Part of the New Directions in European Writing series, which aims to present introductory studies of contemporary European writers, this volume offers a systematic study of the controversial Austrian feminist writer, Elfriede Jelinek. It provides a survey and analysis of Jelinek's major texts and a discussion of the literary techniques which characterize the author's writing. Background contextual information on historical and literary developments is given to help the reader gain a better understanding of Jelinek's writing and her place within current international debates on feminism and literary theory.

Well before the far-right resurgence that has most recently transformed European politics, Austria's 1999 parliamentary elections surprised the world with the unexpected success of the Freedom Party of Austria and its charismatic leader, Joerg Haider. The party's perceived xenophobia, isolationism, and unabashed nationalism in turn inspired a massive protest movement that expressed opposition not only through street protests but also in novels, plays, films, and music. Through careful readings of this varied cultural output, The Art of Resistance traces the aesthetic styles and strategies deployed during this time, providing critical context for understanding modern Austrian history as well as the European protest movements of today.

New essays examine 20th-c. Austrian literature in relation to history, politics, and popular culture. 20th-century Austrian literature boasts many outstanding writers: Schnitzler, Musil, Rilke, Kraus, Celan, Canetti, Bernhard, Jelinek. These and others feature in broader accounts of German literature, but it is desirable to see how the Austrian literary scene -- and Austrian society itself -- shaped their writing. This volume thus surveys Austrian writers of drama, prose fiction, and lyric poetry; relates them to the distinctive history of modern Austria,a democratic republic that was overtaken by civil war and authoritarian rule, absorbed into Nazi Germany, and re-established as a neutral state; and examines their response to controversial events such as the collusion with Nazism, the Waldheim affair, and the rise of Haider and the extreme right. In addition to confronting controversy in the relations between literature, history, and politics, the volume examines popular culture in line with current trends. Contributors: Judith Beniston, Janet Stewart, Andrew Barker, Murray Hall, Anthony Bushell, Dagmar Lorenz, Juliane Vogel, Jonathan Long, Joseph McVeigh, Allyson Fiddler. Katrin Kohl is Lecturer in German and a Fellow of Jesus College, and Ritchie Robertson is Taylor Professor of German and a Fellow of The Queen's College, both at the University of Oxford.

It is far too early to determine whether the noughties constitute a distinct period of literary or cultural history with specific characteristics all of their own. It is, nevertheless, timely and illuminating to take a look at individual phenomena that characterize this decade. The articles in this volume discuss certain topical debates (for example surrounding the infamous Austrokoffer literary project, or the debates about pension provision and about religion), they identify emerging trends in Austrian film (the hybridization of genres and the use of the mock-documentary as political intervention), and they highlight new departures in literary expression (recent Romani writing and the rise of the multi-generational family novel). Other contributors to Austrian Studies 19 identify literary engagement with features of contemporary culture (the author as celebrity or the textual exploration of sound and image in the digital age). Finally, The Austrian Noughties volume does not neglect to probe new publications of established authors such as Arno Geiger, Doron Rabinovici, Robert Menasse, Christoph Ransmayr and Josef Winkler.

This first systematic study of the controversial Austrian feminist writer, Elfriede Jelinek, offers an extensive survey and analysis of Jelinek's major texts and a discussion of the literary techniques which characterise her writing. Background contextual information on historical and literary developments is provided to help the reader gain a better understanding of Jelinek's writing and her place within current international debates on feminism and literary theory.