Topic for Spring 2013: Wiener Moderne
From roughly 1890 to 1910 the Austrian capital, Vienna, was a hotbed of literary and cultural activity that reflected and explored the impact of modernity on society. The works of Sigmund Freud, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Arthur Schnitzler, Robert Musil, Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos, Gustav Klimt and others gave voice to a modernist spirit that had a fundamental influence on subsequent cultural developments throughout Europe in the 20th century. In addition to works of literature, we will also examine art, music, and architecture within the socio-political context of fin-de-siècle Vienna.