SOURCE: Wolf, Gregory H. Review of Das Lebewohl: 3 kl. Dramen, by Elfriede Jelinek. World Literature Today 75, no. 2 (spring 2001): 369.

In the following review of Das Lebewohl: 3 kl. Dramen, Wolf compliments the social commentary in Jelinek's three dramas, but notes that without a firm understanding of Austrian politics, “one will not catch their poignant political critique.”

Elfriede Jelinek's latest work, Das Lebewohl, a collection of three short dramas, problematizes the serious political developments and situation in Austria since Jörg Haíder's ascension to a position of prominence in national, indeed European politics. The phenomenon of Haider, the young, charismatic, wealthy governor of the province of Carinthia (Kärnten), has been well documented over the last two years. As the head of the right-wing Austrian Freedom Party (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, or FPÖ), he transformed the party from political obscurity to national significance within a matter of fifteen years. In the...