Austrian Identity and Modernity: Culture and Politics in the 20th Century

(Hardback)

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Bring together an interdisciplinary cast of scholars, this volume explores national and nationalist identification(s) in Austria, as they were represented through culture and design, in response to the political environment in the first half of the 20th century. Austrian Identity and Modernity addresses the processes of evolution, conflict, destruction, and critical reassembling of interrelated Austrian cultures. It discusses: - The transformation of liberal ideologies, scientific leadership, technology and social inclusion - How professional women shaped alternative collectives, art and design movements - Socialist cultural projects and national unity - The Catholic Church and politics - Antisemitism and memory culture in context - Political shifts and modern architecture and music - Migration, remigration and pluralism in Austrian culture Divided into four chronological parts, the book surveys the period from the late-19th century through to the post-WWII era. It serves to offer up innovative approaches to the concepts of nation and nationalism, as well as ground-breaking research on the roles played by regionalism, Europeanism, and migration played in culture, design and the shaping of Austrian identities.

Reviews

This ambitious and wide-ranging volume breaks new ground by bringing the study of Austrian art, music, architecture, and design into dialogue with questions of politics, nationalism, and national identity from the Habsburg empire though the Nazi period and beyond. Its essays brilliantly reveal the intricate intertwining of Austrian modernisms with visions of Austrian nationhood across five regimes. * Paul Lerner, Professor of History, University of Southern California, USA *
There is still much to discover when it comes to Austrian history, from the late Habsburgs and all the formative years in between to the Second Republic. Elana Shapira's anthology offers an impressive collection of essays and is a welcome contribution to ongoing debates about modernity and identity in Austria, including reflections on the role of Jews and coming to terms with the Nazi past. Bringing together a group of experts from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, it is sure to be read by scholars and the interested public alike. * Dirk Rupnow, Institute for Contemporary History, University of Innsbruck, Austria *

Author Bio

Elana Shapira is a design and cultural historian and lecturer at the Department of Cultural Studies at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria. She is the editor of Designing Transformation: Jews and Cultural Identity in Central European Modernism (Bloomsbury, 2021) and co-editor of migr Cultures in Design and Architecture (Bloomsbury, 2017).