"Visions and Visionaries: The Study of Austrian Literature and Culture, the Conference, and the new MALCA"
Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger
Lafayette College

From October 18th until October 20th, 2001 thirty-five scholars from four continents and eleven countries will gather at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania to engage in the intellectual discourse on "Visions and Visionaries in Literature and Film of Modern Austria."1) The scope of the conference underscores the strong interest in Modern Austrian Literature and Culture Studies, a field that has been an integral part of American Germanistics for several decades.We owe its high standing to the extensive personal and professional engagement of our predecessors, of those scholars and teachers who worked tirelessly to give voice to Austrian literature in the United States. Their "labor of love" built bridges between the two countries and secured a dynamic intellectual and intercultural exchange. We are indebtedto Harry Zohn (whose recent death we deeply mourn), Walter Sokel, Herbert Lederer,2) Ruth Klüger, Donald G. Daviau, and many others who defined Austrian Studies for the past four decades. For me, they are the giants (in Sir Isaac Newton's interpretation of the word) on whose shoulders we, the next generation of scholars and teachers, are standing today.

Now, at the beginning of a new decade, Austrian Studies in the United States is entering the next phase. The departure from academia of some of our senior colleagues made it necessary to regroup and restructure. The "International Arthur Schnitzler Association" under whose name Austrian Studies was represented at the annual ACTFL and MLA conferences had become obsolete. A new international organization exclusively dedicated to the research and teaching of Austrian Literature and Culture Studies was called for. During the past academic year, Linda DeMerrit, Jacqueline Vansant, and I designed and wrote the constitution and by-laws for MALCA, the Modern Austrian Literature and Culture Association. Subscribers to the Journal for Modern Austrian Literature are also members of the new association and thus, eligible to vote. In Spring 2001, MALCA's first board members were elected for a three year term: Dagmar Lorenz (University of Illinois at Chicago), Linda DeMeritt (Allegheny College), Elizabeth Ametsbichler (University of Montana), Imke Meyer (Bryn Mawr College), and Karl Müller (University of Salzburg). The board meetings are taking place at the annual "Wander"-conference, the first one at Lafayette College this October.

The recent initiatives to secure the continuation of the advancement of Austrian Literature and Culture Studies in the United States are exciting. In this regard, the theme of "visions and visionaries" for the upcoming conference on Austrian Literature and Culture strikes us as particularly appropriate. Thus, we - the co-organizers of the conference, Gisela Roethke (Dickinson College) and I - invited presentations on trends and trend-setters in contemporary Modern Austrian literature and film, on themes of utopia and dystopia, on visions of a 'postmodern' Austrian society in today's united Europe, but also voices of a 'lost' Austria, and on notions of identity and myth. Papers will discuss works by Handke, Bernhard, Ransmayr, Jonke, Rosei, Gerhard Roth, Haslinger, Bachmann, Mayröcker, Reichart, Faschinger, Streeruwitz, Schwab, the young Kreidl, and others, as well as films, e.g., by Haneke and the transgender filmmaker Scheirl.Klaus Zeyringer's keynote address will inform about Austria's literary scene of the 1990s and beyond. Moreover, five authors - Gerhard Kofler, Martin Krusche, Barbara Neuwirth, Elisabeth Reichart, and Evelyn Schlag - as well as the filmmaker Harald Friedl will give readings and present their work.

In addition, the issue of literary creation and production in the digital age will play a prominent role. In his recent AUSTRIA KULTUR article, Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, the current director of New York's Austrian Cultural Forum (ACF) asked "Who's afraid of art in the age of "d-production"?3) His article addresses the multifaceted online and offline aspects for contemporary art creation and distribution. "Transforming modernity" - the central focus for the new ACF in New York - is also of importance for the upcoming conference.The role of the internet for narrative techniques and authorship, as well as for the reception process and the perception of public space are addressed by Martin Krusche. He will introduce the conference participants to the Internet-Salon HOUSE (created by Walter Grond, Klaus Zeyringer, and Martin Krusche: http://house-salon.net/) and invite everyone to engage in communication (with him and others) in his virtual space, the "Cool Extra Room" where the notion of 'narrative' refers to a basic human need, namely to interact with others and to express ideas and feelings by "sharing myths, sharing experience, sharing perspectives in an artistic and everyday manner."4)

Communication and intercultural exchange have taken on new meaning through the medium "Internet" (Note: the WebPage of the upcoming Austrian Conference can be viewed under http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~lambfafm/austriaconf01.htm). Furthermore, the future of scholarly and scientific discourse lies in crossing cultural boundaries and transcending disciplinary borders. Interdisciplinarity can bring enriching intercultural dynamics to our teaching and to our research because the way we think is the way we approach our subject matter, the way we reason is the way we conduct research. It is, therefore crucial that today's Modern Austrian Literature and Culture Studies and MALCA move toward inclusivity and define new parameters across disciplines since interdisciplinary accomplishments in teaching and research are, in fact intercultural achievements.

1) Many thanks to the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York and the Bundeskanzleramt, Abteilung Kunst in Vienna for their generous support.
2) Leben mit österreichischer Literatur.Begegnung mit aus Österreich stammenden amerikanischen Germanisten 1938/1988. Eds. Dokumentationsstelle für neuere österreichische Literatur und der österreichischen Gesellschaft für Literatur (Wien: Zirkular) 1990.
3) Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, "Who's afraid of art in the age of 'd-production'?" IN AUSTRIAN KULTUR 2001.
4) Martin Krusche, http://www.kultur.at/kunst/base1/raum01e.htm (Internet, 2001).

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