Literatur und Kritik

The Austrian literary magazine Literatur und Kritik (Literature and Critical Reviews) was founded in April 1966 by the Austrian writers Rudolf Henz, Gerhard Fritsch, and Paul Kruntorad as successor of the literary publication "Wort in der Zeit", which had existed since 1955.

Profile

Compared to its predecessor, "Literatur und Kritik" printed more texts written by young authors. In addition, much more literature from Central and East European countries was presented. A recent study by the German philologist Renate Langer states that the magazine has been conceived originally as a "officious literary magazine of the Austrian state" and thus received public subsidies from the first day on. Until the end of the 1980s, the magazine could not get rid of this sinister reputation.

Since its foundation, "Literatur und Kritik" has been edited by the Salzburg publishing house Otto Müller Verlag, for several years now as five double issue per year. Philologist Klaus Zeyringer names it as one of the "most interesting and richest literary magazines in German speaking countries". Actually, "Literatur und Kritik's" print run is 4,000.

Editors in chief were first Jeannie Ebner and eventually Kurt Klinger. In 1991, Karl-Markus Gauß became the new editor, together with publisher Arno Kleibel, and designed new characteristics for the magazine. For example, he introduced the new category "Cultural Letters" with essays and feuilletons covering cultural and historico-cultural topics. He gave more weight to the information about the literatures in Central Europe and international literature. Additionally he managed to interest a younger generation of writers in collaborating.

The 40 Years issue allows an insight in textes published during the first twenty-five years of the magazine, e.g. by Ilse Aichinger, Ingeborg Bachmann, Italo Calvino, Elias Canetti, Paul Celan, Erich Fried, Alfred Gesswein, Peter Henisch, Friederike Mayröcker, Robert Menasse, Peter Rosei, Peter Turrini, and Czeslaw Milosz.

Dossiers

Most issues of "Literatur und Kritik" comprise a dossier about special topics of about the literature of a chosen country. Among others, dossiers about Moldavia, Sorbian Literature, Portugal, Ukraine, Guatemala, South Tyrol, Occitanian Literature, Sinti and Roma, Bulgaria, and Yiddish Literature have been published.

Cultural Letters

The category "Cultural Letters" has been introduced by Karl-Markus Gauß. Essays and feuilletons published within cover cultural topics in a broad sense. Every year, "Literatur und Kritik" publishes two to three dozens of Cultural Letters. Writers, such as Beppo Beyerl, Max Blaeulich, Manfred Chobot, Klaus Ebner, Leopold Federmair, Andrea Grill, Drago Jančar, Michael Scharang, Wolfgang Sréter, Daniela Strigl, Christian Teissl, Manfred Wieninger, wrote cultural essays for the magazine.

Poetry

Since 2005, the first double issue of the year publishes first editions of poetry. The editors are keen on presenting the different aspects of contemporary poetry.

Magazine in Magazine

The international concept of "Magazine in Magazine" allows a literary magazine to present itself via another literary magazine based in another country (and in another language). Chosen texts are translated and speak for themselves in the target country. The original idea stems from the writers group of the magazine "Apokalipsa" in Ljubljana in Slovenia. Initial projects brought together "Literatur und Kritik" with magazines in Slovenia, Hungary, Montenegro, Poland and Croatia.

Reviews

Every issue contains reviews of recently published literary books. As a specialty, the so called "controversy" has to be mentioned: two authors review the same book from different viewpoints. Well-known Germanists, such as Waltraud Anna Mitgutsch, Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler, Daniela Strigl and Klaus Zeyringer, have written reviews for "Literatur und Kritik".

External links

* [http://www.omvs.at/ Otto Müller Verlag, Salzburg]

References

*Herbert Zeman (Ed.): "Das 20. Jahrhundert", Geschichte der Literatur in Österreich Vol. 7, Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, Graz 1999. ISBN 3-201-01687-X
*Klaus Zeyringer (Ed.): "Österreichische Literatur seit 1945", Haymon Verlag, Innsbruck 2001. ISBN 3-85218-379-0
*Literatur und Kritik Nr. 399/400: "40 Jahre", Otto Müller Verlag, Salzburg November 2005.