Elfriede Jelinek's 'rein GOLD' English Translation Recasts Wagner's Ring Cycle as Critique of Capitalism

Fitzcarraldo Editions has released Elfriede Jelinek's 2013 work 'rein GOLD' in English. This text originated as a 2012 essay for a Munich production of Wagner's Ring Cycle (1876) and evolved into both a book and an opera, premiered at the Berlin State Opera in 2014. In this piece, Jelinek reinterprets the figures of Wotan and Brünnhilde within the framework of Das Rheingold (1869) and the 2008 financial crisis. Brünnhilde critiques Wotan, representing capitalism, drawing on Marx and Engels, while Wotan shares monologues addressing labor exploitation. Translated by Gitta Honegger, the text incorporates streams of consciousness and reflects on 19th-century culture, Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy (1872), and Wagner's connections to nationalism and Hitler.