Die Welt von Gestern und ihre Widersacher : (Dis)kontinuitäten in der österreichischen Nachkriegsliteratur

Abstract

The article The World of Yesterday and Its Adversaries: (Dis)continuities in Post-war Austrian Literature provides an outline of the complex interplay of ruptures and continuities in Austrian literature since 1945 and relates them to the historical context. After a phase of catching up on international trends, the Austrian readership largely leaned towards the literary past (of the Austro-Hungarian and the interwar period), encouraged by the cultural policies of the Allies who – operating on the basis of the victim theory – endorsed a cultural heritage that would strengthen the overall sense of community among the Austrian population. After 1948, the lack of reorganization of the literary field became evident in the dominance of catholic conservative agents who upheld their pre-war cultural ideals, and the reintegration of (lesser) Nazi offenders into the literary scene, all of this to the disadvantage of unknown, progressive, and avantgarde writers, whose publishing opportunities were scarce. The article explores how the new generation's various ways of confronting the past represent significant breaks in this continuity, while becoming a major literary trend in their own right.

Keywords

• post-1945 Austrian fiction
• allied-occupied Austria
• victim theory
• cultural identity
• (dis)continuities
• literary commitment