«Die Welt hat ja einen Sog»: Thomas Bernhard und die Schärfe des Stumpfsinns

Stupor, apathy, and dreariness condition the majority of the works by Thomas Bernhard both as motifs and modes of (re-)presentation. But given the aesthetic dialectics of these works Bernhard’s respective narrators and protagonists instrumentalize stupor in order to sharpen their wit. This essay examines how this instrumentalization actually works – with specific reference to a much-underrated early text by Bernhard (In der Höhe Rettungsversuch, Unsinn) first published, however, shortly before he died (1989). It will be argued that the unusual structure of this text, which is not merely a ‘collage’ or assemblage of material as is often claimed, does not only anticipate Bernhard’s later poetic practices but constitutes a literary work in its own right.