CALL FOR PAPERS
Annual International Symposium on Modern Austrian Literature and Culture

The conference will seek to address the role that Austria plays and historically has played in Central Europe - and beyond. This topic is open for cultural, literary, and political analysis within a historical or contemporary context. Discussion points could include:

• Literature (past and contemporary authors/works): What is the legacy of post-Empire reality on former regions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire? How do they fit in the Austrian context? To what extent do/have they influenced the Austrian literary and cultural arena? Similarly, to what extent has Austria influenced them? Authors might include: Rilke, Kafka, Morgenstern, Celan, Ausländer, Margul-Sperber, Sándor Márai, Peter Esterházy, Peter Nadas, Pavel Kohout, Arnost Lustig, Gyorgy Konrad, Imre Kertesz, Milan Kundera, Vaclav Havel, or Ivan Klima.
• Politics: What role does Austria play in the EU? Does its legacy as an Empire influence how it sees itself in the new European order? As an Empire, Austro-Hungary was multi-ethnic, but xenophobic tendencies have been and are still imbedded in (parts of) Austrian society. How did/does the opening of the borders after 1989 or joining the EU influence this and Austria's sense of self? Austria's role as a bridge between East and West during the cold war.
• Culture: "[New] Austrian Cultural Studies" would look at the image of Austria and the work of scholars outside of (beyond) Austrian borders and include projects that review: museum culture, publishing, theater politics, migration studies, relations of literature and the other arts, or studies of identity politics.