2004 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Elfriede Jelinek's REIN GOLD
reconstructs the events of Wagner's epic Ringcycle and extends them into
the present day. Originally written as a libretto for the Berlin State
Opera, REIN GOLD is a'buhnenessay', an essay for the stage, structured
in the form of a dialogue between Wotan, father of the gods, and
his favourite daughter, Brunnhilde, in the third act of THE VALKYRIE. The
book opens with Brunnhilde diagnosing her fatherWotan to be a victim of
capitalism because he, too, has fallen into the trap of wanting to own a
castle he cannot afford.
In stream of consciousness monologues,
Brunnhilde and Wotan touch on a number of events from the days of
the Nibelungen Saga to the 2008 financial crisis caused by the US
subprime mortgage crisis and the role of banks therein, and through
Marx's ideas as developed in DAS KAPITAL, written almost
contemporaneously with Wagner's Ring cycle. While rooted in Wagner's
libretto, this sophisticated mesh of interwoven ideas also covers recent
and current events, such as the way world leaders act in times of
financial crisis, or the murders committed by the German neo-Nazi
NSU group. Jelinek offers fascinatingly rich context for current
political debates, as well as some intriguing new ideas, whilenever
straying far from her leitmotif, the birth of capitalism.
Rein Gold - Elfriede Jelinek
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£12.99