Den Nicht-Ort gibt es nicht: Handke and the spirit of place in 'Versuch über den Stillen Ort'.

Halsall, Robert

Abstract

Handkes concern with place has been seen as a search for a utopia, characteristic of a writer who has allegedly become increasingly weltfremd. This essay examines Handkes most recent work, Versuch Über den Stillen Ort, in the light of this critique. In this essay it is argued that Handkes poetics of place, as exemplified in the Versuch, is rather a search for the genius loci or spirit of place. This spirit belongs not just to idyllic places far removed from civilization, but can be found in places that have been dismissed as inauthentic or non-places epitomized by a place associated with the lowest and most abject aspects of humanity, the toilet, which is the central poetic focus of the text.

Citation

HALSALL, R. 2013. Den Nicht-Ort gibt es nicht: Handke and the spirit of place in 'Versuch über den Stillen Ort'. In Lützeler, P.M., McGlothlin, E. and Kapczynski, J. (eds.) Gegenwartsliteratur: ein germanistischen Jahrbuch: a German studies yearbook, 12/2013. Tübingen: Stauffenburg Verlag, pages 139-164.

• Online Publication Date: Dec 31, 2013
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2013
• Deposit Date: Jan 5, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 5, 2015
• Publisher: Stauffenburg Verlag
• Pages: 139-164
• Book Title: Gegenwartsliteratur: ein germanistischen Jahrbuch: a German studies yearbook, 12/2013
• ISBN: 9783860575833
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/1111
• Publisher URL: http://www.stauffenburg.de/asp/books.asp?id=1263
• Contract Date: Jan 5, 2015