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DIE TRANSZENDIERUNG DES MENSCHEN IM
BIO-ADAPTER
OSWALD WIENERS
"DIE VERBESSERUNG VON MITTELEUROPA, ROMAN"
The Ohio State University, 1992
Professor Dagmar C.G. Lorenz, Adviser
Die Verbesserung von Mitteleuropa, Roman, the only large
literary work of the Austrian author Oswald Wiener (born
1935), is considered to be an "experimental" novel. In this
work, the author launches a fundamental critique of language,
culminating in his concept of a device called the
Bio-Adapter. This device--presented
as satire as well as a serious utopia--is intended to achieve the
individual's freedom from language and thus to enable unmediated
experience of 'reality', which otherwise would be determined by
language. According to the author, this determination has to be
overcome. Yet, even his perception of the issue as well as of its
solution are defined by language. Hence, there is no absolute, firm
point of reference for analysis. The Bio-Adapter--itself a
product of language--is designed to sidestep the problem.
In the dissertation, the novel is placed into a
historical context--post World War II Austrian literature
until about 1970: the Wiener Gruppe, the Wiener
Aktionismus, Experimentelle Literatur--before
aspects such as structure, language, politics, history,
consciousness, and anthropology are discussed. The concluding
chapter focuses on the relationship between text and reader,
which is constantly undermined by the author. The paper
also includes a comprehensive bibliography on Oswald Wiener.
First published in book form in 1969 and well received
by critics and a small circle of readers, the novel since has
been neglected (although it has been re-published in 1985).
However, it still is a challenging work, both in terms of
structure as well as contents, which mirror each other.
Moreover, the Bio-Adapter turns out to be a utopian
construct whose realization--even if it will not be exactly
as sketched out in the novel--might not be too far away anymore.
ADDENDUM: on the day of the defense I found out that in
1990 Nicht schon wieder...!, Wiener's second novel, was
published (under the pseudonym Evo Präkogler). This event
necessitates a thorough revision of my paper. I hope to
present a new version soon.
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