Do the Balkans Begin in Vienna? The Geopolitical and Imaginary Borders between the Balkans and Europe

Ana Foteva received her PhD in German literature at Purdue University. Currently she holds the position of Visiting Assistant Professor in German Studies at St. Lawrence University. She is the recipient of several grants and awards. Foteva has published in both European and American journals on a variety of topics, including Austrian literature of the fin de siècle, literatures of Southeastern Europe, German Classicism and theater, and contrastive analysis.

• Contents: Introduction: The Balkans’ Postmodern Geography – Travelogues of War and Peace – Serbia: Between East and West – Bosnia-Herzegovina: Where Orient and Occident Meet – Slovenia and Croatia: Between the Balkans and Europe – The Balkans between Utopia and Dystopia – Myth and Memory in the Habsburg Monarchy and the Balkans.

«Ana Foteva’s ‘Do the Balkans Begin in Vienna?’ is an exemplary representation of the work necessary to understand in contemporary terms a region where nationalist-imperialist paradigms for cultural study simply do not hold. The text takes up several cultures and breathes life into their intersections, as they meet in the present, reawakening the joint legacies of three ancient empires (Habsburg, Ottoman, and Byzantine) out from behind the blackout curtain of the Soviet Union. She presents authors writing in German, Serbian, and Bosnian, each trying to understand what stories comprise the region’s inheritance beyond nationalism. Foteva’s deft juxtaposition of history, travelogue, and literature opens new visions of how cultures interact when they both share and are divided multiple. This volume is a must for anyone working in Austrian and Slavic literatures.» (Katherine Arens, University of Texas at Austin)«Given the competing and overlapping legacies and identities that complicate the Balkans’ cultural landscape, it is very helpful to finally read a book that links the literature and history of the Habsburg and Ottoman realms. No less refreshing is a book that credits Yugoslavia with nurturing and preserving the region’s multicultural legacy at least until its own dissolution.» (Charles Ingrao, Purdue University)