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Josef Haslinger
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Josef Haslinger on Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2012

Josef Haslinger (born July 5, 1955) is an Austrian writer.

Haslinger was born in Zwettl, Lower Austria. He studied philosophy, drama and Germanic studies at the University of Vienna.[1] He received his PhD in 1980.[1] Since then he has been working as a freelance writer.[1] 1976 to 1992 he was co-editor of the literary magazine "Wespennest".[1]

In 1983/84 Haslinger had a teaching position at the University of Kassel, was Secretary General of the Graz Authors' Assembly from 1986 to 1989, and from 1986 to 1994 co-organizer of the "Vienna Lectures on Literature".[2] In 1995 he was a lecturer at the University of Kassel and wrote parts of his political thriller novel, Opernball (Opera Ball) there.[2]

Haslinger has taught since 1996 as a professor of literary aesthetics at the German Literature Institute in Leipzig.[3] He lives between Vienna and Leipzig.[3]

Awards and honors

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Works

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Prose

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  • Der Konviktskaktus (stories) (1980)
  • Der Rauch im Wald (1981)
  • Hugo Sonnenschein (1984)
  • Der Tod des Kleinhäuslers Ignaz Hajek (short story) (1985)
  • Opernball (1995)
  • Das Vaterspiel (2000)
  • Zugvögel (stories) S. Fischer Verlag ISBN 3-10-030057-2 (2006)
  • Phi Phi Island. Ein Bericht. S. Fischer Verlag ISBN 978-3-10-030059-1 (2007)

Essays

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Editor

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  • Wie werde ich ein verdammt guter Schriftsteller? Berichte aus der Werkstatt, Hg. zus. mit Hans-Ulrich Treichel. Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, 2005. TB ISBN 978-3-518-12395-9
  • Schreiben lernen – Schreiben lehren, Hg. zus. mit Hans-Ulrich Treichel. Frankfurt/Main: Fischer, 2006. TB ISBN 978-3-596-16967-2

See also

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References

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Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Josef Haslinger

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''Josef Haslinger'' is an Austrian novelist and essayist known for his politically and socially engaged fiction that critically examines Austrian history, collective memory, and contemporary issues of extremism and identity. Born on July 5, 1955 in Zwettl, Lower Austria, Haslinger studied philosophy and theater studies at the University of Vienna, earning a doctorate in philosophy with a thesis on aesthetics. He began his literary career in the early 1980s and achieved international recognition with the novel ''Opernball'' (1995), a satirical thriller depicting a fictional terrorist attack on the Vienna Opera Ball that provoked widespread debate in Austria for its portrayal of latent right-wing extremism and societal complacency. His works often blend personal narratives with broader historical and political reflections, as seen in novels such as ''Das Vaterspiel'' (2000) and ''Jachymov'' (2006), which explore themes of guilt, repression, and the legacy of totalitarianism in Central Europe. Haslinger has combined his writing with academic and public roles, serving as professor of literary aesthetics at the German Literature Institute Leipzig since 1998 and formerly as president of the Austrian P.E.N. Club. He has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Erich Fried Prize, the Literature Prize of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and the State Prize for Cultural Journalism, reflecting his influence as both a literary figure and public intellectual. His essays and public interventions frequently address current political developments, migration, and the challenges facing democracy in Europe.

Early life

Early life and education

Josef Haslinger was born on July 5, 1955, in Zwettl, Lower Austria. He grew up in the rural Waldviertel region, specifically in Groß Meinharts near Groß Gerungs, as the son of farmer Rudolf Haslinger and his wife Angelika. As a child, he served as a choirboy (Sängerknabe) at the Cistercian monastery school of Stift Zwettl, where he also attended school. He later attended the public Gymnasium in Horn starting in 1969 and passed his Matura there in 1973. Haslinger pursued higher education at the University of Vienna, studying philosophy, theater studies (Theaterwissenschaft), and German literature (Germanistik). He earned his doctorate (Dr. phil.) in 1980 with a dissertation on "Die Ästhetik des Novalis."

Career

Literary career

Haslinger's literary career began in the late 1970s when he co-edited the literary and political magazine Wespennest starting in 1977, providing a platform for critical essays and discussions on contemporary issues. His first book was the short story collection Der Konviktskaktus und andere Erzählungen (1982), followed by the novella Der Tod des Kleinhäuslers Ignaz Hajek (1985), which established his early voice in Austrian literature. He published the essay collection Politik der Gefühle in 1987 (reissued in 2005), reflecting his engagement with political and emotional dimensions of society. Haslinger's breakthrough came with the novel Opernball (1995), a political thriller depicting a fictional terrorist attack on the Vienna Opera Ball, which became a bestseller in Germany, was translated into thirteen languages, and sparked widespread debate on political extremism and Austrian society. His subsequent major prose works include Das Vaterspiel (2000), exploring generational guilt and historical reckoning in the context of the Holocaust; Zugvögel (2006), addressing migration and identity; and Jáchymov (2011), examining political oppression and human rights. Haslinger's oeuvre consistently engages themes of Austrian history, politics, national identity, and social criticism, often confronting the legacy of World War II and its ongoing impact on contemporary European realities. The novels Opernball and Das Vaterspiel were adapted for film and television.

Academic career

Josef Haslinger began his academic teaching with a visiting lectureship at the University of Kassel, serving as a Lehrbeauftragter (lecturer) from 1983 to 1984. In the 1980s, he also held an administrative role in literary institutions as General Secretary of the Grazer Autorenversammlung, Austria's largest writers' association, from 1986 to 1989. Haslinger's longest and most prominent academic position was as Professor of Literary Aesthetics at the Deutsches Literaturinstitut Leipzig (part of the University of Leipzig), where he taught from 1996 until his retirement in 2021. Starting in 1999, he served multiple terms as director of the institute under a rotating system in which the three professors—Haslinger, Michael Lentz, and Hans-Ulrich Treichel—alternated in the position every two years.

Film and television work

Josef Haslinger's contributions to film and television are relatively few but significant, consisting primarily of screen adaptations of his novels and a single directorial effort. His 1995 novel Opernball was adapted into the two-part television film Opernball (also known as Opernball – Die Opfer / Die Täter), directed by Urs Egger and first broadcast on Austrian television (ORF) on March 15, 1998. The production, created by Satel Film, directly draws from Haslinger's novel of the same name. Haslinger's 2000 novel Das Vaterspiel provided the source material for the 2009 feature film Das Vaterspiel (international title Kill Daddy Good Night), directed by Michael Glawogger. In 2010, Haslinger took a more active role by writing, directing, and appearing in the short documentary Nachtasyl – Die Heimat der Heimatlosen, which examines the lives of Czech and Slovak emigrants who found refuge in Vienna during the 1980s. Beyond these projects, Haslinger has appeared as himself in various documentaries and related television formats.

Activism

Social and political activism

Josef Haslinger has engaged in social and political activism primarily through human rights advocacy and efforts to defend writers' freedoms. In December 1992, he co-founded the Austrian human rights organization SOS Mitmensch, established in response to rising racism, xenophobia, and the threat of an FPÖ anti-foreigner referendum. As the organization's first chairman, he played a key role in its early initiatives, including behind-the-scenes efforts to influence asylum policy concessions from Chancellor Franz Vranitzky in 1994. From 2013 to 2017, Haslinger served as President of the PEN-Zentrum Deutschland, the German center of the international writers' association PEN, where he advocated for persecuted authors and freedom of expression. He returned to the role as interim President in May 2022 following a leadership crisis, with the aim of preparing a new beginning for the organization until a permanent successor was elected in October 2022. In connection with his PEN work, Haslinger co-edited the 2017 anthology Zuflucht in Deutschland: Texte verfolgter Autoren, which collected writings from persecuted writers supported by the organization's Writers-in-Exile program. He has also addressed themes of Austrian politics and tolerance through essays and public statements over the years.

Personal life

Personal life and autobiographical writing

Josef Haslinger is married and has twin children. In December 2004, he traveled with his family to Thailand for a Christmas vacation at a resort on Koh Phi Phi Island. On December 26, 2004, the family survived the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake off Sumatra, which destroyed the resort and killed many others in the region. Haslinger suffered a severe hand injury with severed tendons in his wrist, while his children experienced significant psychological trauma in the aftermath. He documented the survival experience, including the wave's impact, the arbitrariness of who lived or died, and a return visit to the site in 2005, in the autobiographical report Phi Phi Island. Ein Bericht, published in 2007. In his 2020 memoir Mein Fall, published by S. Fischer Verlag, Haslinger revealed for the first time in explicit and named detail his experiences of sexual abuse as a child at the Cistercian Stift Zwettl monastery school in the 1960s, where he had been a choirboy and boarding student from around age 10 to 12. The abuse was perpetrated by multiple authority figures, including monks and teachers, with Pater Gottfried Eder identified as a primary abuser. Haslinger described long-term coping mechanisms such as emotional detachment, self-doubt, and initial reluctance to fully condemn the perpetrators, noting gaps in memory due to repression. The death of Pater Gottfried prompted Haslinger to name him publicly and to report the case to the independent victim protection office of the Austrian Catholic Church, leading to cooperation with the relevant diocesan authorities.

Recognition

Awards and honors

Josef Haslinger has received several notable awards and honors in recognition of his literary achievements and commitment to tolerance in thought and action. Early in his career, he was awarded the Theodor-Körner-Preis in 1980 and the Förderungspreis der Stadt Wien in 1984. In 2000, he received the Literaturpreis der Stadt Wien and the Ehrenpreis des österreichischen Buchhandels für Toleranz in Denken und Handeln. Further distinctions include his appointment as Mainzer Stadtschreiber in 2010. He was awarded the Rheingau Literatur Preis in 2011 for his novel Jáchymov, which was praised for its politically astute and aesthetically reflective connection of historical themes. In 2017, he received the Goldenes Verdienstzeichen des Landes Wien.

References

  1. https://www.onb.ac.at/sammlungen/literaturarchiv/bestaende/personen/haslinger-josef-geb-1955
  2. https://agso.uni-graz.at/archive/marienthal/biografien/haslinger_josef.htm
  3. https://www.noen.at/niederoesterreich/gesellschaft/pioniere-aus-noe-josef-haslinger-ein-kritiker-seiner-zeit-niederoesterreich-print-100-jahre-niederoesterreich-pioniere-aus-noe-josef-haslinger-337593723
  4. https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/Josef_Haslinger
  5. https://www.fischerverlage.de/autor/josef-haslinger-1000148
  6. https://iwp.uiowa.edu/writers/2005-resident/josef-haslinger
  7. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00138398.2015.1083201
  8. https://austria-forum.org/af/AustriaWiki/Josef_Haslinger
  9. https://www.literaturhaus-graz.at/mitwirkende/josef-haslinger/
  10. https://www.deutsches-literaturinstitut.de/institut/institutsgeschichte
  11. https://www.bundesakademie.de/akademie/dozent-innen/details/dozent/josef-haslinger
  12. https://www.satel.at/en/opernball/
  13. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0129277/
  14. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1031290/
  15. https://www.glawogger.com/das-vaterspiel.html
  16. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11199116/
  17. https://www.boerhaavegasse.at/hauptsache-literatur-im-gespraech-mit-josef-haslinger/
  18. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0368247/
  19. https://www.sosmitmensch.at/50-erfolge-seit-dem-lichtermeer
  20. https://pen-deutschland.de/pen-geschichte/
  21. https://www.dw.com/de/josef-haslinger-interims-pr%C3%A4sident-des-pen/a-61798815
  22. https://www.fischerverlage.de/buch/zuflucht-in-deutschland-9783596298006
  23. https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/austria/haslinj.htm
  24. https://orf.at/stories/3152008/
  25. https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/josef-haslinger-mein-fall-missbraucht-als-klosterschueler-100.html
  26. https://www.feuilletonfrankfurt.de/2011/10/12/rheingau-literatur-preis-2011-fur-josef-haslinger/
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