The Novels of Thomas Bernhard: Form and Its Function

Thomas Bernhard (1931-1989) is one of the most important writers of the postwar period, not only in his native Austria, but throughout Europe. Almost all his works have been translated into English, and his novels, plays, and non-fiction works have won international acclaim. The present study provides an accessible introduction to Bernhard’s novels for an English-speaking readership, and also makes an original contribution to the ongoing debate on this fascinating author. The book’s primary emphasis is on Bernhard’s later fiction, but it also explicates the early texts of the 1960s and 1970s. The book makes use of insights from recent approaches to fiction that pay attention to what can be termed ‘narrative dynamics.’ Earlier studies of Bernhard have tended to remain within the descriptive framework established in narrative studies of the 1950s and 1960s; this book views Bernhard’s prose works from a more nuanced vantage point.

Jonathan Long is lecturer in German at the University of Durham, UK.