Elfriede Jelinek
GOODBYE / Das Lebewohl
Translation: Uršula Cetinski
Director: Ivica Buljan
Costume design: Ana Savić-Gecan
Music: Mitja Vrhovnik Smrekar
Actor: Radko Polič - Rac
Opening night: December 2007 / January 2008
Jelinek was born on October, 20 1946 in Mürzzuschlag, Styria, Austria. Her father, a chemist of Jewish-Czech origin ("Jelinek" means "little deer" in Czech) managed to avoid persecution during the Second World War by working in strategically important industrial production. However, several dozen family members became victims of the Holocaust. Her "dominating" mother, with whom she shared the household even as an adult (compare The Piano Teacher) and with whom she had a difficult relationship, was from a formerly prosperous Vienna family. As a child, Elfriede suffered much from what she considered an over-restrictive education in a Roman Catholic convent school in Vienna. Her mother planned for Elfriede a career as a musical Wunderkind. From an early age, Elfriede was instructed in piano, organ, guitar, violin, viola and recorder. Later, she went on to study at the Vienna Conservatory, where she graduated with an organist diploma. Jelinek also studied art history and drama at the University of Vienna. However, she had to discontinue her studies due to an anxiety disorder that prevented her from following courses. Critics have noted that Jelinek's biography is often reflected in her opus.
Jelinek started writing poetry young. She made her literary debut with the collection Lisas Schatten in 1967.
In the early 1970s, Jelinek married Gottfried Hüngsberg.
Official web site (in German)
- Elfriede Jelinek-Forschungszentrum
- Nobel site biography
- BBC synopsis
- Biography at FemBio
- Die Gewaltproblematik bei Elfriede Jelinek
- Elfriede Jelinek: Nichts ist verwiklicht. Alles muss jetzt neu definiert weden. Interview in German. (PDF)
