Arthur Schnitzler: Reigen. Historical-critical Edition.

Reigen, a cycle of ten one-act plays, was published as private print in 1900. Each scene features one couple, each character appears in two scenes, and all characters represent different classes of society in Vienna around 1900. In doing so, Reigen discusses social hierarchies, sexuality, and gender. The round dance is introduced by Dirne and Soldat and is closed by Graf and Dirne; the first nine scenes illustrate codes of sexual advances, the sexual act, and lastly the After. Only the final scene is structured differently, merely concentrating on the awakening the morning after. In his manuscripts, Schnitzler indicated the coitus with dots, dashes, and lines, whereas in the first print dashes only were used. The contemporary reception shows that especially these graphical substitutes caused outrage. Reigen provoked scandals like no other of Schnitzlers texts; it became a target of massive reactionary and anti-Semitic attacks and therefore reflects the political developments of the first third of the 20th century. Thus, the text itself, its genesis as well as its reception are crucial to understanding cultural-historical and socio-political developments at that time. Reigen is the eleventh volume of the Viennese historical-critical edition of Schnitzlers early works, edited by Konstanze Fliedl and published with De Gruyter. The FWF has been funding this edition since 2010 throughout three projects (P 22195, P 27138, P 30513). Just like Blumen, the tenth volume of the series, Reigen will be published in print and open access. Whereas the reception history of Reigen is broadly examined, a detailed presentation of the text genesis has not been given so far. The Viennese edition aims to fill this gap by providing an extensive description and examining the provenance of the manuscripts, which were transported from Vienna to Cambridge, then to Berkeley/CA and are now in possession of the Fondation Martin Bodmer in Cologny near Geneva. For the first time, a sheet with Schnitzlers handwriting is presented, confirming the manuscripts ownership by Olga Schnitzler. All Reigen manuscripts are displayed in full scale, accompanied by an accurate transcription. Moreover, this edition strives for a comprehensive reconstruction of the complex printing history and provides a print text, following the private print; variations in editions, published during Schnitzlers lifetime, are listed; minimal changes by the editors are displayed separately. Additionally, the edition includes a commentary, focusing on cultural-historical explanations, Austrian-specific as well as outdated foreign-language terms. And lastly, the annex provides a list of the cycles settings, a historical map of Vienna, a table with key data concerning the printing history, and sample pages from the private print. The open access certification is a prerequisite of the digital edition of this volume and ensures the distribution of Schnitzlers works through a reliable edition.