Joseph Zoderer. Relocation and critical re-evaluation of his oeuvre

Joseph Zoderer, probably the most important contemporary South Tyrolean writer, is subject of the present research project in two respects: First, a repositioning and critical re- assessment of his literary oeuvre is to be made. Secondly, its the projects main objective to show which profound insights the scientific inclusion of his premature estate can be provided regarding to the development and the literary process of an author. The project is situated at the Research Institute Brenner Archives (University of Innsbruck) where Zoderers diaries, letters, novels and short stories (available in several drafts) are kept from the note or manuscript to the last amended version including an extensive collection concerning the reception of his work. These materials shall be supplemented by more primary sources still privately owned by the author (mainly poems) and the manuscripts collection located at the Hanser Verlag. This will thus provide a comprehensive overview and a complete representation of his work for the first time. So far research has focused on those works by Zoderer primarily dealing with the issues of alienation, the search for identity and the ethnic conflicts in the South Tyrol (Das Glück beim Händewaschen, Die Walsche und Schmerz der Gewöhnung), while other novels, poems or film adaptations of his works etc. have rarely been brought into focus. This project intends to close all gaps for example by updating and deepening the already existing reception research. Through extensive research new perspectives on Zoderers lifes work as well as on comparable literature brought forth in a multilingual environment can be offered. Due to Zoderers literary treatment of the South Tyrol issue, he got involved in important political discourse and literary trends (critical homeland novel and intercultural debate) but it may be assumed that a partial detachment of the author from these rather narrow contexts will provide new perspectives. A trans-regional contextualization will be implemented by referring to works of other authors in the entire German-speaking countries. Moreover, Zoderers aesthetic instruments, his style and narrative technique will be examined and re-evaluated more extensively than this has hitherto been done. By including unpublished diaries and correspondence the development of the author`s poetics can be examined in depth and understood for the first time.

By completing Joseph Zoderer's pre-mortem bequest with a variety of new material (including correspondence, a typescript of the novel Schlaglöcher, the scripts for the film adaptations of Das Glück beim Händewaschen and Die Walsche as well as material documenting the reception of his work) and re-ordering it, the project has provided reliable archive material and a basis not only for research on Zoderer, but also for research into the regional and supra-regional literary life in German-speaking countries (especially in Austria). The inventory can be viewed for research purposes on the website of the Research Institute Brenner-Archiv (University of Innsbruck) under "Bestände". The project made it possible to use Zoderer's pre-mortem bequest to compile his biography and to reinterpret his works and literary activity. Particular importance was attached to the diaries, which had not been available before. They were transcribed in their entirety (13 June 1958 -16 February 2006) and are available in a 2,049-page text document. The biography, which, like the diaries and his correspondence, provides information about the literary field (Bourdieu) and the space of literary interaction, comprises 113 pages. It is being prepared for digital publication with search functions. The work of the research team and the objective of this FWF-project were communicated to international Zoderer experts at the "International Joseph Zoderer Symposium" (23/11 - 25/11/2015, Research Institute Brenner Archive) in talks and project-centred lectures. They opened up new approaches to Zoderer's work by incorporating the material contained in the bequest and were included in the conference proceedings Joseph Zoderer. Neue Perspektiven auf sein Werk (StudienVerlag 2017, 341 p.). Furthermore, the project resulted in the study editions of the novels Dauerhaftes Morgenrot (1987/2015), Das Schildkrötenfest (1995/2015), Die Walsche (1982/2016) and Lontano (1984/2017), which are part of a complete edition of Zoderer's works published by Haymon Verlag (Innsbruck). The conference proceedings and the study editions of Zoderer's novels were presented to the general public in the context of author readings in theatres, bookstores and libraries in Bolzano, Merano and Innsbruck.