Austrian Studies and the Disembrace from Foreign Cultural Diplomacy: A Response to the Current Discussion

A contribution to the ongoing discussion regarding the present and the possible futures of Austrian Studies, this essay proceeds from the deterritorialized character of the current practice in Austrian Studies. This deterritorialized status raises the question of how Austrian Studies should understand itself positioned relative to the aims and activities of Austrian foreign cultural diplomacy, and ultimately to Austria itself. In particular, how consciously or unconsciously do emotional and identificatory investments, developed in the course of professional training, create an alignment of perspectives that may be helpful for the Austrian state but perhaps not for Austrian Studies? This paper argues that "doing Austrian Studies" requires that we acknowledge in our own practice the deterritorialized context in which Austrian Studies emerged and operates. It explores the national agenda of Austrian cultural diplomacy and suggests that scholars working in "Austrian Studies" may be at their best when they take full measure of the distance between themselves and Austria.