Silence and Citationality in Gustave Flaubert and Karl Kraus

Recent studies have introduced the idea that silence §is not the goal of Flaubert s language but a way to §reclaim language from society. Through study of §Kraus s use of citationality, Flaubert s use of §silence in his citational method becomes explicit. §In both authors there is a clear distinction between §language that is self-aware, that interacts with all §possible meanings; and language that is unaware, §where alternate meanings can disrupt the author s §intention. What emerges is an aesthetics of language §that relies on its historical and literary §etymology, as well as a highly idiosyncratic idea §about the function of grammar that reaffirms it as §the form-giving principle of language. It is thanks §to citationality as understood in contemporary §performance studies that we are able to see the §similarities in Flaubert s and Kraus s writing, §and §much more poignantly, the subversive aesthetic and §political potential of that writing. Citationality §becomes the driving process behind both authors §creative methods - but in a form that, while §coinciding with Derrida and Butler s uses of the §term, is unique to each writer.