This is the only English-language book to deal in depth with Austrian women writers of the postwar and contemporary period. It is a comparative study of the works of Marlen Haushofer, Ingeborg Bachmann, Barbara Frischmuth, Elfriede Jelinek, and Brigitte Schwaiger. Their works are examined in light of their criticism of women's position in Austrian society, the writers' relationship to feminism, and the influence of the change in women's status on their literature. Vansant's introduction provides a broad historical overview and discusses some of the factors influencing the development of women's literature in Austria from 1918 to the present.