Contemporary Austrian Research Articles

Contemporary Austrian School as a research program: What can bibliometrics teach us?

Contemporary Austrian School as a research program: What can bibliometrics teach us?

The Nation on Trial: Tengiz Abuladze’s Repentance (1987) and Christian Frosch’s Murer (2018)

ABSTRACT: This article compares the Soviet Georgian film Repentance (Tengiz Abuladze, 1987) with the contemporary Austrian film Murer: Anatomy of a Trial (Christian Frosch, 2018), arguing that, through their courtroom scenes, these films put their respective nations on trial. Drawing on scholarship related to the trial film genre as well as on discourse related to law and justice (Hannah Arendt, Shoshana Felman), I show how, whether dealing with the crimes of Stalinism or Nazism, these films seek to confront their audiences with hitherto repressed aspects of their countries’ historical legacies.

Works of R. Edelbauer in Context of Contemporary Austrian Literature of Early 21st Century

This study explores the novels of contemporary Austrian writer Raphaela Edelbauer (Raphaela Edelbauer, b. 1990) “The Fluid Land” (Das flüssige Land, 2019), “DAVE” (DAVE, 2021), “The Incommensurables” (Die Inkommensurablen, 2023) in the context of contemporary Austrian literature of the early third millennium. The relevance of the research is driven by the necessity to comprehend the trends in Austrian literature during an era of global changes. It is revealed that, on one hand, the author continues the traditions of Austrian literature of the second half of the 20th century, particularly on a thematic level (Austrian identity, overcoming the past, the false idyll of provincial Austria, conflicts between fathers and children, etc.), while on the other hand, delving into pressing contemporary issues (transhumanism, artificial intelligence, etc.). The concept of fictionality is central to the analysis, exploring the ways and specifics of its implementation in the artistic text in alignment with the author’s communicative intentions. Special attention is given to Edelbauer’s individual style, the uniqueness of narrative organization in the examined genre varieties (parable novel, science fiction novel, historical novel), and the quest for a “personal” language. The novelty of this research lies in the fact that Edelbauer’s work, distinguished by prestigious literary awards in Austria and Germany, has not been a subject of study in Russian literary studies.

Menger and contemporary Austrian economics: knowledge, institutions and liberalism

Carl Menger’s Principles of Economics was published in 1871, and was a central text in the marginalist revolution in economic theory. From the beginning, however, it was recognised that Menger’s “Austrian” brand of neoclassical economics stood out from the contributions of Jevons and Walras in the marginal revolution due to his emphasis on subjectivism, price formation through bargaining and exchange, the passage of time in production and exchange activity, and the evolution of institutions in addition to the focus on choice against constraints. In this paper, I attempt to trace out Menger’s continuing influence on the contemporary Austrian School of economics in terms of methodology, analytical economics, and social philosophy.

Menger and Contemporary Austrian Economics: Knowledge, Institutions and Liberalism

Menger and Contemporary Austrian Economics: Knowledge, Institutions and Liberalism

Determinism, free will, and the Austrian School of Economics

ABSTRACT In this paper I analyse the problem of free will and determinism as it pertains to the Austrian School of Economics. I demonstrate that despite the fact they subscribe to the concept of causality, contemporary Austrians generally reject determinism at the level of human action, thus remaining proponents of what is known as metaphysical libertarianism. However, as I then show, Ludwig von Mises, the founding father of the modern Austrian School, was probably a determinist. My purpose is to test which metaphysical foundations best fit Austrian theory. I come to the conclusion that the economic theory of the Austrian School is consistent both with determinism (compatibilism) and metaphysical libertarianism (incompatibilism). In light of this, the determinist world-view widely embraced by scientists does not threaten the economic theory propounded by the Austrian School.

Conditions of Democracy in German Austria and Hungary, 1918–1919

Conditions of Democracy in German Austria and Hungary, 1918–1919

Coming to Terms with the Past: The Case of the ‘House of Austrian History’ (Haus der Geschichte Österreich) in the Wake of the Rise of Populist Nationalism in Austria

The Republic of Austria emerged as one of the new states from the rubble of the Habsburg Empire after the First World War. Delegates from German-speaking provinces of the former Empire gathered in Vienna in October 1918 to discuss statehood. Whilst early debates focused on “German Austria” as a nation in its own right, the idea of an “Anschluss” with Germany gained ground, and soon became the prevailing political concept. Nonetheless, the State Treaty of St. Germain (1919) prohibited Austria any political association with Germany, which forced Austrians to discourse about national identity, a struggle that lasted until well after the Second World War and is still ongoing in the Austrian political far-right. Against this backdrop, Austrians embarked on an epic debate about a “national” museum as early as 1919. Recent Austrian history has since seen numerous debates about the appropriate way of visually representing national identity. Contentious issues include(d) inter alia the home-grown Austrian variation of Fascism 1934–1938, involvement in Nazi crimes, the lenient post-war treatment of Nazi perpetrators, issues pertaining to ethnic minorities, and questions of compensation and restitution for victims of National Socialism. Exactly 99 years after the idea of a “History Chamber” surfaced, the first national museum covering contemporary Austrian history opened in November 2018. Regrettably, the debate restarted just a few days ahead of the grand opening at a hastily arranged press conference, in which the Minister of Culture outlined a new concept for the museum. Claudia Leeb (Washington State University) explains these ongoing heated debates about the museum with defense mechanisms pertaining to Austria’s Nazi-past, resulting in the continuing inability of contemporary Austrian society to live up to guilt and to come to terms with its past. One of the major “defense fighters” is the Freedom Party (FPO), a right-wing populist party that briefly joined the Austrian government in 2017–2018 and strictly opposes taking any responsibility for Austria’s Nazi past. This paper addresses Austria’s ‘coming to terms with her past’ in the wake of the rise of populist nationalism and examines the possible future of the Austrian culture of remembrance, particularly with regard to the fledgling Museum of Contemporary Austrian History.

Islamic Religious Education in Contemporary Austrian Society: Muslim Teachers Dealing with Controversial Contemporary Topics

Muslims in Austria have, since 1982/83, had the unique privilege of providing Islamic religious education in secular public schools, including primary, middle and secondary schools. As well as opportunities, this privilege brings responsibilities and challenges to the Muslim community. Since its beginnings, Islamic religious education in Austria has, among other things, been especially characterized by the heterogeneity and diversity of its participants, as well as the general diversity in society and the secular context of public schools. In this context, theoretical discussions about the orientation of and justification for Islamic religious education in secular public schools suggest that for both teachers and the subject itself, an awareness, appreciation and inclusion of diversity, dialogue, multi-perspectivity and reflexivity is required. The empirical study on the professionalization of Islamic religious education, drawn on in this article, is based on Muslim teachers’ own perspectives and experiences. The research findings of that study show how Muslims become Islamic religious education teachers, how Muslim teachers see their roles in secular public schools, how they teach and approach Islam or Islamic topics, what the challenges of teaching Islamic education in public schools are, and other related topics. This article (re-)analyzes used and unused data from the study and focuses on how diversity and controversial topics can be approached in the context of Islamic religious education.

New Perspectives on Contemporary Austrian Literature and Culture ed. by Katya Krylova

Reviewed by: New Perspectives on Contemporary Austrian Literature and Culture ed. by Katya Krylova Helga Schreckenberger New Perspectives on Contemporary Austrian Literature and Culture. Edited by Katya Krylova. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2018. Pp. 440. Cloth $90.95. ISBN 978-304319843. The volume of sixteen essays grew out of the international conference "Contemporary Austrian Literature, Film, and Culture" held at the University of Nottingham in 2015. The aim of this conference was to examine how various shifts in Austrian society over the past thirty years find their expression in Austrian literature and culture. Indeed, starting with the Waldheim Affair of 1986–1988 that initiated the long-overdue confrontation with the country's Nazi past, Austrian society has undergone a number of important transformations. The Balkan Wars (1991–2001) and the collapse of the Eastern Bloc countries in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as well as Austria's entry into the European Union in 1995, led to increased immigration. The influx of migrants caused a nationalistic backlash and the rise of populist right-wing Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), leading to its inclusion in two coalition governments with the conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) in 2000 and 2017. As the editor of the volume, Katya Krylova, points out, Austrian writers, filmmakers, and cultural practitioners, who were the driving forces behind the protest movement against Kurt Waldheim's presidency and his attempts to diminish his involvement with the Nazi war machine, [End Page 221] have continued in this role. They rallied against the populist anti-immigration referendum of the right-wing Austrian Freedom Party in 1992/93 and protested against the FPÖ's presence in the government and against the current coalition's policies. As this volume shows, these political and social events have been refracted in Austrian literature and culture. Krylova has grouped the contributions in three parts, emphasizing their interconnectedness and highlighting points of comparison and contrast. The first part, "Austria and the World: Transnational Perspectives," focuses on works and authors with a transnational perspective. This includes changing representations of the Middle East in postwar literature (Dagmar Lorenz); Ruth Beckermann's recent documentary films, the 2011 road movie American Passages and her 2013 exploration of the European migrant crisis Those Who Go Those Who Stay (Katya Krylova); and Robert Menasse's fictional and nonfictional analysis of the European Union (Valentina Serra). The articles in part 2, "Space, Place, and Boundary Crossing in Contemporary Austrian Literature and Film," analyze ways in which films and texts claim, occupy, and subvert spaces. This includes the adaptation of the Western film genre for foregrounding the injustices of migration policies in films by Erwin Wagenhofer, Anja Salomonowitz, Florian Flicker, and Andreas Prohaska (Nikhil Sathe); the negotiation of both national borders and those between groups in Felix Mitterer's Verkaufte Heimat (Ursula Schneider/Annette Steinsiek), the importance of topography for identity constructions in Anna Kim's novels (Silke Schwaiger); and the destruction of boundaries in the texts of Thomas Bernhard and Ernst Jandl (Lydia Hayder). "Confronting the Nazi Past," the third part, demonstrates that this topic has not lost its currency for Austrian writers. The contributions in this part focus on family novels (Magdolna Orosz) and "Grossmutterliteratur" (Petra Bagley), which examine forms of personal and historical memories. In addition, Robert Schindel's novels Gebürtig (1992) and Der Kalte (2013) are read as attempts of historicizing the 1980s akin to Balzac's comédie humaine (Joseph Moser). The final article offers a convincing, clear-sighted analysis of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra's flawed attempt to shed light on its activities during the Nazi era and restore its image as "national treasure" (Lauren Freede). This volume certainly does justice to its title and it impresses with those articles that offer innovative approaches and nuanced readings of the texts. Particularly successful in this regard is Anne-Marie Scholz's contrasting Ilse Aichinger's autobiographical text Film und Verhängnis. Blitzlichter auf ein Leben (2001) with the tourist industry's narrative about the film The Third Man. Brigitte Timmermann, founder of the Third Man tour, uses the cult film to forge a modernist high cultural conception of Austria that shifts away from the country's collaboration with Nazi Germany...

Katya Krylova. The Long Shadow of the Past: Contemporary Austrian Literature, Film, and Culture. Camden House, 2017.

Katya Krylova. The Long Shadow of the Past: Contemporary Austrian Literature, Film, and Culture. Camden House, 2017.

Katya Krylova. The Long Shadow of the Past: Contemporary Austrian Literature, Film, and Culture. Rochester: Camden House, 2017. Pp. 214.

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The Long Shadow of the Past: Contemporary Austrian Literature, Film, and Culture. By Katya Krylova. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2017. xv + 197 pages + 15 b/w illustrations. $85.00.

<b>The Long Shadow of the Past: Contemporary Austrian Literature, Film, and Culture</b>. <i>By Katya Krylova. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2017. xv + 197 pages + 15 b/w illustrations. $85.00.</i>

Ludwig Lachmann and the Austrians

AbstractLudwig Lachmann looked to the Austrian School of economics as an intellectual space of refuge from the sterile formalism that constituted the academic work of the mainstream economics establishment. From an early interest in capital-theory, he moved to broader epistemological, methodological, and institutional concerns – specifically, from the subjectivism of values to the subjectivism of expectations and the implications thereof for human action. Human action in disequilibrium was his central focus. This paper examines the relationship of Lachmann’s views to the Austrians, those who preceded him, those of his time, and those who have come after him. During his lifetime his views sometimes provoked controversy. I examine this from the perspective of 2017 and the concerns of the modern Austrian intellectual community and find that Lachmann’s views are surprisingly much more complementary to those of his contemporary Austrians than has perhaps hitherto been realized.

New Perspectives on Contemporary Austrian Literature and Culture by Katya Krylova

New Perspectives on Contemporary Austrian Literature and Culture by Katya Krylova

Book Review: Katya Krylova: The Long Shadow of the Past: Contemporary Austrian Literature, Film, and Culture

Book Review: Katya Krylova: <i>The Long Shadow of the Past: Contemporary Austrian Literature, Film, and Culture</i>

The Long Shadow of the Past: Contemporary Austrian Literature, Film, and Culture

The Long Shadow of the Past: Contemporary Austrian Literature, Film, and Culture

The Long Shadow of the Past: Contemporary Austrian Literature, Film, and Culture by Katya Krylova

The Long Shadow of the Past: Contemporary Austrian Literature, Film, and Culture by Katya Krylova

Migration and Space in Contemporary Austrian Cinema

This article is concerned with the relation of migration and space in contemporary Austrian cinema. Based on four exemplary films (Barbara Albert, Nordrand; Nina Kusturica, Little Alien; Ed Moschitz, Mama illegal; Arman T. Riahi, Die Migrantigen), it traces the diverse concepts of space that are interwoven within the discourse of migration. Employing the theoretical approaches of Michel de Certeau and Homi K. Bhabha, the article shows how film can scrutinize dichotomies such as inside and outside, home and abroad, and suggest new ideas of space that do justice to the dynamic, transitionary realities of migration.

Migration and Space in Contemporary Austrian Cinema

Migration and Space in Contemporary Austrian Cinema