SLAVIC MOTIFS IN AUSTRIAN LITERATURE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Austrian literature was formed in the process of forming a multinational state. The mutual influence and interrelationship of different cultures was its integral feature. The Slavic "substratum" (A.V. Mikhailov) becomes an important sub-base of literary works of the XIX century. Fr. Grillparzer and A. Stifter create a utopia of a state in which both Germans and Slavs can live in friendship and harmony. Ch. Silsfield carefully studies the place of the Slavic peoples in the Habsburg Empire. F. von Zaar dreams of popular harmony in Austria at the end of the XIX century.

Claudio Magris e i miti della Grande Austria

The vast extension of the Habsburg Empire, as well as its heterogeneous cultural and linguistic composition, were both the causes of its richness and demise. This gave way to a debate on the specific traits of Austrian literature, which in 1963 was enriched by Claudio Magris’ degree thesis, published under the title Il mito absburgico nella letteratura austriaca moderna. Starting from the assumptions of a Lukacian-style historicist critique, the book ended up offering a fascinating evocation of the cultural world of great Austria. Together with his subsequent Germanic and non-fiction works (Lontano da dove, L’anello di Clarisse, Danubio), this debut book forms a "Central European tetralogy".

On the Reception of the Myth of Prometheus in Austrian Literature of 19th-20th Centuries

This article focuses its attention on the motive of resistance characteristic of Austrian literature of the 19th - 20th centuries, which is considered from the point of view of the historical and literary relationship with the myth of Prometheus. The history of the issue is reviewed. A selective analysis of the versions of the Promethean myth in the Austrian historical and literary context of the 19th-20th centuries, which is part of the pan-European literary and philosophical heritage, is given. The stylistic and genre originality of Austrian interpretations of the myth of Prometheus is proved on the basis of a study of a number of works. The artistic reception of the image of Prometheus in the poem by Z. Lipiner "Liberated Prometheus", little studied in Russian literary criticism is considered in the article. Attention is paid to the version of the Promethean myth in the literature of Austrian Art Nouveau (on the example of F. Kafka's little prose). The issue of conflicting trends in the development of Austrian literature of the 20th century, affecting the interaction of the motive of resistance with the Promethean myth, is investigated by the example of M. Gruber's essay. The correlation of the Austrian versions of the motive of resistance with the myth of Prometheus is proved. The results of the study confirm the significance of the Promethean myth in the Austrian reception of the 19th-20th centuries, which has more pronounced features of drama and theatricality in relation to the European context.

King Rudolf I in Austrian Literature around 1820: Historical Reversion and Legitimization of Rule

Rudolf von Habsburg was a recurring motif in Austrian literature after the assumption of an Austrian imperial title by Emperor Francis II/I in 1804. These depictions were nourished by an enthusiasm for the Middle Ages circulating at the beginning of the nineteenth century and focused on the House of Habsburg and the establishment of Habsburg rule in Central Europe in the thirteenth century. As the ancestor of the ruling dynasty, Rudolf von Habsburg was idealized as the symbolic figure of identification for a collective state patriotism, a depiction that emphasized the historic mission of the dynasty and the legitimacy of its rule in the recently established empire. To this end, several complementary strategies—including divine providence, feudal approaches, classical genealogies, German-Austrian patriotism, and historical as well as contemporary references—were employed in texts to construct the Habsburg dynasty's claim to power in Central Europe. The past described in the texts, however, had little in common with historical reality but was rather an artificial design to justify Habsburg hegemony in the region.

Topos Österreich | Topos Austria

Karl Kraus called Austria the “testing facility for the apocalypse”, but also noted that “the streets of Vienna are paved with culture; the streets of other cities with asphalt”. Hugo von Hofmannsthal dismissed the idea that there was an Austrian form of literature as fiction. In his opinion, there was only German literature, into which the works of Austrian writers were subsumed. In this respect, Austria is therefore not a completely straightforward subject. What remains indisputable, however, is that Austria became one of the trendsetters in German-speaking literature and culture from the 19th century onwards. The book ‘Topos Österreich’ (Topos Austria) thus contains studies from the field of literary and cultural studies which focus on modern Austrian literature.

Ongoing “bernhardisation”: Alexander Schimmelbusch’s novel“Murau Identity” (Die Murau Identität, 2014)

For the first time in German literature studies the article examines the novel “Murau Identity” (“Die Murau Identität”, 2014) by Alexander Schimmelbusch (1975) entirely devoted to the oeuvre and public figure of Thomas Bernhard (1931-1989), one of the most important authors in the Austrian literature of the 20th century. The article deals with the representation of Bernhard’s literary style and his public mask in the Schimmelbusch’s novel. Special attention is given to the Schimmelbusch’s interpretation of the characteristic stylistic, narratological, and semantic constants of Bernhardian works. In the article we reveal two main forms of the Bernhardian word’s representation in the novel: parody and stylization. They correspond with two different narrative plans – first person narratives, one of which belongs to the journalist-character, the other one – to the publisher-character. The detailed analysis of the Schimmelbusch’s novel helps to complement the picture of the creative reception of Bernhard’s works in the 21st century.