Niederösterreichische Literaturpreisträger:innen

Lower Austrian Literature Prize Winners before/after 1945: Continuities of National Socialist Cultural Policy in Lower Austria

The project ‘Niederösterreichische Literaturpreisträger:innen vor/nach 1945. Kontinuitäten nationalsozialistischer Kulturpolitik in Niederösterreich’ (‘Lower Austrian Literature Prize Winners before/after 1945: Continuities of National Socialist Cultural Policy in Lower Austria’) focuses on 18 writers who were awarded the ‘Niederösterreichischer Kulturpreis für Literatur’ in the first decade after its creation (1960–1971) and for whom evidence exists of literary activities in the periods 1938–1945 as well as after 1945. Based on this corpus, the project examines the question of how and to what extent literary networks and cultural-political paradigms in Lower Austria were maintained or reformed after 1945.

The project will, for the first time, map the literary field of Lower Austria/'Niederdonau' before and after 1945 on an empirical basis, i.e. its cultural-political paradigms, literary networks, institutions and practices. This will be implemented by compiling a detailed bio-bibliographical documentation of the authors´ literary-cultural activities obtained from archival sources in Austria and abroad; additionally, these activities will be placed in both literary- and socio-historical contexts. Thereby, the project lays groundwork in the field of literary and regional history, which can provide a starting point for further literary or cultural-historical research.

The project aims to raise awareness of the continuing influence of National Socialist cultural policy with regard to Lower Austria's literary and cultural heritage. Although partly forgotten, the names of the authors in focus have been inscribed in the literary canon and commemorative signs, such as street names and memorial plaques, continue to shape public space to this day. Only on rare occasions has their memory been subjected to critical revision. By providing well-founded historiographical information, the project addresses an increasing public interest in the critical examination of the legacy of ‘belastete Autor:innen’.

Head of Project:

Dr. Helmut Neundlinger

Academic Staff:

Hanna Prandstätter, MA BA

Fermin Suter, MA