Chapter 11 Todtnau Mountain Postscript Cai Hongjun (2)

Jelinek's script is difficult to define in terms of style, and there is no time to think carefully in the process of "catch-up". The overall impression is that the writer is playing well between styles. Many scripts can be read as prose, and there are very few characters. , a large section of dialogue, each character seems to be "talking to himself", and some whole plays are monologues of one person.If some plays, such as "Clara S., 1982), "Castle Drama" (Burgtheater, 1985), "Disease, aka Modern Woman" (Krankheit oder Moderne Frauen, 1987) are still traditionally There are scenes, scenes, characters, dialogue, etc., and some other scripts can be regarded as "prose written for the stage". "Clouds: Hometown" (Wolken. Heim, 1988), is a combination of quotations from Holderlin, Kleist, Fichte, Hegel, Heidegger, etc. and letters from prisoners of the terrorist organization Red Brigade. as one. The protagonists in (Totenauberg, 1991)—an elderly man and a middle-aged woman—are undoubtedly Heidegger and Hannah Arendt, and the dialogue between them is the author's own answer to the political realities of Austria and Europe. "Der Tod und das Mdchen IV" (Der Tod und das Mdchen IV) is five separate works written by the writer at different times, with several female characters as the protagonists (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Rosamund, Jackie Kennedy, the American poetess Plath and the German poetess Bachmann), show these tragic women created by the male perspective and their fate that cannot be saved by the "Prince".With few characters and almost all long monologues or dialogues, the play seems more suitable for reading than for acting.In fact, the writer herself once said to her own script: "The lines are for the theater, but not for a stage performance. The characters are already fully expressing themselves." She also said: "I don't pursue a Characters with flaws and weaknesses whose edges and corners have been removed. What I pursue is polemics and strong contrasts. This is a woodcut technique. I use an ax to hack in, so that the places where my characters enter will no longer grow. Grass.” Ute Nyssen, an expert on Jelinek’s drama, believes that Jelinek’s drama has a lot of experimental elements, in another time and place, to experience a similar background, to specific characters or image behavior The purpose of testing is to determine whether these characters or images can solve the problems they have faced.

After a "catch-up" for a while, I realized that if I only introduced the main novels of Jelinek, it would not be able to reflect the whole picture of this writer with unique creative techniques and diverse themes. The very important theatrical part of the creation was barely mentioned at the time by domestic media and by colleagues in the German-speaking world.I mentioned in a letter to domestic publishing houses later: "We hope that several publishing houses will simultaneously publish Jelinek's works, including scripts. My first impression is that her scripts are very distinctive, and there should be Readers, I think domestic theaters will definitely be interested in showing her work."

In order to arrange the copyright of Jelinek's simplified Chinese characters as soon as possible and reasonably, I have had several phone calls with the heads of several domestic publishing houses since October 11, explaining that we arranged for several publishing houses to publish Jelinek at the same time. The reason for the work: "We hope to reach a final cooperation agreement with three to four publishing houses. It is not a certain publishing house that exclusively publishes Jelinek's works, nor does it give to whoever quotes the highest price. Several publishing houses publish according to their own characteristics. Jelinek's different works are not competing, but on the contrary, they will promote each other, and can also give a more comprehensive display of the writer's entire creation." In view of Jelinek's achievements and originality in drama creation, I tried my best to convince these Publishing houses should not blindly compete for those sensational novels, but hope that they will also consider Jelinek's plays, radio plays, prose works, etc., so that Chinese readers can fully understand her literary creations. "Jelinek's plays have a lot of experimental elements. For German theater directors, it is very challenging to put Jelinek's plays on the stage. I hope that directors in China can also pay attention to it. To Jelinek's plays, I hope someone can move them to the Chinese stage sooner."

In order to make it easier for publishers to choose works according to their respective situations, I categorized them according to "poetry", "novel" and "play", and wrote Chinese content summaries for Jelinek's main works, especially for "play". soft spot.According to the type and length of the script, I proposed a detailed publishing plan: 1 Six "traditional scripts" are combined and published in one book, and these scripts have traditional drama characteristics such as scenes, scenes, characters, and dialogues; 2 Six "prose short plays" were published in one volume. These plays can be regarded as "prose written for the stage". "Self-talk", some whole plays are a monologue of one person, which can be read as prose;

3 Four "prose plays" were published separately, they are "Death and the Maiden", "A Sports Play" (Ein Sportstuck), "Power Station" (Das Werk). I believe that with the help of Jelinek's winning of the Nobel Prize in Literature, many domestic publishing houses will participate in the publication of Jelinek's Chinese simplified version, Jelinek and even German contemporary literature, in the next year, It will be more concerned by Chinese news media and reading circles.At that time, some agencies still expressed their hope for "exclusive" publication, worrying that "the market will be divided up, and no one can do it well", and some agencies were still only willing to publish the few novels that were most mentioned by the media, but later signed The leaders of several publishing houses agreed with my suggestion: rationally arrange the selection of titles and publish jointly by several companies.The publishers and I who agreed to co-publish quickly reached an agreement on the selection of works, publication time, authorization conditions, etc., and the royalties were basically within the scope of the previous German book authorization conditions.Therefore, there was no "suspense" or "variable" in arranging the copyright of Jelinek's simplified Chinese characters from the very beginning. The final five publishing and cultural institutions can be said to have known which books they would be authorized for a long time ago. , some have already begun to brief the media, revealing the specific bibliography, and some have boldly asked the translator to start translating before the contract is signed. , Many publishing houses "loot" and compete on price, and there is no such thing as a Nobel Prize copyright battle that the media imagined and exaggerated.

Due to the business trip and illness of the staff of the German publishing house, Jelinek himself had different opinions on the two drama selections I proposed at first, so it was not until November 19, 2004 that Jelinek's copyright in simplified Chinese characters was finally " The dust has settled." On the 19th, I sent emails to the following five publishing and cultural institutions, informing them that they had obtained the copyright of the Simplified Chinese version of Jelinek's works, so that they could arrange translation work in time.The five publishing and cultural institutions and licensed works are:

Beijing October Literature and Art Publishing House: "Piano Teacher", "Children of the Dead".