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  • Eine kurze Geschichte der Literatur in Österreich by Wynfrid Kriegleder
  • Joseph W. Moser
Wynfrid Kriegleder, Eine kurze Geschichte der Literatur in Österreich. Vienna: Praesens, 2011. 600 pp.

This new history of Austrian literature successfully undertakes the difficult task of defining the corpus of Austria’s literature from the Middle Ages, starting with ecclesiastic writings by Gerhoch von Reichersberg in the twelfth century, to the present, ending with Julya Rabinowich. Kriegleder sets out with the premise that “die deutschsprachige Literatur Österreichs gehört natürlich nicht zur deutschen Literatur,” much as American literature is not English Literature (11). In defying nineteenth-century nationalism that defined a nation as one cohesive language group, the author of this book has set out on an Austrian nationalist project of defining centuries of the country’s literature, which is of course much more inclusive than traditional ideas of nationalism, as the author organizes this history around the subjects of the Habsburg and Babenberger realms with a primary focus on those who used the German language. In addition to medieval Latin texts, Kriegleder also mentions fourteenth-century Jewish texts and anti-Jewish sentiments (46–47) and pogroms in Salzburg in the fifteenth century (65). This is indeed a more nuanced and inclusive approach to examining the history of Austrian literature than one might have found in twentieth-century literary histories.

The book covers a tremendous breadth of literary and historical figures, guiding the reader through the cultural and political developments of Austria. Kriegleder also mentions the nineteenth-century national literatures and figures of the Habsburg empire, such as L’udovit Štúr, who codified and established the Slovak language almost two hundred years ago (237). In the nineteenth century Austrians were more influenced by developments within Habsburg Austria than by events that may have shaped northern Germany, and this book shifts the focus back on Austria and away from pan-German conceptions of literature, while of course the emphasis remains on Austrian literary production in the German language.

In covering the twentieth century, this book candidly covers Austrian writers’ involvement in National Socialism and anti-Semitism, such as Josef Weinheber (367), whose participation in and cultural service to the Nazi regime was ignored for several decades after 1945. At the same time, the book covers exile writers like Theodor Kramer (366) and Jewish authors like Hugo Bettauer (385), who had also been ignored in previous literary histories of Austria. The chapters in the book are less concerned with aesthetic categories, instead following [End Page 191] a historical and political chronology, as for example one chapter on “Die Ära des sozialliberalen Konsenses: 1966 bis 1989” (482–539). This is particularly helpful in guiding readers not familiar with Austria’s history and politics to understand the context in which Austrian texts were created. Additionally, the book also mentions literary prizes and awards as well as literary magazines, both of which shaped the development of Austrian literature.

This literary history is particularly user-friendly, as it highlights important names in the margins on each page, helping the reader to locate a historical period simply by thumbing through the pages. An extensive bibliography and person index make this a remarkably useful reference tool, which will be a great addition to any Austrianists’ library.

Joseph W. Moser
Randolph-Macon College
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