"We had no luck with the weather and the guests at our table were repellent in every respect. They even spoiled Nietzsche for us. Even after they had had a fatal car accident and had been laid out in the church in Sils, we still hated them."
(From "Hotel Waldhaus" in Thomas Bernhard's "The Voice Imitator.")

The legacy of Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard (1931-89), whose "misanthropic prose" -- such as the above -- provoked much controversy during his lifetime, will be the focus of a symposium taking place on Saturday, Feb. 20, at Ezra Stiles College, 9 Tower Pkwy. The event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Austrian Cultural Institute, the department of Germanic languages and literatures, Ezra Stiles College and the Kempf Foundation

Titled "After Bernhard: The Legacy of Thomas Bernhard," the symposium will include a dramatic reading of the author's "Stimmenimitator" ("The Voice Imitator") by Broadway and film actor Philip Bosco, as well as readings by contemporary Austrian writers and a panel discussion featuring scholars of Bernhard's work.

Bernhard emerged in the 1960s as one of Austria's major writers. According to Matthias Konzett, assistant professor of German and the organizer of the symposium, "Bernhard's idiosyncratic prose consisted of a tragi-comic blend of themes such as suicide, madness, and isolation that were combined with highly satirical and histrionic invectives against culture, tradition, and society. His writings stood in stark contrast to the enlightenment ethos of Germany's liberal writers and attracted a reading audience grown tired of predictable ideological instruction."

For Bernhard, provoking controversy was "not a mere by-product of his work but in fact ... the key to his literary and dramatic endeavors," notes Konzett. He points to the play "Heldenplatz" ("Heroes' Square," the site where Hitler's annexation speech was cheered by the Viennese). "The play's reception in the media and on the political stage triggered an embarrassing display of falsely wounded national pride in which both left and right wing politicians objected to the negative representation of Austria as given by the two Jewish characters in the play," says Konzett.

Bernhard also explored the theme of art and its relation to the public sphere in such works as "Wittgensteins Neffe" ("Wittgenstein's Nephew"), which Konzett describes as "Bernhard's best known novel among American readers," and "Alte Meister" ("Old Masters").

Konzett will be among the panelists taking part in a discussion titled "The Legacy of Thomas Bernhard" at 10 a.m. The other panelists will be noted Austrian critic Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler of the University Wien in Austria; Gitta Honegger of Catholic University in Washington, D.C., who just completed a biography on Bernhard; and Errol McDonald of Random House, who was instrumental in bringing the author's work to the attention of American readers. Peter Demetz, Sterling Professor of Germanic Languages and Literature, will offer introductory remarks.

The symposium will continue at 2 p.m. with readings (in English) by contemporary Austrian writers Lilian Faschinger, whose works include "Magdalena, The Sinner"), and Josef Haslinger, author of "Opernball."

Award-winning actor Philip Bosco will present a dramatic reading (also in English) of Bernhard's "The Voice Imitator," as adapted by Honegger, at 5 p.m. A veteran of numerous Broadway productions, Bosco received a Tony Award, as well as Drama Desk and Outer Critics' Circle honors, for his work in "Lend Me a Tenor." He also earned Tony nominations for "The Rape of the Belt," "You Never Can Tell" and "Heartbreak House," and was presented with a 1988 Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater. His film credits include "My Best Friend's Wedding" and "Children of a Lesser God," and his television appearances include "Tribeca," in which he had the starring role, and "Read Between the Lines," for which he received an Emmy Award.

The symposium will conclude with a reception at 6 p.m.

For further information about the symposium, call the German department at 432-0788.

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