Author: Yates, W. E.

Source: Austrian Studies, Volume 15, Number 1, 1 December 2007 , pp. 41-52(12)

Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association

Abstract:

Drawing on material in the newly published supplementary volumes (2007) of the Nestroy edition (HKA), the article argues that scepticism towards scholarship and advances in knowledge cannot be reduced to a biographical explanation (Nestroy's education and family background), nor to the traditional opposition between `popular' theatre and high culture: he followed with scepticism press reports of technological progress and of scholarly controversy, and his characters are aware of the limitations of knowledge, but Vincenz's scorn for study in Die beiden Herrn Söhne is an extreme case. In general his satire shows respect for learning and for culture, while testing them against ideals of truth and authenticity.

German
Nestroys Werk weist eine Reihe von Beispielen der Skepsis gegenüber Forschung und Wissenschaft auf, die sich weder mit biographischen Faktoren wie seiner Herkunft aus dem Bildungsbürgertum noch mit dem Gegensatz zwischen `Volkstheater' und Hochkultur erklären läßt. Wie aus den 2007 erschienenen Nachtragsbänden zur Nestroy-HKA hervorgeht, verfolgte er Presseberichte über technologische Fortschritte und wissenschaftliche Kontroversen mit Skepsis, und seine Figuren sind sich der Grenzen des Wissens bewußt. Vincenz in Die beiden Herrn Söhne verspottet zwar Studium und Gelehrtheit, im allgemeinen ist aber in Nestroys Werk Respekt vor Bildung und Kultur erkennbar, wobei der Satiriker an beide den bewährten Maßstab von Wahrheit und Authentizität anlegt.

Keywords: Nestroy; HKA; scepticism; biographical; technological progress; limitations of knowledge; satire; Nestroys; Skepsis; Volkstheater; Nachtragsbänden; HKA; technologische; Kontroversen; Satiriker

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: University of Exeter

Publication date: 2007-12-01

More about this publication?

• Austrian Studies is an annual journal reflecting sustained interest in the distinctive cultural traditions of the Habsburg Empire and the Austrian Republic. By publishing a wide range of articles in English, together with a selection of book reviews, it aims to make recent research accessible to a broadly based international readership.
  
  The focus is on Austrian culture from 1750 to the present. Literature is considered in relation to psychology, philosophy, political theory, music, theatre, film, and the visual arts. 'Austrian' includes German-language culture of former areas of the Habsburg Empire, such as Prague and the Bukovina, as well as the work of people of Austrian origin living abroad. Austrian interactions with other linguistic and ethnic groups -- the Jewish communities of Austria-Hungary, for example -- are also taken into account.
  
  Each volume of Austrian Studies has a coherent but broadly conceived theme, and reviews of the most important recent publications in the field of Austrian studies. Each volume also includes a number of substantial review essays devoted either to keeping readers up to date with major cultural debates and events, or to areas of scholarship in which activity has been particularly intense.

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