Post-World War II literature in Austria, from Ilse Aichinger to Christoph Ransmayer, exemplified in interpretations of the most important works of the time.

Never was the connection between Austrian identity and Austrian literature as evident as after 1945. And no one has been more able to clearly illustrate the correlation between literature and socio-cultural and political conditions as Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler. With “Bruchlinien”, he coined a term that brings Austria’s post-War literature, its developments and its struggles to the point. And he has left us a work that succeeds in demonstrating how passionate and lively literature can be discussed and pondered: enthusiastic and enthusing. The re-edition of “Bruchlinien” is the first of two volumes of Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler’s famous lectures on contemporary Austrian literature.