Blicke von außen. Österreichische Literatur im internationalen Kontext by Franz Haas, Hermann Schlösser, Klaus Zeyringer

Abstract

AUSTRIAN STUDIES, 12, 2OO4 Sl3 the death of Edna, themain narrator figure, spreads to the survivors, many of whom have only come to the funeral out of a sense of duty and have forgotten how litde they know about each other. Teuchtmann's study helps towards under standingMitgutsch's novels as a consistent development. It does not, however, take full account of her contributions to literaryresearch, nor does the bibliography offer complete, consistent details. Mellen University, Iowa Brian Keith-Smith Blich von au?en. ?steneichische Literatur im internationalen Kontext. By Franz Haas, Hermann Schl?sser and Klaus Zeyringer. Innsbruck: haymonverlag. 2003. 203 pp. 22,00. isbn 3-85218-423-1. Klaus Zeyringer's study, ?steneichische Literatur 1945-1998. Uberblich, Einschnitte, Wegmarken (1999; 2nd edn 2001), provides themost comprehensive survey to date of post-war Austrian literature.As expected, thework has been well received by authors and scholars alike, especially those fromAustria. It is thisphenomenon ? thatAustrian literaryhistory isprimarily of interest toAustrians ? which the three literary scholars, Franz Haas, Hermann Schl?sser and Klaus Zeyringer, have attempted to address inBlich vonau?en. Because of often exaggerated worries about a 'stilleVereinnahmung' on the part of German writers and publishers, Austrian literaturehas become a relatively self-contained field, removing itselffrom the larger European context.With reference toZeyringer's book, Haas has coined the phrase 'austriakischer Autismus' (p. 7), which provides the starting-point for the current volume. Similarly, Hermann Schl?sser has called for a greater distance between the critic and theAustrian literary establishment. Working from the assumption that, if they adopt a perspective geographically external to the literaryfield, theywill be able to achieve a judgment independent of it, the authors attempt to illuminate various aspects ofAustrian literature from the standpoint of currentGerman, French and Italian debates. Zeyringer alone appears to recognize how difficult it is to draw clear distinctions of thiskind and therefore questions thepossibility of evaluating theAustrian scene from an outsider's point of view. Internal and external perspectives cannot be cleanly separated, as the external point of view does not free the observer from the object of observation (p. 113). Therefore themost that the authors can reasonably accomplish is to seek out those variations in interpretative colouring that are revealed when one operates from the perspective of unfamiliar literarydebates. To aim for anything more seems to be overly ambitious, ifnot impossible. This limitation becomes evident in Schl?sser's effort towrite from theGerman perspective. In Germany, Austrian literature carries the stigma of being avant garde, allegedly unintelligible and esoteric, and it is therefore clearly differentiated from theGerman literary scene, which believes itselfliberated from the pressures of modernism as a result of the post-unification debate concerning the entertainment value of literature.True, theGermans have acknowledged with the award of liter ary prizes the formal innovations and the social commitment ofAustrian literature, but they have simultaneously dismissed these characteristics as being outdated. However, distinctions cannot be drawn so easily, as is evidenced by the fact that a number ofGerman authors, such as Thomas Kling, feelmore at home inAustrian 3!4 Reviews avant-garde circles, and that some Austrian authors, such as Thomas Glavinic, Daniel Kehlman and Kathrin Roggia, endeavour to avoid being labelled '?sterreichische Literaten'. One must also take into account the opposition between avant garde and mainstream, which, according to Schl?sser, is actually about the form of the literarypublic one prefers ? the small, exclusive circles with their ritual celebration of that exclusivity, or the open competition by authors on the free market (p. 89). The attempt to define and divide German and Austrian literature along these lines produces results that are far less clear-cut than theyare oftenmade out to be. In France, the situation is slighdy different, at least according to Zeyringer's analysis, as the debate about the narratability ('Erz?hlbarkeit') of literature had already begun there in the 1970s.Just at the time when the French successfully liberated themselves from the strictures and pressures of the nouveau roman, those modernist impulses, which stilldominate theAustrian literary canon, were coming to the fore inAustria (p. 125).As a result of itsexperimental, avant-garde character, Austrian literature of the 1970s and early 80s barely received any recognition in France, and...