Christine Lavant: Correspondence

The goal of the project is to collect and preserve sources whose interpretations are relevant to the personal and cultural context in which Lavant wrote as well as an optimal presentation of her texts both for research purposes and to the broader public. The edition will be in CD-Rom form. The CD-Rom disk will present 1) a critical edition of Lavant`s own letters, 2) those of her correspondents in a normalized form, 3) documentation of biographical references, 4) facsimiles of all of Lavant`s letters, 5) complete commentary, 6) short biographies of her correspondents and 7) a chronology. Two volumes of selected letters will appear in a printed edition. The project has been supported by FWFhe Austrian Research Council since 2000. By September 2001 some 1800 pieces of correspondence have been collected. On these 870 are by Christine Lavant. Roughly half of them are hand-written and half written with a typewriter. Some 300 of her letters and cards are not dated. 1216 of these letters can be found in archives, 591 are in private hands. Christine Lavant`s correspondence includes her private letters as well as those to literary colleagues, publishers and cultural institutions. They testify to Lavant`s understanding of her role as writer and to her mode of self-expression in those periods when she was not writing that she herself termed "poetically dumb". From the point of view of their literary quality Christine Lavant`s letters are rightly considered to be part of her ouevre. Since she left no theoretical writings on literature, the remarks about writing scattered through her letters have a special significance for understanding her concept of literature. Moreover, since she did not keep a diary or other personal jottings, her correspondence is central to any effort to reconstruct her biography. Finally, her letters are indispensable for the dating and scholarly elucidation of her oeuvre. Publication of her correspondence will counter the clichéd picture we have come to have of her as well as making her polyphonous voices audible and object of experience in a variety of contexts.

(KGCL = Christine Lavant: Correspondence; CL = Christine Lavant) The submitted project focussed on the presentation of the text and on the commentary. After a concluding consultation with specialists in the field of editing, the edition`s guidelines were completed (cf. final report P 14110). All the letters of CL were adapted according to the edition`s guidelines; 1140 facsimile-scans were produced, three bigger and several smaller collections are still to be made. The commentary focusses on the biography of CL as well as on the cultural history of Austria. "Monographical zones" supply information on particular fields of interest (e. g. literary events or prizes). Biographies of CL`s correspondents and persons frequently mentioned form a large task to be completed. The KGCL can already offer information for reference books concerning local personalities of note (as well as local institutions). For several sets of correspondence the commentary is already completed. As expected: the more letters at the disposal of the project, the greater the synergy in the commentary. The chronology of CL`s life was enlarged, but a systematical interpretation of all the letters is yet to be done. A bibliography of the works read by CL based on the letters has been begun. As the amount of material available to the project increases the dating of letters gets less complicated. From CL`s 17 letters to the author Linus Kefer f.e., 15 were not dated. Letters of CL to P. Grogger, E. Müller, to the Otto Müller Verlag, to R. Stibill, T. Rübner, I. Teuffenbach, as well as information drawn from the commentary made it possible to date them. At the moment, a total of 1.900 letters to and from 210 partners are available. 1.200 letters are written by CL (not included: the correspondence with W. Berg). One third of her letters had to be dated. The continuing search for letters was successful. In 2002 the staff members of the project received information concerning Werner Berg`s correspondence. This collection was falsely said to be destroyed by W. Berg himself; in fact 500 letters and ca. 600 poems and 3 stories as enclosures have survived. Out of respect for personal rights the publication of this correspondence is not intended. Nonetheless, these letters are an important source of information for the commentary upon the correspondence from 1951-1954, when CL started her literary career. Newly acquired materials throw light on specific situations of CL`s life and work (e.g. P. Grogger: the late 1940`s; E. Effenberger: activities in Salzburg; L. Jorda: stay at Istanbul; etc.). The KGCL defines itself also as a model for cultural historical scholarship: to collect, to preserve, to study, to edit cultural sources are distinct, but interdependent aspects of one working process. The work on the KGCL led to the donation of letters and other material to the Brenner-Archives. The support given by institutions and persons grew into an act of cultural solidarity. Such public relations activities are an important part of the project. The evident interest of the media is considered to be helpful for the completion of the work.