- Josef Haslinger
At the Hands of the Tsunami
An interview with Austrian writer Josef Haslinger. Haslinger is professor for literary aesthetics at the Deutsches Literaturinstitut in Leipzig. His best-selling novel Opernball brought him considerable acclaim in 1995. In the interview, Haslinger speaks about his recently released book Phi Phi Island, about his work at the university, and of course about New York.
By Maria Simma
MS: You survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand together with your family. What changes after a catastrophe like that?
JH: maybe i could express it this way: in the past, when i came home from a dinner with an important personality, i could repeat everything that was said, but i couldn’t recall what was on the menu. today it’s the other way around. so the sensuous qualities of life have become more important for me than the vanities.
MS: Even though you said you never wanted to write about it, you’ve now authored a report in the form of the book Phi Phi Island. What finally motivated you to write it?
JH: i couldn’t let go of the story. i felt like i was at the mercy of an experience. the tsunami had suddenly become the central focus of my life and it stayed like that. and i didn’t even have words for it.
it was the same for my wife and my two kids. i wrote this book for them as well, because they needed it.
MS: In Phi Phi Island you relate your experiences before and after the tsunami. Your description of the horrors is very objective. Why did you choose this tone of voice?
JH: after two or three high waves took the lives of more than 200,000 people, the water went back into the sea. in the media the tsunami continued for months. so it can’t be about telling people what they should think about a tsunami. it’s enough to objectively report the things we can understand about the event. and which consequences it had for our lives.
MS: Unlike Phi Phi Island, your novel Opernball is about a fictitious catastrophe. The guests of the famous Vienna Opera Ball are gassed by terrorists on camera. What was harder for you, to describe a fictitious or real catastrophe?
JH: the real one. because it wasn’t about envisioning a world, even a terrible one, but about memories that hurt. and it was about filling memory gaps. the fact that you simply can’t remember certain things. in an autobiographical report you can’t fill the gap with imagination. only with research.
MS: Phi Phi Island is written entirely in lowercase. As a reason, you cite the tsunami injury to your left hand, which prevents you from using the shift key. Are you generally of the opinion that German spelling deserves to be adapted, simplified perhaps?
JH: the handicapped pinky finger was a welcome occasion for me to introduce the mode of writing everything in lowercase to literary work. i had long ago grown accustomed to this typing style in emails. i was able to keep the flow of words going and at the same time i made a small, although not particularly original, contribution to the german spelling reform.
MS: You have been a professor at Leipzig University since 1996. Creative writing is very popular in the USA, but less so in Europe. What do you think are the reasons for that?
JH: the americans believe in the plausibility of happiness. the europeans have been living under the power of fate for millennia. according to european philosophy, talent has to land in your lap. geniuses cannot be created. conversely, the americans work hard to develop and promote talent. in practice, of course, some communities simply lack the money to do so. it’s no coincidence that creative writing was already established as a university discipline in iowa in the 1930s. in europe, the situation changed in the last decade. quite a few european universities and art schools now offer special programs to train writers. leipzig isn’t an exception any more like it was 20 years ago, still in the gdr era, when there was the famous johannes r. becher institute for literature and nothing of the sort anywhere else.
MS: Do you think writing can be taught and learned?
JH: if i don’t want to degrade my principal occupation to a senseless activity, i have no choice other than to clearly say yes. but i wouldn’t claim that you can make interesting literates out of just anybody. we have a strict selection process in leipzig. we take about 20 out of 600 candidates. they’re not beginners, they’re young colleagues you can communicate with about writing on a very high level.
MS: Students of architecture or painting are often accused of painting much in the same style as their teachers. Do you think there is a similar danger in teaching literary writing?
JH: this danger exists at all art schools, and of course it’s also true of creative writing, especially if the program doesn’t have enough teaching positions to offer. the diversity in literary writing has to be reflected in the group of teachers. we pay close attention to the variety of aesthetic positions represented among our teaching staff.
MS: Do you believe in genius?
JH: yes, I believe in genius, but not in the sense that someone is born a genius. genius is made, and usually it takes a lot of energy. talents are born. genius needs a constellation that really makes it shine. luckily, it can’t be programmed. writing schools are not responsible for geniuses. but even writing schools take note when there’s a swan among the ducks.
MS: This year Germany is celebrating the 20th anniversary of reunification. For more than 13 years now, you’ve been working in Leipzig, which is in Eastern Germany. Is there an independent literary identity among young East German authors?
JH: some people think we should be able to say there isn’t. after all, there are hardly any students left who still went to school in the german democratic republic. but how could 40 years of gdr simply dissolve from one day to the next, together with all the social, cultural, and political measures that are part of a socialist society? to this day there are still eastern and western mentalities among writers. you can’t always notice it in the literature itself. it can’t be reduced to the sociocultural background of an author.
MS: In November you will be giving a reading at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York. What is your connection to this city?
JH: new york has always been a city where i can breathe deeply. i lived there for two years, and there were times when i would just fly to new york for a long weekend. i wouldn’t have time for escapades like that anymore. but when i head into the city from jfk it always feels a bit like coming home.
> Event Information
TRANSLATION PRIZE
The Austrian Cultural Forum New York, in collaboration with the Dietrich W. Botstiber Foundation and Words Without Borders, is pleased to announce the Austrian Cultural Forum Translation Prize: An award aimed at the promotion of intercultural exchange between the Republic of Austria and the United States. This initiative supports translators of contemporary Austrian Literature into English with a grant of EUR 3000.
The Award Ceremony of the 2009 Translation Prize will take place on Tuesday, December 1st at 6:30 pm at the Austrian Cultural Forum. A distinguished jury will present the winner, as well as the translated work.
Applications are evaluated by a transatlantic advisory board, comprised of Fatima Naqvi (Rutgers University), Michael Orthofer (The Literary Saloon), Ricky Stock (German Book Office, New York), Daniela Strigl (University of Vienna), Martin Rauchbauer (Deputy Director, ACFNY) and Andreas Stadler (Director, ACFNY).
