Austrian Studies Today ed. by Günter Bischof and Ferdinand Karlhofer (review)

This volume of the series “Contemporary Austrian Studies,” published out of the Universities of New Orleans and Innsbruck, marks a departure in that it does not take a new theme as its guide but rather revisits earlier themes in the series. Each of the previous twenty-four volumes’ studies have been updated by an original contribution, with the result that some of the top historians and political scientists working on Austrian subjects today are responsible for the essays in this latest edition. The result is an exciting tour of Austrian and American scholarship, with some Canadian and English voices mixed in as well.

Austrian Studies Today does not claim to be a total overview, nor does it engage in cultural studies (literature, film, fine arts). Instead, it is a tour of the “top questions” of historians and social scientists over the last quarter-century. It is particularly strong in the entries on Austrian politics and Austria’s diplomatic and business profile in Europe. These are balanced, almost perfectly, with submissions on twentieth-century history and culture. The result is a clear sense of place and identity, even when the articles are critical of the Austrian past or present. Best of all, each essay comes with an invaluable bibliography that provides the latest scholarship in English and German—in some cases scholarship that has not even been published yet—for readers who want to pursue the topic further.

For whom is this book designed? Certainly, for a scholar of Austrian history or literature, this book offers a welcome primer of political issues and current debates that might enliven one’s scholarship or classroom conversations or deepen one’s understanding of the “hard facts” that undergird the soft contours of Austrian culture. Conversely, one could imagine a political scientist perusing with personal interest some of the more specialized essays in Austrian culture—Dagmar Herzog on sexuality in Austria or Charles Maier on the challenges of memory and museums. Yet the fact remains that very few undergraduates have the knowledge base to appreciate the significant work that this book represents—or oftentimes also the curiosity about obscure little Austria to open it up in the first place. The editors of the book suggest that understanding what “Austrian Studies” might include could best be achieved by “looking to the better-defined field of American Studies” (13). This is an interesting, yet quixotic, thought experiment. If by this the editors mean that their book is interdisciplinary and future- oriented, then perhaps the comparison works. And perhaps in Austria there is such a thing as “Austrian Studies” available to undergraduates. However, the thought of such a major or minor succeeding in the US elicits only a rueful smile from this scholar, who occasionally has trouble getting her students to find the country on a map. The mission of the series, as described in the introduction, includes defining an Austrian identity as one separate from German studies. Here the current volume is surely on solid ground. These essays reveal a unique culture and political landscape that, while in dialogue with a larger Europe, certainly stands on its own.

The essays in Austrian Studies Today fly at the reader with very little hint at their organization (it turns out they are arranged in the order that they were originally published as stand-alone editions). It would have been perhaps helpful to arrange them according to subject matter—cultural history, political biographies, contemporary concerns—but it is also pleasant to browse through them as they stand, mixing history and politics at will. The reader is sure to nod in appreciation of the occasional essay on a subject close to one’s heart as well as learn from essays that will introduce one to new facets of the country. Austrian Studies Today is a boon to scholars looking to freshen their grasp on Austria and deepen their appreciation for its politics and culture.

Although there is a thoughtful...