-perspective of political and cultural history.He pointedly rejects the role of disinterested biogra pher and openly declares his abhorrence of the darker episodes of this history, yet searches forexplanations ifnot exoneration forEdschmid's morally dubious choices and behaviour. The man and writer who emerges at the centre of this richbiography is a non-heroic figure inextricably caught up in the events of his time. UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC FRANCIS MICHAEL SHARP The Burgtheater andAustrian Identity: Theatre and Cultural Politics inVienna I9I8 38. By ROBERT PYRAH. London: Legenda. 2007. x+263 pp. ISBN 978-I 9043 50-67-5. This excellent volume provides an invaluable extra dimension to previous publi cations on Austrian theatre between thewars through the rigorous use of archival material, reinforcingand enhancing work based mainly on texts, reports, and reviews in theViennese press and journals. Robert Pyrah's work, thankfully,ranges well be yond the firsthalf of his title, providing an account of the theatrical and cultural politics ofVienna which deepens our understanding of the complexities of theAus trian response through theatre to an unhappy period of itshistory. Simply stated, he traces theatre politics frommore or less consensus, through a deepening influence of Austria's Catholic heritage, to theatre as a propagator of the ideology of the autho ritarianCorporate State. Along theway we learn how Austria's attitude towards its German heritage affected the theatre as did anti-Semitism and eventually National Socialism. There are six sections: 'Heimat inContext', 'Heimat on Stage', 'Expres sionism' (appropriately enough the shortest chapter), 'Catholicism: A Benchmark for "Austrian" Culture', 'Neo-Historicism and theRise of theRight', and, finally, 'Au thoritarian Rule and theAustrian ideology, I934-38', all ofwhich, and particularly the final three, arewell supported by thewidest possible range of archival references. After an introduction to theconcept of 'Heimat' with several key references, includ ingJosef Nadler's influentialwork Litera turgeschichte der deutschenStdmme undLand schaften,an introduction to the importance of theKunststellen (towhich theauthor re turns) and to thework ofDavid Joseph Bach, Chapter 2 examines thepopular drama tistKarl Schonherr, a doctor from theTyrol living inVienna. His work, rooted in the Volksstuick,extended tohistorical drama and contemporary social drama. Essentially apolitical, his plays possessed that typicalAustrian Ambivalenz which enabled them to be performed throughout theperiod even intoNational Socialist rule.Expressionism never featuredprominently either on the Austrian stage or in theoutput of itswriters, but the importance of 'Catholicism' in a study of this kind deserves, and is given, a major appraisal inChapter 4. Pyrah explains the importance of theviews of theChris tian Social journal Der Kunstgarten (it ishere that the 'revival of thebaroque and an "Austrian" culture began' (p. 67)) as opposed to the socialistKunst und Volk (noteKarl Leuthner's attack on theChristian Socials' rejection ofGerman literature because it is largelyProtestant, p. 73), and the differing roles of theKunststellen. These topics introduce us towhat Pyrah justifiably terms the 'Burgtheater's Austrian Mission'. Franz Werfel's relationship with Catholicism, and the performances in Salzburg of Hofmannsthal's Jedermann and more importantlyDas Salzburger groJ3e Weltthea ter, lead us on (with passing references toproductions ofBeer-Hofmann'sjyaikobs Traum and Mell's Das Nachfolge-Christi-Spiel) to 'Anton Wildgans and the ambiguous di mensions of aCatholic Leitkultur'. A useful commentary, delineating twodistinct ap proaches, isprovided by references to reviews byDavid Joseph Bach and Hans Brecka. MLR, I03.4, 2oo8 II65 Chapter 5 examines insatisfyingdetail representations ofAustrian history on the stage between I929 and I933, summarizing clear changes in repertoire, amounting to 'a politicization of theBurgtheater along Christian Social lines'. Pyrah introducesworks by Sassmann (hisAustrian 'trilogy'), Werfel, Duschinsky, and Schreyvogel, coupling them to intelligent comment on thedifferingapproaches adopted by the critics across the political spectrum and pertinent cross-referencing to archive material. Finally, Chapter 6 examines the four years of the clerical Corporate State where a range of dramas-historical, classical, and on contemporary themes-helped support the aims of the government. Key productions of this phase dramas byMussolini/Forzano, Grillparzer, Naderer, Henz, Braun, Mell, Wenter, and Csokor-are all put intocontext with one interestingaddition...