Visions and Visionaries in Contemporary Austrian Literature and Film

«As Austria once again occupies a central geographical location in the new Europe, it has become the indicative seismographic site for recording cultural change and transformation. This volume superbly reflects the relevance of Austrian culture in the new Europe, documenting the attempt of its various arts – film, visual and literary – to articulate the exciting changes in the making. Sections on utopian cyberspace and histories of exile, persecution and colonialism point both to future and past legacies that intersect in the present of Austria’s multicultural and globally oriented society. This book can be strongly recommended for scholars and laymen alike trying to stay on top of current developments in Europe’s newly configured cultural landscape.» (Matthias Konzett, Associate Professor of German, Yale University)
«This collection of essays provides anyone interested in Austrian culture with a spectrum of critical responses to the rich and diverse artistic output of contemporary Austrian writers and filmmakers. In their analysis of narrative, dramatic, poetic, and visual works, the scholars gathered here examine literary and cinematographic mediation of significant aesthetic, philosophical, social, historical, and political issues. Readers are offered a variety of approaches to texts/films, clustered around a focus on innovation in form and a focus on topic/contents. The essays situate Austria’s cultural production within a national as well as international context and also direct the reader towards developments in literary cyberspace. The volume is another sign of the lively presence of Austrian Studies!» (Maria-Regina Kecht, Associate Professor of German, Rice University)

The Editors: Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger is Associate Professor of German at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania. She has published numerous articles and books on contemporary Austrian literature and culture, including Out From the Shadows: A Collection of Articles on Austrian Literature and Film by Women Since 1945 (1997); Literature, Film, and the Culture Industry in Post-War Austria (2002), and Modern Austrian Theater: Text and Performance (2002), which she co-edited with Linda DeMeritt. Pamela S. Saur is Professor of English and German at Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas. Her research interest lies in contemporary Austrian literature. She has published translations of Herbert Zand, Legacy of Ashes (2001) and Barbara Neuwirth, Escaping Expectations: Stories by Austrian Women Writers (2002).