Albert Drach Works Critical Edition

Albert Drach (who was born 1902 in Vienna, worked as attorney from 1935, emigrated in October, 1938, and returned to Austria in 1947/48) has yet to be given his due place in literary history. Between the two World Wars, he did not succeed in establishing himself with his literary work. No publisher of the restoration era following WW II was interested in his writings from the years between the wars, or in his texts from his years in exile (e.g., "Das Satansspiel vom göttlichen Marquis", most of "Kleinen Protokolle", and his first novel, "Das große Protokoll gegen Zwetschkenbaum"). 1964 seemed to be a turning point in his literary career, when the "Zwetschkenbaum"-novel caused a stir among the reading public. But the mistaken labelling of the author as a relic of old Habsburg-Austrian traditions (conservative and bizarre in the style of Herzmanovsky-Orlando) did not help in the reception of the following edition of his works in 8 volumes. His account of his years in emigration, "Unsentimentale Reise", was considered to have offended all taboos of the time. There was some interest in "Untersuchung an Mädeln" (1971), but then Drach virtually disappeared from public literary discussion for 15 years. Only when he was awarded the Georg-Büchner-Preis in 1988 was he rediscovered, and his renewed attention led to a reappraisal of his works. There were plans for a systematic new edition of his works, but these were not realized in Drachs lifetime (he died 1995). A critical edition of Drachs major literary oeuvre is long overdue. The prerequisites for such an effort are now ideal. Drachs literary papers have been processed in detail and are held at the Austrian National Library. Plans for a new edition in 10 volumes feature not only the inclusion of previously unreleased texts, but above all a critical revision of his already published works. This annotated collection will serve two purposes: a) in the form as an easily readable edition it should make Drachs works available to general, broader audience, b) as a critically annotated edition, it should provide the basis for further scholarly research on Drach. Each volume will present the original texts in modern, revised form based on the new insights found in Drachs archive; the appendix of each volume will include a "narrative" epilogue which attempts an interpretation of the text; a documentary section will provide a critical apparatus, partly in facsimile form, a history of the workss genesis, as well as a bibliography of all editions and secondary literature.

The study edition of Albert Drach`s works in the Paul Zsolnay-Publishing group, which is supported by the science fund (Wissenschaftsfonds), enhanced the popularity of the author immensely. The volumes published to date have already established a sound base for acknowledging Albert Drach`s condign place in the german literature of the 20th century. The concept of a commented reader`s edition has proven its value; it meets the requirements not only of scholarly use, but also of interested readership. Albert Drach was persecuted as a Jew and survived French exile despite many hardships, before deciding to come back to Austria in 1947/48. For decades, he suffered from his eviction from his homeland and the difficult circumstances of his remigration. His estate, which is kept in the "Österreichisches Literaturarchiv" of the Austrian National Library, includes documents of the terms of production and reception, both in exile and in the restoration period in Austria, which largely ignored history. One project collaborator processed this estate to make it prolific for the edition. Besides the criminal protocol "Untersuchung an Mädeln", Albert Drach`s autobiographically based body of work, consisting namely of the novel of the interim period between the world wars, "Z.Z. Das ist die Zwischenzeit", the emigration report "Unsentimentale Reise" and the diary-novel "Das Beileid" is now completely available. A volume of poetry, which for the first time gathers Drach`s broad poetic works, is ready for print. It comprises not only the collection "Entblößungen" (Devestiture, Denudation) from his younger years, but also rhymed poems from the exile "Erbarmungen" (Mercies) and the "Ermordungen" (Murders), where he thematicised persecution by the Nazis in mostly rhyme less, short poems. In the works of Albert Drach, "Die zahlreichen Umschreibungen verlangen nach einem Kommentar" (his many periphrases necessitate commentary; in Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler`s afterword to the edition of Z.Z. Das ist die Zwischenzeit, Zsolnay 2003, p.386) Drach`s importance results last but not least from the fact that in both his autobiographically centered body of work as well as many of his fictional works he developed his own language for the experience of persecution, the protocol style. In the epics, he uses this style to protocol systematically and methodically against his protagonists, who are always also victims. By means of a narrative afterword and scholarly commentary Albert Drach`s unwieldy texts can be made accessible for a contemporary audience.