Passages: Crossings, Borders, Openings: In Conversation with Austrian Writers: The Austrian-American Podium Dialog ed. by Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger and Gabriele Petricek (review)
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Passages: Crossings, Borders, Openings: In Conversation with Austrian Writers: The Austrian-American Podium Dialog ed. by Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger and Gabriele Petricek
Aaron Carpenter
Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger and Gabriele Petricek, eds., Passages: Crossings, Borders, Openings: In Conversation with Austrian Writers: The Austrian-American Podium Dialog. Lausanne: Peter Lang, 2022. 404 pp.
The book Passages: Crossings, Borders, Openings: In Conversation with Austrian Writers, edited by Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger and Gabriele Petricek, came together as part of the Austrian-American Podium Dialog that brought writers from Austria to the Austrian Studies conference. It is a collection of short stories by contemporary Austrian writers, conversations with students, and academic essays.
The first part of the book is a collection of short stories, essays, and excerpts of larger works from these authors both in the German original and English translations done by the editors and guest contributors. The Austrian writers showcased in this book are a diverse group: some are of migrant background, while others write about themes related to ecocriticism or make connections between Austrian history (especially World War II) and today.
The second part of the book is a series of four interviews of several of the authors with Lamb-Faffelberger and several of her advanced German undergraduate students who took part in workshops with the authors. These interviews cover topics such as what inspires the authors and how they know when a work is finished. The students also posed several interesting questions to the writers about their perspectives when they write, such as [End Page 137] how Dimitré Dinev chose to write in the perspective of a child in his works or the alternative realities that Patricia Brooks uses in her novels. Lamb-Faffelberger’s comments on preparing her undergraduate students of different levels of German proficiency for the shop talk sessions with the writers are interesting but brief. I would be interested, perhaps in a future article, in hearing more about how she developed her course to read the authors’ works in class and about some of the challenges of working with students to prepare questions to ask the authors in the workshop.
The third part of the book is a series of academic essays on several of the authors and works that were covered in the first part of the book. These essays are based on the writers presentation of their works and subsequent conversations with them during the dialogues. The comparisons with other authors from Austria help to place these modern Austrian authors in the context of Austrian literary history. Several scholars noted certain themes running across the works of these contemporary authors. Two of the essays compared the new authors to Marlen Haushofer’s Die Wand, which emphasizes the importance of also showcasing more modern Austrian authors in different fields, such as ecocriticism. All the essays gave insightful close readings of the authors’ works and literary styles. These would provide great food for thought for future articles and classroom discussions with undergraduates.
This work is a great resource to introduce diverse and modern Austrian literature not only in German-language courses but also in English-language comparative literature courses. The bilingual format of the book, with the German original text next to the English translation, is useful and could inspire classroom discussion on translation choices. The conversation with the authors also provided some insight into their backgrounds and what influences their writing process. These will help to introduce many of the lesser-known authors to a wider audience in the United States. [End Page 138]
期刊介绍：
The Journal of Austrian Studies is an interdisciplinary quarterly that publishes scholarly articles and book reviews on all aspects of the history and culture of Austria, Austro-Hungary, and the Habsburg territory. It is the flagship publication of the Austrian Studies Association and contains contributions in German and English from the world''s premiere scholars in the field of Austrian studies. The journal highlights scholarly work that draws on innovative methodologies and new ways of viewing Austrian history and culture. Although the journal was renamed in 2012 to reflect the increasing scope and diversity of its scholarship, it has a long lineage dating back over a half century as Modern Austrian Literature and, prior to that, The Journal of the International Arthur Schnitzler Research Association.
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