Shifting Voices: Feminist Thought and Women's Writing in Fin-de-Siècle Austria and Hungary

Previous scholarly attention to Hapsburg culture has emphasized its German-centred aspects. Shifting Voices brings a new focus to the Hapsburg Empire's rich Hungarian component through a comparative feminist analysis of women's literary contributions in Austria and in Hungary.

The organized women's movement in Austria-Hungary became increasingly important with the rise of modernism and feminist concerns ranging from women's legal and political rights, access to education, professional opportunities, economic independence, and sexual freedom found expression in print. Agatha Schwartz analyses the connections between the women's movements and women's writing in Austria and Hungary to explore some differences between works written in Austria and those coming from Hungary, whose urban culture was younger. She provides critiques of major works of fiction and theory by authors such as Rosa Mayreder, Grete Meisel-Hess, Margit Kaffka and Szikra.