In the English-speaking world, the first decade of the new millennium has been christened ‘The Noughties’, thus suggesting that this decade had a discernible character of its own. ‘Die Nullerjahre’ is an emerging term in German-speaking Europe, and the end of the decade is now giving rise to a reflection on what exactly has characterized the new millennium so far. Were the Austrian Noughties a culturally distinct decade? Do the Austrian Noughties have a signature? Did the new millennium witness new departures, new trends, new names, or do familiar figures such as Handke, Ransmayr and Menasse still dominate the literary scene? Will the Noughties be remembered for the award of the Nobel Prize to Elfriede Jelinek in 2004 or perhaps for the achievements of filmmaker Michael Haneke?
In particular, the following questions might offer themselves to critical evaluation:

- Did the trauma and world-wide notoriety caused by the Fritzl case and before it the scandal around Natascha Kampusch leave discernible traces in literature and general artistic expression?
- What has been the impact of global concerns, from the events of September 11th and the ‘war on terror’ to climate change and economic volatility, on Austrian culture?
- Has Vergangenheitsbewältigung, the poking into public and private pasts à la Ludwig Laher or Arno Geiger, run its course? Or are new themes, battlegrounds and approaches being identified?
- Do sexual politics, gender roles and journeys of self-discovery still occupy centre stage in literary and cultural debates?
- Has the rapid expansion and refinement of new media had an impact on literary production and artistic expression?
- Has the 5th EU enlargement, which saw the accession of Austria’s neighbours Hungary, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, given rise to a new sense of Europeanness, or led to a re-definition of Austrian identity?
- Did the sudden death of Jörg Haider in 2008 signal an end to the reflection of political protest in Austrian culture?
- What makes contemporary Austrian literature distinctly Austrian, or are Austrian writing and other forms of cultural production increasingly part of the global mishmash of hybrid identities, displacement and disorientation, all packaged in translatable / filmable styles?

For volume 19 of Austrian Studies we invite contributions on questions such as those mentioned above and on any other aspects relevant to the overall topic. Surveys of particular themes, discussions of individual authors’ output during the noughties, investigations of genres (including film, theatre and new media), trends and styles are encouraged, as are treatments of non-literary texts and debates.

Proposals should be sent to Florian Krobb (florian.krobb@nuim.ie) by 1 May 2010. It is anticipated that the deadline for completed articles will be 10 January 2011. Notes for contributors are available at
http://www.rhul.ac.uk/Modern-Languages/AustrianStudiesNotes.html