Publisher's Synopsis
This book examines Elfriede Jelinek's investigation of Austria's and Western Europe's &«obscene fantasies» through her &«perversion» of generic forms in three of her best-known texts (Die Liebhaberinnen, Lust, and Die Klavierspielerin). Each chapter investigates a central psychoanalytic concept (alienation, jouissance, perversion, and sublimation) and reads a Jelinek text in relation to the genre that it is perverting, exposing the &«obscene fantasies» that lie at its heart. This book argues that the disruption of genres is one of Jelinek's most significant literary contributions, with her works functioning to create a &«negative aesthetics» as opposed to a positive reworking of generic forms.
