Phantom Empires: The Novels of Alexander Lernet-Holenia and the Question of Postimperial Austrian Identity (Studies in Austrian Literature, Culture and Thought)

The scholarly neglect of Alexander Lernet-Holenia's work, despite his prolific authorship and recognized artistic quality, has been the consequence of a too narrow and one-sided interpretation of the author's themes. With the current reborn interest in post-Soviet Central European regionalism, and the fragmentation of the polyglot states in Central and Eastern Europe, Lernet-Holenia's writings can be seen to again offer relevant commentaries on the cultural nature of Austria and the successor states to the Habsburg Empire. In this first major examination of Lernet-Holenia's novels and critical essays in any language, Robert Dassanowsky explores and redefines the author's unique understanding of a problematic Austrian national identity within a restless Central Europe, a topic revitalized for the twenty-first century.