Jelinek, Elfriede, << YEHL ihn ehk, ehl FREE deh >> (1946-…), became the first Austrian writer to win the Nobel Prize in literature. Jelinek won the prize in 2004 for her novels and plays. Jelinek’s works reflect her feminist and Marxist beliefs.
Much of Jelinek’s writing attacks the moral corruption she sees in Austria following the end of World War II in 1945. She often portrays women as unfulfilled victims of a male-dominated society. Critics and readers have attacked her work for its frank portrayals of sex and violence and for its grim view of modern society. However, critics have also praised her personal and often witty style, which varies between prose and poetry. Her style includes references to songs by the Beatles, comic strips, movies, and the theater.
Jelinek writes in German. Her best-known work in English translation is the novel The Piano Teacher (1983). The story deals with Erika Kohut, an unmarried woman in her 30’s who lives with her domineering mother. Erika teaches piano at the Vienna Conservatory and enters into a sexual relationship with one of her students. The novel was adapted into a highly praised motion picture in 2001.
Jelinek’s novel Wonderful, Wonderful Times (1970) portrays a violent Austrian street gang. Women As Lovers (1975) follows two women as they struggle for independence and ultimately settle for unsatisfactory marriages. Lust (1989) is set in an Alpine ski resort. The male characters in the novel are driven by sex, and the women are oppressed. The book is notable for its bleak attitude toward love and marriage. The Children of the Dead (1995) is a nightmarish novel that portrays Austria as a land of death. Greed (2000) is a pessimistic novel dominated by sex and physical and psychological violence. Jelinek’s 1987 play Krankheit oder Moderne Frauen (Sickness or Modern Women) is a symbolic attack on what she believes are institutions of repression in Europe.
Jelinek was born on Oct. 20, 1946, in Murzzuschlag, Austria. She made her literary debut with the poetry collection Lisas Schatten (Lisa’s Shadow, 1967). Jelinek has also written several screenplays.
