Edith Toegel, associate professor of German, recently published two articles on the contemporary Austrian writer Barbara Frischmuth. The first, published in Seminar (May 2009), discusses the issues of multiculturalism in a post-1989 Austria as depicted in Frischmuh's recent novels. A former student of Iranian and Islamic Studies, Frischmuth has long been interested in the literary depiction of foreign cultures and societies. She points to the existing lack of objectivityin the perception of non-western cultures in Austria today. Moreover, through her works she insists on the importance of writers regarding any discussion of race, culture, and politics.
The second article, in German Studies Review, (May 2009), discusses her recently published diaries viewed through the lens of an avid gardener. Although these volumes give the appearance of a new genre for the novelist, Toegel shows that they in fact, present a continuum of Frischmuth's literary tradition. The three volumes display Frischmuth's distinct literary technique, a free flowing interchange of the imaginative and the real which she calls her "assoziative Nicht-Mehode."
The second article, in German Studies Review, (May 2009), discusses her recently published diaries viewed through the lens of an avid gardener. Although these volumes give the appearance of a new genre for the novelist, Toegel shows that they in fact, present a continuum of Frischmuth's literary tradition. The three volumes display Frischmuth's distinct literary technique, a free flowing interchange of the imaginative and the real which she calls her "assoziative Nicht-Mehode."
