«In my books, everything is artificial»: On the Concept of Nature in the Work of Thomas Bernhard

Abstract

Nature is a concept of great recurrence in the whole work of Thomas Bernhard. However, far from articulating a coherent and solid spectrum, this recurrence evidences an often surprising variability, which occurs not only from work to work but within the discourse of the same character. This article sets out to study some uses of the concept of Nature to also reflect on the Bernhardian aesthetic proposal. For this, not only the spatial notion that Nature establishes but, fundamentally, the construction of relationships that link Nature with art and artistic practice will be extremely useful.