The Hybrid Poetological Model in Peter Handke's Work: Intertextuality, Language Innovation and Cultural Border Crossings

Authors

  • Miša Glišič *

    Department of German Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55121/card.v5i2.679

Keywords:

Peter Handke, Literary Theory, Hybrid Poetics, Cultural Border Crossings, Transculturality

Abstract

This article presents an innovative, Hybrid Poetological Model for analyzing the works of Peter Handke. Drawing on Julia Kristeva’s “Revolution of Poetic Language”, it integrates linguistic, visual and semiotic elements to interpret Handke’s intricate aesthetic and cultural expressions. Focusing on intertextuality, the model examines the interaction between two language registers: the semiotic, which encompasses rhythm, sound, figurative language, and unconventional structures, and the symbolic, which reflects social norms, cultural identities, and historical contexts. The model emphasizes that this interplay is essential for comprehending Handke’s linguistic innovations, particularly his exploration of hybridity through visual and semiotic influences. Handke’s adoption of Hölderlin’s meditations on nature and Cézanne’s painterly fragmentation translates visual techniques into poetic textures, challenging traditional boundaries and creating layered narratives across cultural spaces. His adoption of American semiotics further expands aesthetic possibilities by employing sign-based frameworks. Since the late 1980s, Handke’s stylistic innovations, such as fragmentation, minimalism and meta-poetry, have demonstrated a radical shift towards experimental and avantgarde practices. This interdisciplinary study aims to analyze Handke’s texts, offering new interpretive perspectives that emphasize critique and reflection. The model emphasizes the interconnectedness of aesthetic, social and cultural dimensions, aligning with Kristeva’s vision of poetic revolution. This transdisciplinary approach can be applied to other authors, thereby enriching our understanding of modern literary aesthetics and cultural negotiations.

References

[1] Kristeva, J., 1974. The Revolution of Poetic Language. Suhrkamp Publishing: Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (in German)

[2] Kristeva, J., 1980. World, Dialogue, and Novel. In: Roudiez, L.S. (ed.)., Gora, T., Jardine, A., Roudiez, L.S. (trans.). Desire in Language. A Semiotic Approach to Literature and Art. Basil Blackwell: Oxford, UK. pp. 65–91.

[3] Lotman, J., 2021. The Inner World of Thought. Suhrkamp Publishing: Berlin, Germany. (in German)

[4] Handke, P., 2019. The Lesson of Mont Sainte-Victoire, 10th ed. Suhrkamp Publishing: Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (in German)

[5] Handke, P., 2012. Repetition. Suhrkamp Publishing: Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (in German)

[6] Handke, P., 2002. Crossing the Sierra de Gredos. Suhrkamp Publishing: Berlin, Germany. (in German)

[7] Handke, P., 2009. The Moravian Night. Suhrkamp Publishing: Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (in German)

[8] Handke, P., 2012. Storm Still. Suhrkamp Publishing: Berlin, Germany. (in German)

[9] Kim, K., 2020. A Promenadology of the Antihero in Literature: Narrative Texts by Joseph von Eichendorff, Robert Walser, Thomas Bernhard, Peter Handke, and Wilhelm Genazino. Peter Lang Publishing: Berlin, Germany. (in German)

[10] Pähler, A., 2021. Cultural Policy for a Pluralistic Society: Reflections on Cultural Boundaries and Spaces in Between. Transcript Publishing: Bielefeld, Germany. (in German)

[11] Mecklenburg, N., 2021. Interheads and Transheads: Interculturality and Transculturality from a Cultural Theory and Literary Studies Perspective. In: Engelbrecht, M., Ociepa-Joachimsthaler, G. (eds.). Transculturality/Interculturality. Peter Lang Publishing: Berlin, Germany. pp. 11–28. (in German)

[12] Holdenried, M., 2022. Intercultural Literary Studies: An Introduction. J. B. Metzler Publishing: Berlin, Germany. (in German)

[13] Krstanović, A., 2021. Peter Handke. On the Path to Storytelling, 1st ed. Tectum Scientific Publishing: Baden-Baden, Germany. (in German)

[14] Patrut, I.-K., Hofmann, M., 2015. Introduction to Intercultural Literature. WBG: Darmstadt, Germany. (in German)

[15] Nünning, V., Nünning, A., (eds.). 2010. Methods of Literary and Cultural Studies Text Analysis: Approaches — Fundamentals — Model Analyses. J. B. Metzler Publishing: Stuttgart, Germany. (in German)

[16] Mecklenburg, N., 2003.Intercultural Literary Studies. In: Wierlacher, A., Bogner, A. (eds.). Handbook of Intercultural German Studies. J. B. Metzler Publishing: Stuttgart, Germany. pp. 433–439. (in German)

[17] Opacki, I., 2000. Royal Genres. In: Duff, D. (ed.). Modern Genre Theory, 1st ed. Routledge: London, UK. pp. 118–126.

[18] Renner, R.G., 2020. Peter Handke. Narrative Worlds – Arrangements of Images, 1st ed. J. B. Metzler Publishing: Berlin, Germany. (in German)

[19] Brady, M., Leal, J., 2011. Wim Wenders and Peter Handke. Collaboration, Adaptation, Recomposition. Rodopi: Amsterdam, Netherlands.

[20] Durzak, M., 1982. Peter Handke and Contemporary German Literature: Narcissus Gone Astray: Language and Literature. W. Kohlhammer Publishing: Stuttgart, Germany. (in German)

[21] Krstanović, A., 2020. Authentizität und Fiktionalisierung: Narrative Überlegungen zu Peter Handke Erzählung “Wünschloses Unglück” (Authenticity and Fictionalization: Narrative Considerations on Peter Handke's Story “A Sorrow Beyond Dreams”. In: Höller, H., Leitgeb, C., Rössner, M. (eds.). Language Arts—Contributions to Literary Studies, Volume L/2019. Austrian Academy of Sciences: Wien, Austria. pp. 231–254. (in German)

[22] Renner, G., 1985. Peter Handke. Springer: Stuttgart, Germany. (in German)

[23] Borovnik, S., 2021. Slovenian identity in the literary work of Peter Handke. Interface German Studies. 1(1), 197–212. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33675/SGER/2021/1/13 (in German)

[24] Amann, K., 2006. Peter Handke's Poetics of Obtuseness. In: Hafner, F. (ed.). The Poetry of Margins. Böhlau Publishing: Wien, Austria. pp. 239–252. (in German)

[25] Hafner, F., 1993. Expeditions to the Ninth Country, Slovenia, and the Slovenes in the Works of Peter Handke. In:Fuchs, G., Melzer, G. (eds.). Peter Handke: The Slowness of the World. Literaturverlag Droschl: Graz, Austria. pp. 215–228. (in German)

[26] Hafner, F., 2006. The Absence of the Other: Slovenia, Slovenians, and Slovenian in the Work of Peter Handke) [Doctoral Dissertation]. Alpen-Adriatic University: Klagenfurt, Austria. (in German)

[27] Hafner, F., 2008. Peter Handke. On the Way to the Ninth Country, 1st ed. Paul Zsolnay Publishing: Wien, Austria. (in German)

[28] Hafner, F., 2014. Oha, Svinec! Peter Handke and the Slovenians: Speech at the Presentation of the 2013 Einspielerpreis Award. Hermagoras Publishing: Klagenfurt, Austria. (in German)

[29] Bachtin, M., 1979. Die Ästhetik des Wortes (The Aesthetics of the Word), 1st ed. Suhrkamp Publishing: Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (in German)

[30] Bhabha, H.K., 2000. The Location of Culture. Stauffenburg Publishing: Tübingen, Germany. (in German)

[31] Said, E., 2017. Orientalism, 5th ed. S. Fischer Publishing: Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (in German)

[32] Welsch, W., 2009. What exactly is Transculturality? In: Darowska, L., Lüttenberg, T., Machold, C. (eds.). The University as a Transcultural Space? Contributions to Culture, Education and Difference. Transcript Publishing: Bielefeld, Germany. pp. 39–66. (in German)

[33] Polster, H., 2019. Memphis is a Measure of Time: Peter Handke's Slow Reading of the Present. In: Carstensen, T. (ed.). The Daily Scripture: Peter Handke as a Reader. Transcript Publishing: Bielefeld, Germany. pp. 51–67. (in German)

[34] Czeglédy, A., 2022. Being in Language — Peter Handke and Márton Kalász. Poetic Constructions of Identity from Central Europe. In: Patrut, I.-K., Rössler, R., Schiewer, G.L. (eds.). For a Europe of Transitions. Transcript Publishing: Bielefeld, Germany. pp. 42–56. (in German)

[35] Welsch, W., 2020. Transculturality: Reality and Task. In: Giessen, H.W., Rink, C. (eds.). Migration, Diversity, and Cultural Identities — Perspectives from Social and Cultural Studies. Springer: Berlin, Germany. pp. 3–17. (in German)

[36] Hodel, A., 2020. Romanticism — Beyond the National. Böhlau Publishing: Wien, Austria. (in German)

[37] Erfurt, J., 2021. Transculturality — Processes and Perspectives. Narr Francke Attempo Publishing: Tübingen, Germany. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/rdlc.11979 (in German)

[38] Kohns, O., 2019. Intrinsic Intertextuality in Peter Handke: Self-Quotation, Self-Continuation, Self-Commentary, and Self-Parody. In: Carstensen, T. (ed.). The Daily Writing: Peter Handke as a Reader. Transcript Publishing: Bielefeld, Germany. pp. 231–242. (in German)

[39] Krstanović, A., 2020. The Narrative Techniques in The Left-Handed Woman. Facta Universitatis: Series: Linguistics and Literature. 18(2), 207–221. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22190/FULL2002207K (in German)

[40] Foucault, M., 2021. Heterotopias: The Utopian Body. Suhrkamp Publishing: Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (in German)

Downloads

How to Cite

Glišič, M. (2025). The Hybrid Poetological Model in Peter Handke’s Work: Intertextuality, Language Innovation and Cultural Border Crossings. Cultural Arts Research and Development, 5(2), 132–144. https://doi.org/10.55121/card.v5i2.679

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.