Semantik und Materialität in der Wiener Gruppe am Beispiel der Gemeinschaftsarbeiten

The Wiener Gruppe marked a turning point in the literature of post-WWII Austria. Its members (Achleitner, Artmann, Bayer, Rühm, Wiener) managed to invent a new kind of literature based on the experimental use of language: linguistic exploration and reinvention characterized their output, in which language does not only have a semantic dimension but also – most importantly – a material one. The infinite combination possibilities of the language are charted. Sentences are systematically deconstructed. Single words and graphemes become linguistic bricks that lead to new visual and acoustic forms, to new meanings. This essay examines the role of materiality in the collective works of the Wiener Gruppe, with particular focus on the innovative use of the writing machine and of its many creative possibilities. The attentive analysis of some collective works shows how the materiality of writing merges with the semantic dimension, thus enabling new textual interpretations.