Austrian - Nordic Cultural Relations

Research project P 14281 Austrian - Nordic Cultural Relations Sven H. ROSSEL 06.03.2000 The research project Austria - the Nordic Countries focuses on the cultural relations between Austriahe German speaking Central Europe and the Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland). The project-is aimed at systematically registering and describing sources accessible in Austria and the Nordic countries (in libraries and archives) in order to compile an extensive bibliography of cultural relations (defined in a broader sense). Up to this date no systematic compilation of literature/sources in this field has been put together. The bibliography is meant to consist of two parts listing both primary sources and secondary works. It will serve as an important academic tool for further investigations into selected topics in the field of Austrian - Nordic cultural relations. The bibliography will be published as the first volume in the forthcoming series "Wechselbeziehungen Österreich - Norden: Studien und Materialien" (ed.: Sven H. Rossel). Furthermore, several studies in specific topics of Austrian Nordic relations will be completed within the framework of the research project and published in the same series.

The Department of Scandinavian Studies at Vienna University received from the FWF (Foundation for the Promotion of Scientific Research) for the period May 1, 2000 - April 30, 2002, financial support for the research project: The Interrelationship between Austria and the Nordic Countries. The intention of the project was to make accessible and explore a field which had hitherto largely been ignored. Through the project it has been possible to establish a centre with young, committed and qualified collaborators, to prepare for publication an impressive series of studies and to establish an international network. Finally, the already performed activities have been the source of inspiration for additional projects and a still more intensified international cooperation, which only await further financial support in order to be realized. The overall goal of the project was a scholarly focusation on the cultural interrelationship between Austria/German- speaking Central Europe and the following Nordic countries: Denmark, the Faroes, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. This process was begun with a systematic registration and description of already published secondary literature and of manuscripts and letters in libraries and archives in Austria and the Nordic countries. The result is a two-volume bibliography containing printed material (volume I) and hand-written material (volume II), of which the first part is ready for publication and the second part is close to being completed. This bibliography not only includes fiction in a more narrow sense but also related disciplines such as art history, cultural studies, history and the social sciences and encompasses the period from 1500 to 2000. The two volumes will be published in a series especially established for this research project with the publishing house Edition Praesens, Vienna, together with various studies and monographs, of which a collection of letters exchanged between Ellen Key and Stefan Zweig and a study of the evacuation of Austrian children to Scandinavia in connection with the two World Wars are close to completion. Not only are additional volumes within these thematic areas planned, such as a volume on the reception of Swedish Nobel Prize-winner Pär Lagerkvist in Austria but, within the last two years new areas have emerged in the areas of Gender Studies, children- and youth literature and Arctic Studies which will lead to additional research projects and publications. It is also the intention, when sufficient financial sources can be found, that the bibliography in some years will be made available on-line. An important strategy of the research project was the establishing of a network primarily in the Nordic countries. Today, a dynamic cooperation exists between the Scandinavian Department in Vienna and the universities in Odense, Roskilde (Denmark), Skövde (Sweden) and Tromsö (Norway) which will result in new research projects and joint publications. An additional and extremely important result of this network has been several informational lectures at universities abroad, the participation of three project collaborators in a symposium at the University of Roskilde in October 2002 and an international conference in Vienna in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Culture and the University of Skövde. The conference topic was: Austria in the Nordic Countries - the Nordic Countries in Austria and it attracted some 70 participants. Through the research project not only important results within a hitherto largely ignored area have been achieved but an international network has also been established. A number of young Austrian scholars have been trained or received further training and have contributed to a greater visibility of Austrian history, culture and literature abroad.