Interdiction [1]
I have given my German
publisher Unseld immediately effective instructions not to issue my books in
Austria for the duration of the legal copyright, in other words from today onwards
until 75 years after my death. This
interdiction of publication applies in every single jurisdiction of Austria and
to every single one of my books.
As the Austrian
government’s interest in me and my work has for decades consisted exclusively
in dragging me and my work into court from time to time, my decision is merely
logical.
For the fourth and
not the first time, I am now being subjected in my capacity as an author to one
of these ridiculous multi-year trials for which the government of this country
is responsible.
Regard for the
state of my health alone precludes me from indulging in degrading and
humiliating trials of this sort, which could never possibly take place in any
other central European country.
Thomas Bernhard
[1] Editors' note: First published in Die
Presse, Vienna, November 9, 1984.
The letter was printed below the headline Bernhard Prohibits Publication of His Books in Austria and the
following prefatory remark: “In a statement sent to Die Presse on Thursday, the Austrian author Thomas Bernhard announced
that he had instructed his publisher Siegfried Unseld of the Frankfurt-based
firm Suhrkamp to cease issuing his books in Austria. The statement, entitled ‘Interdiction,’ is
connected with the confiscation of Bernhard’s latest book Woodcutters and reads as follows:”
THE END
Translation unauthorized but Copyright ©2014 by Douglas Robertson
Source: Der Wahrheit auf der Spur. Reden, Leserbriefe, Interviews, Feuilletons. Herausgegeben von Wolfram Bayer, Raimund Fellingerund und Martin Huber [Stalking the Truth. Speeches, Open Letters, Interviews, Newspaper Articles. Edited by Wolfram Bayer et al.](Frankfurt : Suhrkamp, 2011), p. 225.
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