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  • Stifter Handbuch. Leben – Werk – Wirkung Herausgegeben von Christian Begemann und Davide Giuriato
  • Vance Byrd
Stifter Handbuch. Leben – Werk – Wirkung. Herausgegeben von Christian Begemann und Davide Giuriato, Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler, 2017. viii + 405 Seiten und 45 Abbildungen. €99,99 gebunden, €69,95 eBook.

Published shortly before the 150th anniversary of Adalbert Stifter's death, Christian Begemann and Davide Giuriato's handbook is an excellent resource for those looking [End Page 544] to gain a productive overview of Stifter's life, literature, and reception. The editors observe that this volume is the first "systematische Zusammenschau der Forschung zu Adalbert Stifter," and they aim to capture the complexity and diversity of Stifter criticism (viii). It certainly is a systematic approach to the author. The first of seven sections focuses on biography and offers an efficient overview of Stifter's family background and childhood, his education at Kremsmünster and student days in Vienna. We learn about his first romantic relationships, his engagement in the art scene, his literary debut and the reception of his works during his lifetime, editorial relationships, and engagement in public education. And, of course, we read about the disappointments, ailments, and tragedies he experienced in the final years of his life. The second section moves on to examine Stifter's works more or less as they were published in their original form rather than in later editions. The editors introduce collections and lengthier works—Studien, Bunte Steine, Die Mappe meines Urgroßvaters, Der Nachsommer, and Wien und die Wiener—by detailing the circumstances surrounding their creation and publication, and they identify overarching themes associated with these seminal works. This introduction is followed by separate two-to-three-page essays by contributors. For example, Franziska Schößler's chapter on "Condor" in the Studien section addresses the story's origins and publication history, provides a concise summary, and then Schößler explains why intermediality and intertextuality, perception and science, and gender have been central to debates on the story.

It is a strength of Begemann and Giuriato's volume that they provide concise overviews for the short stories, such as "Condor" or "Bergkristall," as well as for the long novels for which Stifter is known. The contributors seem to have planned this project to highlight that Stifter is not only important for the literature we now consider canonical. They include contributions on his lesser-known texts, such as Stifter's reviews of literature, theater, and art exhibitions as well as his political and administrative writings. Apart from comprehensive coverage of Stifter's life and work that takes up a little less than two hundred pages, I appreciated that the handbook focused on fascinating themes (music, economics, medicine, the preservation of historic monuments), research problems (architecture, animals, purity/impurity), and included essays on Stifter's writing process, the publishing establishment, his literary legacy, editions, and reception. Readers who take this volume from the library shelf will definitely find the familiar aspects of Stifter's life and work covered as well as somewhat unexpected aspects addressed when they flip through this handbook.

Indeed, the Stifter Handbuch provides an excellent foundation for embarking on more specialized research on the writer. Ease of use is extremely important for such a reference work. The table of contents makes it easy to look up the work, aspect of the writer's life, or subject matter most pertinent for someone looking to draft a seminar paper or essay. The timeline of Stifter's life and the color reproductions of frontispieces, title pages, oil paintings and watercolors, and manuscript drafts are attractive and welcome additions to this volume. The volume would have been even more useful if a more comprehensive Sach- und Werkregister had been provided. That is, which representational media, aesthetic issues, political events, and literary texts are mentioned across the contributions to the volume? One conspicuous feature of the volume is that its contributors are mainly drawn from the excellent research conducted by noted scholars from German, Austrian, Swiss, and British universities [End Page 545] as well as from the institutions and organizations that support his life's work. There are very few references to the articles and books published by scholars...

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