New novel

Thomas Arzt: Teachers in the spiral of violence

(Bild: Aleksandra Pawloff)

There are wars, crises, terror. A new age of violence has long since dawned. Author Thomas Arzt, who has already appeared as a playwright for the Theater in der Josefstadt, takes up this theme. In his new novel "Das Unbehagen", with which he has readings in Salzburg and Linz, he focuses on a teacher who suddenly finds himself in the abyss. He describes how this happens in the "Krone" talk.

Thomas Arzt - an Upper Austrian who lives in Vienna - is one of Austria's most successful young playwrights. In his twentieth play "Living and Dying in Vienna", commissioned by the Theater in der Josefstadt, he recently dealt with the February Revolution and the rise of fascism in Austria. And for the Linz Landestheater he wrote "Das unschuldige Werk", a successful play about the local poet Franz Stelzhamer, which we reported on.

Now he presents his new novel "Das Unbehagen" (Residenz, €26): A teacher is overcome by excessive demands and political dissatisfaction. He gets into a fight and finally loses his footing. On a lonely hike in the mountains, he searches for the source of the violence within himself. What is realistic about it? Thomas Arzt talks about this in the "Krone" interview.

"Krone": What was the impetus for the story?
Thomas Arzt: I came across a case in Tyrol 10 years ago - hunters were filmed brutally torturing a chamois to death. Since then, I've been asking myself how lust and violence are connected. My protagonist - a peaceful, moderate person - suddenly experiences how quickly he himself becomes capable of violence.

The main character in the novel is called Lorenz Urbach, he is an overburdened teacher. Are you portraying a cliché here or what interests you about it?
The novel locates excessive demands and exhaustion, but also hysteria and irritability, in many areas of society. But the book starts in the classroom with a question: "Do books make the world a better place?" asks a pupil in view of the current wars.

(Bild: Residenz Verlag)

Is that a provocation?
Teacher Lorenz Urbach is confronted with the fact that although he has always acted with commitment, everything that underpins a morally intact world is increasingly being called into question. "What have you done about it?" is almost an indictment of the youth. The teacher then sets off and, in increasing despair, recognizes very dark, almost monstrous sides to himself. 

Next readings

February 25 - Literaturhaus Salzburg

March 7 - Theatersaal Schlierbach

March 20 - AKKU Steyr

May 8 - Innsbruck City Library

Reports of aggression are omnipresent at the moment. What current phenomena are you dealing with in the plot?
It's about the loss of certainties and moral coordinates. What we describe as "civilization" is capable of barbaric developments. This is nothing new. We are just experiencing it again extremely directly at the moment. Ideas of violence are running rampant - and they are being celebrated! Those who rigorously show strength, beat others up and rule without consideration are politically cheered. The result is "unease", which manifests itself in the characters in many different ways.

What does the book have to do with you?
All the characters in the book have to do with me and my immediate surroundings. For me, writing often starts with observations - including of myself.