The Long Shadow of the Past

A fresh overview of the difficult legacy of Austria's WWII-past in more recent works of literary and visual art and in the surge of memorials in the urban space. * JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN STUDIES *
BR> Krylova's excellent and well-written study illuminates an important historical, social, and cultural era in Austria for all cultural studies students and scholars, while also motivating scholars and teachers of Austrian culture to a greater engagement with Austria's post-Holocaust legacy. * STUDIES IN 20TH- AND 21ST-CENTURY LITERATURE *
[The book's] strengths [are] attention to historical detail accompanied by careful explanations of the issues at stake that will appeal to both experts and readers unfamiliar with the particular Austrian context. . . . [O]ften succeeds at highlighting quite compelling connections between . . . disparate works. . . . [W]ill be of interest to teachers and scholars of Austria, memory studies, and memorial culture. -- Jack Davis * MONATSHEFTE *
Krylova masterfully handles [her] subject matter . . . . On aesthetics, history, and politics after 1986, she appears to have read everything. . . . [She] devotes [her] final chapter to memorials and memorial projects . . . . A fascinating study of these memorials, and post-Waldheim artistic engagement in Austria, [this book] is also a tribute to the artists who continue to find new ways to make the past an irritation to the present. -- Michael Burri * AUSTRIAN HISTORY YEARBOOK *
2018 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title * . *
Informative and readable, the book is of both scholarly and general appeal. -- Andrea Capovilla * AUSTRIAN STUDIES *
Krylova's essays are thoroughly researched, lucidly written, and should be of interest to students of cultural studies and history. -- Edward T. Larkin * GERMAN STUDIES REVIEW *
Katya Krylova's excellent new book was completed between the [Austrian] presidential and national polls [of 2016 and 2017]. . . . Krylova's introduction gives an excellent overview of the diverse strands of activity; her five chapters offer detailed analyses of particular works. . . . Krylova is able to develop a fascinating narrative. -- Joachim Whaley * JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN STUDIES *
[A] fascinating study . . . . [A] must read for all scholars interested in Austrian literature, film, and culture. -- Joseph W. Moser * GEGENWARTSLITERATUR *
Timely. -- Áine McMurtry * MODERN LANGUAGE REVIEW *
Krylova's carefully researched The Long Shadow of the Past is a must-read for Austrian memory study scholars. It captures profoundly interconnected worlds of memory, trauma, and repression of the past with politics, culture, history, and family histories; it recognizes both progress and setbacks in Austria's reckoning with its past; and it invites an open dialogue about cultural memory. -- Eva Kuttenberg * JOURNAL OF AUSTRIAN STUDIES *
Krylova has produced a timely, informative, engaging, and well-written treatise on Austria's ongoing memory struggles. [It] would be informative and digestible reading for students in a course on the topic, and should be of interest to all scholars concerned with how Austria and other nations confront the long shadow of the past. -- Sharon Weiner * GERMAN QUARTERLY *
Krylova's book is a timely and welcome addition to various fields of study, among them, memory studies, Holocaust studies and Austrian cultural studies. Krylova's analyses demonstrate what happens when trauma and repressed national history continue unresolved. -- Nicole Calian * THE INDEPENDENT SCHOLAR *
This is a well-considered study of Austrian Holocaust denial and the ways in which film, literature, and memorial images have led the nation toward a complete understanding of its share of guilt in the events of WWII. . . . Highly recommended. -- E.G. Wickersham * CHOICE *
Krylova skillfully weaves together the historical context with pertinent case studies. . . . [C]omprehensive . . . a welcome addition to academic and personal libraries. Krylova provides a valuable resource for those unfamiliar with the political events and the texts and at the same time points to directions for fruitful future research. -- Jacqueline Vansant * COLLOQUIA GERMANICA *