A History of Austrian Literature 1918-2000

by Katrin Kohl (Editor), Ritchie Robertson (Editor), Allyson Fiddler (Contribution by), Anthony Bushell (Contribution by), Dagmar C. G. Lorenz (Contribution by)

Overview

New essays examine 20th-c. Austrian literature in relation to history, politics, and popular culture.

20th-century Austrian literature boasts many outstanding writers: Schnitzler, Musil, Rilke, Kraus, Celan, Canetti, Bernhard, Jelinek. These and others feature in broader accounts of German literature, but it is desirable to see how the Austrian literary scene — and Austrian society itself — shaped their writing. This volume thus surveys Austrian writers of drama, prose fiction, and lyric poetry; relates them to the distinctive history of modern Austria,a democratic republic that was overtaken by civil war and authoritarian rule, absorbed into Nazi Germany, and re-established as a neutral state; and examines their response to controversial events such as the collusion with Nazism, the Waldheim affair, and the rise of Haider and the extreme right. In addition to confronting controversy in the relations between literature, history, and politics, the volume examines popular culture in line with current trends.

Contributors: Judith Beniston, Janet Stewart, Andrew Barker, Murray Hall, Anthony Bushell, Dagmar Lorenz, Juliane Vogel, Jonathan Long, Joseph McVeigh, Allyson Fiddler.

Katrin Kohl is Lecturer in German and a Fellow of Jesus College, and Ritchie Robertson is Taylor Professor of German and a Fellow of The Queen's College, both at the University of Oxford.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781571134783
Publisher:	BOYDELL & BREWER INC
Publication date:	11/01/2010
Series:	Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture , #91
Pages:	366
Sales rank:	522,499
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Katrin Kohl is a Lecturer in German and a Fellow of Jesus College at the University of Oxford.

Ritchie Robertson is a Professor of German and a Fellow of St. John's College at the University of Oxford.

Table of Contents

Introduction - Katrin Kohl and Ritchie Robertson
Drama in Austria, 1918-45 - Judith Beniston
Austrian Prose Fiction, 1918-45 - Ritchie Robertson
Publishers and Institutions in Austria, 1918-45 - Murray G. Hall
Popular Culture in Austria: Cabaret and Film, 1918-45 - Janet Stewart
The Politics of Austrian Literature, 1927-56 -
Austrian Poetry, 1918-2000 - Katrin Kohl
Writing in Austria after 1945: The Political, Institutional, and Publishing Context - Anthony Bushell
Austrian Responses to National Socialism and the Holocaust - Dagmar C. G. Lorenz
Drama in Austria, 1945-2000 - Juliane Vogel
Austrian Prose Fiction, 1945-2000 - Jonathan Long
Popular Culture in Austria, 1945-2000 - Joseph McVeigh
Shifting Boundaries: Responses to Multiculturalism at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century - Allyson Fiddler
Further Reading
Notes on Contributors
Index

Editorial Reviews

[A] fine volume of Austrian literary and cultural history in the post-Habsburg era.... This text needs to be on the reading list of any seminar in Austrian literature in the Anglophone world.... It offers the rare pleasure of balance, clear prose, and a clear narrative line, as well as scholarly erudition.

MONATSHEFTE

This lucid, informative collection offers students and scholars of Austrian Studies an immensely useful and insightful resource.

GERMAN STUDIES REVIEW

[G]eneral pieces range over publishers and institutions; the politics of Austrian literature; Austrian poetry; the political, institutional and publishing context since the Second World War; responses to National Socialism and the Holocaust; and to multiculturalism at the start of the new century. The expert contributors are supported by a generous editorial policy, with a table of key dates and a deft introductory chapter.

FORUM FOR MODERN LANGUAGE STUDIES

The Kohl-Robertson volume should definitely be on the 'must-purchase' list of any university library. Beyond that, German Studies departments would be well advised to put the title on their graduate students' reading lists....

MODERN LANGUAGE REVIEW

Looking at genres and the complex cultural climate of the period after WWI, the contributors not only treat drama, prose fiction, popular culture, and poetry but also look specifically at such subjects as the paucity of publishers in Austria up to 1945, politics from 1927 to 1956, National Socialism and the Holocaust, and responses to multiculturalism at the turn of the 21st century.

CHOICE

This work represents a fresh perspective on inquiries into the nature and reception of Austrian literature of the last century.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVIEW

The Kohl-Robertson volume should definitely be on the "must-purchase" list of any university library. Beyond that, German Studies departments would be well advised to put the title on their graduate students' reading lists.... MODERN LANGUAGE REVIEW

This lucid, informative collection offers students and scholars of Austrian Studies an immensely useful and insightful resource. GERMAN STUDIES REVIEW

This work represents a fresh perspective on inquiries into the nature and reception of Austrian literature of the last century. ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVIEW

Looking at genres and the complex cultural climate of the period after WWI, the contributors not only treat drama, prose fiction, popular culture, and poetry but also look specifically at such subjects as the paucity of publishers in Austria up to 1945, politics from 1927 to 1956, National Socialism and the Holocaust, and responses to multiculturalism at the turn of the 21st century. CHOICE

[G]eneral pieces range over publishers and institutions; the politics of Austrian literature; Austrian poetry; the political, institutional and publishing context since the Second World War; responses to National Socialism and the Holocaust; and to multiculturalism at the start of the new century. The expert contributors are supported by a generous editorial policy, with a table of key dates and a deft introductory chapter. FORUM FOR MODERN LANGUAGE STUDIES

[A] fine volume of Austrian literary and cultural history in the post-Habsburg era.... This text needs to be on the reading list of any seminar in Austrian literature in the Anglophone world.... It offers the rare pleasure of balance, clear prose, and a clear narrative line, as well as scholarly erudition. MONATSHEFTE

From the Publisher