Renate Welsh: Author – Austria

Any historical narrative should not only look back but can also be a signal from the past for the presence: the help to understand the presence in more detail and with greater awareness, to become more sharply aware of the things that have come to be and to see their contours better

R. Welsh

renate welsh, born in Vienna in 1937, belongs to a generation of writers who grew up during World War II and the post-war era. The memories and experiences of that time forms the basis of an oeuvre which continuously uncovers mechanisms of power and suppression—demanding independent thinking and acting, the responsibility of individuals, moral courage, and integrity as well as the intention not to forget the past. With narratives such as Johanna, In die Waagschale geworfen (Put Your Thumb on the Scales), Besuch aus der Vergangenheit (A Visit from the Past), and Dieda oder Das fremde Kind (That Girl or The Strange Child), Renate Welsh has made contemporary history—which she has either experienced herself or researched meticulously—something the reader can experience as well.

Welsh focuses on children’s social reality: family crises and social injustice, illnesses, social exclusion, violence at home and at school, isolation, and identity conflicts are depicted with remarkable honesty. Her books are highly ethical while making do without any preaching qualities. Her greatest strength is possibly the literary transformation of authentic experiences. An excellent example of this is Johanna, which is based on conservations she had with the real person over a number of years. The story is set in the Austria of the thirties (1931 through 1936), the time between the wars, which was characterized by political instability, poverty, unemployment, and the rise of National Socialism.

Renate Welsh sees the inner development of a young person as a “hurdle race into the future,” which is one of the key ideas in her literary conception of youth. One of the greatest hurdles in an individual’s search for his or her identity is, needless to say, the individual itself. In ever fresh variants, Welsh describes the “Homelessness” of her main characters who, feeling useless and isolated, withdraw into themselves.

A final characteristic feature of Welsh’s style is the enormous wealth of detail making up the reality that she describes. In conveying moods and statements, Welsh does not rely on explicit descriptions but focuses instead on items of seemingly secondary importance which are joined together to create an even more effective picture. It is a style that is somehow reminiscent of film settings in which much remains unspoken but everything is said.