Methodologische Überlegungen zum Gestus literarischen Schreibens bei Florjan Lipuš

Abstract

The topic of my research is the multilingual literary work of the Carinthian Slovene author Florjan Lipuš. My paper examines his work from a productional aesthetics point of view within a multilingual literary practice, using the example of the novel Boštjanov let (Boštjans Flug). For the first time, his literary estate, acquired by the Robert-Musil-Institute for Literary Research / Archives of Carinthian literature, is made accessible. It consists of all phases of the genetic history of his literary works, through the stages of his life cycle (notes, sketches, drawings, pencil shavings, manuscripts). Previous studies investigating the writing process lack the aspect of literary multilingualism. From the perspective of the (multilingual) writing process, the literature of Florjan Lipuš thus presents itself in a new light. Writing is not just the act of writing itself but consists of different moments. It is also a cultural process with political and multilingual implications. Florjan Lipuš has received numerous prestigious awards (among them in 2018 the Grand Austrian State Prize for Literature) and his work was translated into various languages. My article, based on the research for my dissertation, addresses the question of how Lipuš’ writing process and his own relation to his work present itself in his literary estate. My article expands the range of the “gesture of literary writing” (Grésillon) by specifically applying it to the crucial social, political and historical tensions of the literary practice of Carinthian Slovenes. I argue that understanding the writing process is crucial to understanding the specific multilingual poetics of an author.