Die Welt läßt sich nur mit Prosa erobern. Confluenze della lirica nella prosa di Thomas Bernhard

Thomas Bernhard’s early poetry represents a crucial stage in which the author, before the success of Frost (1963), first made stylistic experiments and began developing his original poetics. As a matter of fact, many themes which characterize his later prose can already be found in his lyrical works. Additionally, his revolutionary, unmistakable form appears to have its origin in the repetition and fluidity of his verses. This essay aims to address the aspects of continuity between Thomas Bernhard’s poetry and prose. The materiality of text in particular shows how the first genre flowed into the second one: not only are there strong similarities between language and themes in poetry and prose, but also entire portions of unpublished lyrical texts (or published only later) were recycled and transferred into Bernhard’s initial works of prose.