Edge of irony : modernism in the shadow of the Habsburg Empire /

This study offers interpretations of Austro-Hungarian, German-language authors with roots in the pre-WW I time warp that defines "turn of the century modernism" but advances through the creative if turbulent interwar Weimar period (1919-33). Targeting Karl Kraus, Joseph Roth, Elias Canetti, Robert Musil, and Paul Celan, Perloff (Stanford) pursues specific work of each--respectively, The Last Days of Mankind, The Radetzky March, Canetti's autobiography, The Man without Qualities, and Celan's poetry. In a coda, she looks at Ludwig von Wittgenstein's biblical and biographical thoughts. Percolating through all are Galicia, Bohemia, Slovakia, Transylvanian Romania, Bosnia, and other regions (17 nationalities in all). Excellent color-coded maps and historical black-and-white photographs identify the German-speaking territories within the whole. Indicating the vast geographic and multiethnic intellectual penetration of these authors, Perloff interplays quotes from her subjects' writings with the semi-subdued, ever-present Jewish element in this wide-ranging society. Throughout, one is aware of the world-shattering event of WW I and demise of the Habsburg Empire. In the end, this book is about Austrian modernism and the Weimar culture. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students; researchers/faculty. --LaVern J. Rippley, St. Olaf College