THE IRAQ WAR AND ITS LITERARY CONFIGURATION IN BAMBILAND OF ELFRIEDE JELINEK

Abstract

Bambiland is an extensive theatrical monologue whose central approach corresponds with Jelinek´s purpose of making political theater, that is to say, revealing the way the media covers up the reality of today's wars that are rather presented as a grotesque parody of ancient wars alluded in The Persians by Aeschylus. The monologue in Bambilands is characterized by a corrosive humour and a biting irony that uses not only classical references, like quotations by Aeschylus and Nietzsche, but also television language or war reports to present a harsh criticism of the invasion to Iraq by the United States. Bambiland expresses a criticism of the war, in particular, as regards the way it is distorted and dehumanized by the media and it also shows how they construct the reality of war in order to legitimize the power of the dominant nations.