Das begehren nach prasenz in den neueren Texten Peter Handkes

The article offers an interpretation of Peter Handke‘s recent works on two levels. 1) On the one hand, the author explains the significance of mythic figures, as evidenced by the recent works, for Handke's conception of writing, language, time and narration. What is perceptible in the text is an Aspiration that undertakes to realize its identity in immediately present forms. 2) Secondly, the author points to the price that has to be paid for the realization of this identity. The mythic specimen is staged through images that transpose narration and writing as creating sense, identity and presence into the sphere of death, yet neither the texts nor the author consciously reflect this process. At the same time, this interpretation is a critique of Handke's recent work. What is problematic in this work is not the reaching out for mythic constellations but the repression of the sacrifice demanded by the continuation of the story about the subject and his presence.