Abstract

Fin-de-siècle Vienna remains a central event in the birth of the century's modern culture. Our understanding of what happened in those key decades in Central Europe at the turn of the century has been shaped in the last years by an historiography presided over by Carl Schorske's Fin de Siècle Vienna and the model of the relationship between politics and culture which emerged from his work and that of his followers. Recent scholarship, however, has begun to question the main paradigm of this school, i.e. the "failure of liberalism."

This volume reflects not only a whole range of the critiques but also offers alternative ways of understanding the subject, most notably though the concept of "critical modernism" and the integration of previously neglected aspects such as the role of marginality, of the market and the larger Central and European context. As a result this volume offers novel ideas on a subject that is of unending fascination and never fails to captivate the Western imagination.

Steven Beller is an Independent Scholar who lives in Washington, D.C.

“This set of essays by leading scholars in the field aims to provide an overview of current work on what has sometimes been dubbed ‘the birth of modernity’ in fin-de-siècle Central Europe. This it succeeds admirably in doing, and editor Steven Beller will be thanked by many teachers of the subject of producing such a useful collection.   ·  German History

"In the not exactly small field of works on the Vienna Fin-de-Siècle this volume represents an important milestone. It will be indispensable, for a long time, for the debate it pushes forward and to which it contributes so much itself."  · H-Soz-u-Kult

"... tight and coherent ... not only because its eleven contributors focus on a single metropolis, but also because they generally share a common point of departure if not necessarily a common point of view."  · German Studies Review

"This enthralling collection of ten distinguished essays provides not only the best introduction to the subject, but is a major contribution in its own right."  · Tim Blanning, Cambridge University

"Beller's excellent introduction ... clearly lays out the scope of the original argument, provides a sound review of existing scholarship and a clear summary... [A] well-organized and focused [collection]."  · Laura Gellott, University of Wisconsin-Parkside