Austrian Studies: Literaturen und Kulturen: Eine Einführung ed. by Desiree Hebenstreit et al.

Abstract

Reviewed by: Austrian Studies: Literaturen und Kulturen: Eine Einführung ed. by Desiree Hebenstreit et al. Andrew Barker Austrian Studies: Literaturen und Kulturen: Eine Einführung. Ed. by Desiree Hebenstreit, Arno Herbert, Kira Kaufmann, Rebecca Schönsee, Laura Tezarek, Christian Zolles. Vienna: Praesens Verlag. 2020. 623 pp. €37.80. ISBN 978–3-7069–1057–6. As a token of their esteem, nearly sixty scholars and writers (including Elfriede Jelinek) contributed to this volume marking Roland Innerhofer's retirement as 'Professor für Neuere deutsche Literatur mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der österreichischen Literatur' at Vienna University's Institut für Germanistik. The title Austrian Studies: Literaturen und Kulturen reflects that of the Institute's MA programme with which Innerhofer is closely associated: 'Austrian Studies — Cultures, Literatures, Languages', a course delivered not in English, but German. The links between it and this Festschrift are obvious; the inside cover even reproduces material found in the course description, where it is glossed as 'Österreichstudien — Kulturen, Literaturen, Sprachen'. This, presumably, is to demarcate 'Österreichstudien' from 'Österreichkunde'. Vienna's Institut für Österreichkunde, with its long-standing journal Österreich in Geschichte und Literatur, is located in the same building as the Institut für Germanistik. Particularly significant, however, is the decision to entitle this otherwise monoglot German volume Austrian Studies, rather than 'Österreichstudien'. Inevitably, this invites it to be read in the context of an established field of study that is global and multidisciplinary. The 'Vorwort' fails to address such issues. Instead, the editors assert that 'Austrian Studies' is a discipline still in its infancy ('eine junge Disziplin'), and that that which follows should serve as an 'Inspiration' to further scholarly effort (p. 13). They nowhere recognize that 'Austrian Studies' has a distinguished history with deep roots outwith Austria. The longevity of this journal (1990–) appears to have escaped notice, similarly that of the Americanbased Journal of Austrian Studies (2012–), whose origins stretch back to 1961. Equally overlooked is the establishment from the 1970s onwards of Centres and Institutes for Austrian Studies at, inter alia, the University of Minnesota, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Leiden University, with subsequent chairs elsewhere of Austrian Studies. Writing for The Vienna Review in 2012, Innsbruck-based Allan Janik, co-author of the ground-breaking Wittgenstein's Vienna (1973), advised: 'To Understand Austria, Ask a Foreigner!' Titles matter. Hence the decision to subtitle the volume Eine Einführung raises reasonable expectations of it providing a systematic survey of the topics and approaches that have shaped, for instance, the Austrian Studies journals over many decades. Indeed, the opening lines claim it will deliver just such [End Page 197] an 'Überblick' of the broad spectrum of 'Austrian Studies' 'aus literatur- und kulturwissenschaftlicher Sicht' (p. 11). However, since a Festschrift depends largely upon whatever material authors choose to submit, there was probably little chance of it achieving this goal. Among the contributors, Wynfried Kriegleder at least is happy to concede that in the 1970s American scholars were instrumental in 'Die Wiener Moderne' becoming an internationally recognized concept (p. 153). Few of the essays exceed ten pages, and some appear ephemeral. Both Konstanze Fliedl's consummate summary of the debates surrounding what is 'Austrian' about Austrian literature, and Simon Ganahl's quirky imagined conversation between Kraus and Altenberg, openly recycle material previously published elsewhere. Simply to list the fifty-seven items presented here would come close to exceeding the limited space available to a review such as this. Suffice to say, then, that most are literary or philological in nature, and with occasional exceptions, for example Stephan Müller's Nibelungenlied essay, they relate to the period post-1800. Most point to the authors' schooling in traditional Germanistik, supporting Janik's contention that many Austrian academics still hesitate to cross disciplinary boundaries. The essays are presented in seven broadly themed groups: 'Geschichtsbewusstsein'; 'Topographien'; 'Bürokratien und Institutionen'; 'Rhetoriken und Debatten'; 'Architektur'; 'Migration und Mehrsprachigkeit'; 'Avantgardistische Provokationen und Medienpraktiken'. These groupings are generally coherent, with the exception of 'Rhetoriken und Debatten'. This is a curious miscellany, where Heide Lexe's examination of modern children's literature rubs shoulders with Franz M. Eybl's study of a Baroque sonnet by Catharina Regina von Greiffenberg, this followed...