Vienna's Dreams of Europe is a critique of familiar teleological readings of modern history, an attempt to provide a more nuanced understanding of regional public institutions and public spaces in Central Europe, and an exploration of distinctively Austrian approaches to the idea of Europe. Arens brings to cultural studies-and to German studies in particular-a complex picture of European history and culture, which challenges common assumptions about modern Europe since the eighteenth century, especially “the fiction of an emerging 'German' culture-nation."

David Luft, Professor of History, Oregon State University, USA

Through a series of expansive case studies-ranging from Sonnenfels to Stifter to Schnitzler, from Hanswurst to Hofmannsthal to Handke, and including many points along the way-Katherine Arens innovatively explores the interconnected public spaces of Austrian culture extending well beyond the borders of the nation-state. This illuminating and elegantly written book reshapes our understanding of the ongoing public project of enlightenment and provides a rewarding road map for postnational cultural studies.

Craig Decker, Professor of German and Chair, Department of German and Russian Studies, Bates College, USA

[A] learned and thoughtful study of Austria's place in European culture and history ... Vienna's Dreams of Europe not only offers a rethinking of Austria's place in Europe; it also offers a rethinking of Austria's place within (North American) German studies. ... [It] insists on a conception of Austrian culture that is multiple and fluid. Indeed, her book is titled not “Austria's Dreams of Europe,” but rather “Vienna's Dreams of Europe.” Vienna here is not simply a city defined by civic boundaries, but rather a multiethnic and multilingual space defined by layers of historical ties and multiple public spaces.

Austrian Studies Newsmagazine

An interesting volume that demands readers' attention … This study adds to the still-growing number of works representative of a resurgence in scholarly attention to Habsburg and Austrian literature, culture, and history that recognize their ongoing prominence and importance to Central Europe and Europe as a whole.

Studies in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literature