To the origins
It's with a certain pleasure that we can trace the history of Tyrolean literature back to the Middle Ages, and more precisely to the birth of Oswald von Wolkenstein, around 1376, certainly at Schöneck Castle, not far from Bolzano. His life - an eventful one! - as a diplomat for King Sigismund gave him the opportunity to travel widely, and left the imprint of a singular, if not debonair, personality, who left a lasting mark on German-speaking culture, all the more so as he was one of the first authors whose face we know thanks to the portraits that adorn the manuscripts of his work. The latter, largely autobiographical, recounts his adventures, both real and imagined, and paints a delightful portrait of a man who was fundamentally free, both in what he did and in what he said. It also explores with finesse a whole range of feelings, from courtly love to saucy eroticism, from fervent piety to fiery political commitment. A polyglot and composer, Oswald von Wolkenstein was part of the Minnesang movement, a lyrical song written in German that was very popular between the 12th and 14th centuries. Some of his poetry has been translated into French by Honoré Champion. Then there's Virgil Raber (c. 1490-1552), who, in addition to his talent as a painter, was also a stage director, actor and even playwright, and his colleagues Johannes Ulrich von Ferderspill and Franz von Lehrer, who also dedicated themselves to the stage in later centuries.
However, the most emblematic figure of the 18th century was to be found in politics: the insurgent Andreas Hofer (1767-1810) impressed history with his fight against the French. In so doing, he became the symbol of Tyrolean patriotism, and undoubtedly influenced the intellectuals and artists who would come to define the identity of their region. Beda Weber (Lienz, 1798-1858), a philosophy student destined to become a priest, was one of the most prolific of these collectors. He lived for a long time in Merano, where he taught, before moving to Frankfurt, where he was buried. His most notable and original work consisted in writing tourist guides to his region, the first of their kind. He compiled topographical, historical and statistical data, some of which is still in use today, even if it is said that he had the unfortunate habit of not mentioning his sources. But Beda Weber was also interested in poetry, and while still a student joined a group that published regional anthologies(Alpenblumenaus Tirol). His work thus embodies the dual vocation of Tyrolean literature at the time - pedagogical and folkloric - and is particularly close to that of Adolf Pichler (Erl, 1819 - Innsbruck, 1900), whose passion for geology made him famous for his writings: epigrams, epics(Fra Serafico, 1879) and, above all, stories in which he recounted the landscape and the lives of those who lived in it - shepherds, hermits, hunters and other smugglers - without misery or sentimentality. But Adolf Pichler was much more than just a hiker who discovered the Tischofer cave during his excursions; he was a committed teacher whose opinions counted, especially at the time of the Austrian Revolution of 1848... Much admired during his lifetime, he was coveted by several camps - liberals, German nationalists and even conservatives. On his death, he became the object of a veritable cult. From folklore, literature became patriotic, and two camps emerged: the "Old Tyroleans", like Karl Domanig (1851-1913), who worried about the disappearance of a certain world and appealed to Catholic values in his trilogy Der Tiroler Freiheitskampf, Die liebe Not and Der Gutsverkauf, whose motto could be "For God, Emperor and Fatherland", and the "Young Tyroleans", whose figurehead was Arthur de Wallpach (1866-1946). This movement embraced the clearly anticlerical "los-von-Rom" slogan, and brought together a number of writers and artists, including Rudolf Greinz (1866-1946), Anton Renk (1871-1906), who contributed to the Der Scherer magazine, and above all Heinrich de Schuller (1865-1955), who co-edited the Jung-Tirol anthology in 1899 and went on to publish widely, notably a novel trilogy, Das Land im Gebirge.
Extreme patriotism
In view of the European tensions echoed in the Tyrol, the Great War may not have come as a surprise, but its outcome probably did: the secret agreement reached in London in 1915 - between England, France, Russia and Italy, whose support they had secured by promising territories - became official with the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1919. The advent of Fascism in 1922 brought with it a hardening of the tone and an unrestrained Italianization, giving rise to the "katakombenschulen" (catacomb schools) where children were taught the German language, again in secret. In 1939, Hitler and Mussolini agreed to impose a draconian choice on the inhabitants of South Tyrol: stay and give up their cultural identity, or go into exile in Germany. The Second World War halted the exodus, but 75,000 people still left their native soil. During the inter-war period, Tyrolean writers, such as Albert de Trentin (1878-1933), reflected on this unprecedented situation, concluding in his novel German Bride (1921), set in Bolzano and featuring a mixed couple - a German wife and an Italian husband - that understanding was impossible. Although his somewhat pompous prose has aged rather badly, he was nevertheless the first to explore a theme that would also agitate the work of Joseph Georg Oberkofler (1889-1962), a writer and publisher who would become the spokesman for Heimatkunst and then the so-called "blood and soil" movement(Triumph der Heimat in 1927, Nie stirbt das Land in 1937), two currents definitively associated with National Socialism. The end of the Second World War did not hinder this discourse as brutally as elsewhere, but in the 1950s a Swiss "utopia" began to take shape: a pacifist cohabitation of languages underpinned by a shared love of geography and mountains. This "Rhaetian dream" can be found in the collection Wein aus Rätien by the controversial Hubert Mumelter (1896-1981).
Towards reconciliation
Certainly somewhat calmed by the language agreement signed in 1946 and, above all, by the autonomy granted to South Tyrol in 1972, the latter part of the twentieth century confirmed the desire to put an end to the eternal debate - to leave or to stay - and began to value the richness of multiple origins. Joseph Zoderer's youth is perhaps the embodiment of this renewal: born in Merano in 1935, his parents decided in 1940 to leave the Tyrol for Graz, Austria, before taking the opposite route in 1949, only to be reunited with them in 1952 after studying in Switzerland. The fact that he had lived in other countries, returned by choice and then embraced a career as a German-speaking Italian writer, gave him a certain latitude to tackle the notions of multiple linguistic identities and belonging in an uncomplicated way, although he was criticized for describing the society in which he lived as xenophobic. Since the publication of his novel Die Walsche in 1982 - which also features a mixed-race couple - he has nonetheless become one of Tyrol's most renowned writers, and has been awarded numerous prizes, including the Hermann Lenz Prize in 2003. This societal critique - which often doubles as criticism of previous generations of writers among contemporary authors - can be found among many of his peers, including some who use the dialect, such as Felix Mitterer, born in 1948 in Achenkirch. Renowned for his radio soap operas and plays - Kein Platz für Idioten was a hit in 1977 - he questions the place of foreigners and the fate of the marginalized, in a bid to open up public debate. Another polemical author, Norbert Conrad Kaser, had a late posterity... and a posthumous one, as he was struck down by a long illness in 1978 at the age of 31. Despite this, he was able to express his views against traditionalist groups in the press, often sarcastically, and his poetry - intimate and sensitive - has since been collected, edited and even translated into Italian, the language he loved so much. We could also mention Gerard Kofler, who writes essays and poetry in both German and Italian, as well as Alois Hotschning, whose novel Les Mains de Léonard was translated into French by Lattès in 1996 and his collection of short stories Midi, soir et matin by Libella in 2009.
Although contemporary Tyrolean literature is still struggling to make a name for itself in our language, it is nonetheless vast and fertile. Sabine Gruber, who was born in Merano in 1963 and now lives in Vienna, has been publishing since the 1980s, and has attracted the attention of German-language critics since Die Zumutung in 2003 and Über Nacht in 2007. Perhaps more confidential but highly essential, the writings of Iaco Rigo - novels, plays, stories, poetry - represent the quality of Ladin production today. As for Kurt Lanthaler and Luca d'Andrea, they demonstrate that Tyrolean authors now want to explore other universes: both publish thrillers, a series begun in 1993 with Der Tote im Fels for the former, a novel set in South Tyrol with La Sostanza del male(L'Essence du mal, published by Denoël, 2017) for the latter. Last but not least, Bettina Galvani, who is not Tyrolean by birth but attended high school in Bolzano, won much acclaim for her debut novel Melancholia, written at the age of 17, and proves through her journey that borders are now wide open.
