My inspiration came especially in the 1950s through the Vienna Group founded by writer H.C. Artmann. It showed me that if you want to say something, you have to let the language itself say it, because language is usually more meaningful than the mere content that one wishes to convey.

Elfriede Jelinek

1950s Because Came Content Convey Founded Group Inspiration Itself Language Me Meaningful Mere More Say Something Than Through Vienna Want Wishes Writer You

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Sunday, the day for the language of leisure.

— Elfriede Jelinek

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The smaller a group, the easier it is for more people to argue and enter into discussions. The U.S. is vast. It's too large. The intellectuals hide out in enclaves, in big cities or universities, like a bunch of chickens hiding from a fox.

— Elfriede Jelinek

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My plays are made up of long monologues, which is similar to prose working with the language.

— Elfriede Jelinek

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My training in music and composition then led me to a kind of musical language process in which, for example, the sound of the words I play with has to expose their true meaning against their will so to speak.

— Elfriede Jelinek

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It's interesting that the treatment of historical events by art precedes the civilisation of people through democracy.

— Elfriede Jelinek

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