Franz Nabl

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Franz Nabl (born July 16, 1883 in Lautschin , Northern Bohemia , † January 19, 1974 in Graz ) was an Austrian writer.

Life

Franz Nabl was born on July 16, 1883 in Lautschin (Loučeň) in Bohemia, the son of Franz Nabl, the domain councilor of the Thurn and Taxis domain . After the father's retirement in 1886, the family moved to Vienna . From 1891 to 1895 Nabl experienced his childhood in Baden (Lower Austria) , after previous private lessons he attended the grammar school in Baden from 1893 and from 1895 to 1900 the Elisabeth grammar school in Vienna. Returned to Baden from 1900 to 1902, he graduated from high school in 1902 . From 1902 to 1907 he studied law for four semesters and then philosophy in Vienna. In 1907 he married Hermenegild Lampa and broke off his studies. In the meantime he moved to Enzesfeld an der Triesting , was back in Vienna from 1911 to 1913, and in Baden from 1913 to 1924. From 1924 to 1927 he worked as a feature editor for the Grazer Tagblatt in Graz. In 1927 he returned to Baden for a few years, but from 1934 on he lived in Graz for good. After the death of his first wife in July 1937, he married Ilse Meltzer in March 1940. As the nestor of (traditional) Styrian literature, Franz Nabl died at the age of 90. His grave is at the New Evangelical Cemetery in Graz-Wetzelsdorf.

Political orientation

In the 1920s, Nabl oriented itself more towards the anti-urban, ethnic-nationalist camp and frequented the corresponding Graz (literary) districts ("Südmarkrunde"). In 1933 he and many other Austrian authors from the national camp demonstratively withdrew from the Austrian PEN and from 1936 was a member of the Association of German Writers in Austria , which functioned as a pre-Nazi organization and as an information carrier for the German Reich from 1933 to 1945 . After the annexation of Austria , Nabl used the esteem he enjoyed from the new rulers and librarians ( Erwin Ackerknecht ) and literary scholars ( Ernst Alker ) for reading trips and poet meetings in the Altreich and was open to honors and prizes. In contrast to other authors such as Hans Kloepfer , there is no evidence of homage poems to the Führer or a public journalistic advocacy for the Nazi regime . Despite his own self-assessment as apolitical , the author must be assessed as a somewhat opportunistic beneficiary of the Nazi system, who even after 1945 found no clear words about (his own) Nazi involvement.

Work and effect

In his novel Der Ödhof , published in 1911, Nabl processed a lot of autobiographical material - from the problematic relationship with his distanced authoritarian father to the home and adventure world of the "Gstettenhof" near Türnitz in Lower Austria, which was owned as a real historical model of the Ödhof from 1888 to 1901 of the Nabl family. The upper class origins with their appeals to proficiency and rigid behavioral norms, the traumatic childhood experiences of dependency and lack of right to live, the relationship to the feminine that fluctuates between fascination and disgust - all these factors combine to form a family and social tableau based on the tradition of realistic narration the individual development (and failure) of single characters is focused. The catalog of values ​​conveyed ranges from obvious prejudices and ideologizations (women, social democrats, the "rabble") to tolerance towards marginalized groups and outsiders (Jews, alcoholics, foreigners) to bourgeois-liberal attitudes towards religion and marriage. Characteristic of Nabl's “lifelong conflict” ( Peter Handke ) is the mediated contrast between longing for freedom and self-discipline, between space and narrow, breaking out and being locked in.

In 1917 the novel Das Grab des Lebendigen appeared for the first time (later under the title Die Ortliebschen Frauen ). It describes the coexistence of the middle-class Ortlieb family who, after the death of the head of the household, increasingly closes themselves off from the outside world and dedicates themselves exclusively to meticulous, economical housekeeping in their everyday activities. Possible changes create fear: especially the daughter Josefine nips every attempt at contact by the siblings Anna and Walter in the bud, ultimately locks the beloved brother in the cellar and commits suicide when he is freed. The novel, made into a film by Luc Bondy in 1979 , later aroused interest from prominent contemporary authors. After Elias Canetti , Martin Walser in particular stood up for Franz Nabl and his work. In 1994 Walser said when he received the Franz Nabl Prize :

"One would like to urge literary historians to investigate why this book is not mentioned every time the great books are mentioned in German."

- Martin Walser

Stylistically, his prose follows the tradition of the 19th century. In a time marked by great economic hardship, Franz Nabl wrote the "Trieschübel", the story of a district captain entangled in tragic events. This work became the most successful play of the 1920s and was performed on over 80 stages around the German-speaking area.

The rejection of the idyll in traditional homeland literature made the author interesting for the young, aspiring authors of the Forum Stadtpark even shortly before his death in 1974 : Peter Handke, Alfred Kolleritsch and Gerhard Roth valued the strict narrative form of Nabl, which is primarily based on the - often failing - makes self-determination of the adolescent a concern. The name Nabl, which apparently signals the power of integration, seemed ideally suited to Styrian cultural policy to name prizes and institutions after this author: the Franz Nabl Prize of the City of Graz, awarded for the first time in 1975, or the Franz Nabl Institute for Literary Research, which opened in 1990, which is the main focus of its activities From the start, I did not rely on the name donor, but on Styrian (contemporary) literature in general. Especially in the wake of the awarding of the Nabl Prize, discussions about the person of Nabl and the political problems of naming have eased - in his acceptance speech the 2003 award winner, Norbert Gstrein , suggested the renaming to "Miroslav-Krleža-und-Ivo-Andric- Price ".

Honors

Works

  • Again , Drama, 1905
  • Consecration , drama, 1905
  • Hans Jäckel's first year of love , novel, 1908
  • Dance of Fools , short stories, 1911
  • Ödhof , Roman, Styria, Graz 1911; 8th edition, Styria, Graz 1999, ISBN 3-222-12721-2
  • The grave of the living , novel, 1917; later NA: Die Ortliebschen Frauen: Study from the petty bourgeois life , epilogue by Ingrid Cella, Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main / Berlin / Vienna 1981, ISBN 3-548-30128-2 (under this title, film adaptation 1979 by Luc Bondy ).
  • Day of Knowledge , novellas, edited by Alfred Holzinger, Stiastny, Graz / Vienna 1919, DNB 453526519 .
  • The gallows period , novel, 1921
  • Styrian migration , memories, 1938
  • Small open-air theater , Carl Schünemann Verlag 1943.
  • Johannes Krantz , story, Styria, Graz 1948, 1958, 1981, ISBN 3-222-11375-0
  • The Fund , Novelle, 1937. Carl Schünemann Verlag
  • The extinct star. A childhood and youth around the turn of the century , memories, O. Müller, Salzburg 1962, DNB 453526500 .
  • The second home , memories, Leykam, Salzburg 1963, DNB 453526438 .
  • My homes , memoirs, Leykam, Graz 1975 ISBN 3-7011-7053-3 .
  • Character. The oath of Martin Krist. Document . Early stories, edited by Peter Handke , Residenz, Salzburg 1975 ISBN 3-7017-0136-9 .
  • Father's house , Roman, Styria, Graz 1974, 1976, ISBN 3-222-10824-2
  • Master narratives , Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1978, ISBN 3-222-11133-2 .
  • Die Augen , Erzählung, Fisch Taschenbuch, Frankfurt am Main 1990, ISBN 3-596-29329-4 (already published in: Die Augen und Andere Novellen Schulbuchverlag, Vienna 1923 DNB 580800261 (= Deutsche Hausbücherei , Volume 78)).

literature

  • Peter Handke : Austria and the writers (using the example of Franz Nabls) (1974/75), in: Peter Handke, Essays 1, Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2018, 396-414, ISBN 978-3-518-42782-8
  • Kurt Bartsch (Ed.): About Franz Nabl. Articles, essays, speeches . Graz u. a .: Styria 1980. ISBN 3-222-11259-2
  • Johann Fadinger: Investigations into the figure of young people in narrative texts by Franz Nabl. Graz: Univ. Diss. 1984.
  • Giovanna Gobbin: Home and loneliness in Franz Nabl's story "The day of a boy". Venezia: Univ. Dipl.-Arb. 1990.
  • Gottfried Hofmann-Wellenhof: Franz Nabl's novel "The gallows period". An interpretation within the framework of the complete work. Graz: Univ. Diss. 1979.
  • Hugo Keiper: The world of the farmers in Franz Nabl's novel Ödhof . in: Karl Acham (ed.): Art and humanities from Graz. Works and work of nationally important artists and scholars from the 15th century to the turn of the millennium. Böhlau Verlag, Vienna-Cologne-Weimar 2009 ISBN 978-3-205-77706-9 pp. 339–352.
  • Brigitte Noelle: Franz Nabl. From Viennese novelist to Styrian figure of integration. Monographic study, with special reference to its reception. Vienna: Univ. Diss. 1995.
  • Brigitte Noelle:  Nabl, Franz. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 18, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-428-00199-0 , p. 679 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Jan Zimmermann: The culture prizes of the FVS Foundation 1935 - 1945. Presentation and documentation. Edited by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation FVS Hamburg: Christians 2000

Web links

Entry on Franz Nabl in the database of the state's memory of the history of Lower Austria ( Museum Niederösterreich )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A detailed, critical-weighing account of Nabl's relationship to politics in general and to National Socialism in particular can be found in Klaus Amann: Franz Nabl - Politischer Dichter gegen Willen? A chapter in the history of reception and impact. In: About Franz Nabl. Essays. Essays. Talk. Edited by Kurt Bartsch, Gerhard Melzer and Johann Strutz. Graz / Vienna / Cologne: Styria 1980, pp. 115–142.
personal data
SURNAME Nabl, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian writer
DATE OF BIRTH July 16, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Lautschin , Northern Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH 19th January 1974
Place of death Graz