It is a mantra of Habsburg Studies that Austria-Hungary was not a colonial power due to its lack of oversea colonies. In his new monograph Dr. Clemens Ruthner challenges this common narrative. In a mixture of literary studies and cultural history, he reveals colonial fantasies and allegories in imperial Austrian literature (F. Grillparzer, P. Altenberg, F. Kafka, and A. Kubin) along with colonial practices in the occupation (1878) and annexation (1908) of Bosnia-Herzegovina. 

The author will be in conversation with Professor Rüdiger Görner, Queen Mary University London.