Eros and Inwardness in Vienna

“By calling attention to the influence of writers generally not familiar to an English-speaking audience, he adds new layers to our understanding of not only the Viennese intellectual climate, but that of the larger German-speaking realm. In addition, it further strengthens Viennese intellectuals’ leading role in pushing the boundaries of early 20th century thought on sexuality and gender.”

“This text deserves to become a standard for the English-speaking audience. . . . Luft offers a model of how to read texts in historical context; it deserves pride of place in the library of anyone dealing with the fin de siècle.”

“Eros and Intimacy is thoughtful and thought-provoking. Its triptych of Weininger, Musil, and Doderer is masterfully done. Luft’s book will be of interest not only to students of Vienna, but also to anyone interested in the mysterious ways of intimacy, identity, and sexuality.”

“Luft’s study is a stimulating exercise in reading against the grain. . . . The book should be of interest to anyone working in Austrian Studies, and will no doubt become a point of reference in this field.”

“Building on his well-known work on Robert Musil, David Luft here gives us a complex, nuanced study of Viennese discourses on gender, consciousness, and ethical life during the turn of the century. <I>Eros and Inwardness in Vienna<I> also considers how during the interwar and Cold War years, <I>fin-de-si[4]ecle<I> concepts of sexuality and gender lived on as reflections and transmuted forms in the work of Heimito von Doderer. Ultimately, this impressive work shows us how eros in Vienna was never a symbol of sex alone, but also one of life, spirit, and morality.”--Chandak Sengoopta, University of Manchester

“<I>Eros and Inwardness in Vienna<I> considers sex and gender as the site of conflicts between deterministic science and individualism, rationalism, liberalism, and spirituality in Viennese intellectual life during the first half of the twentieth century. This important book will make an original contribution to the literature of modernism and the European history of ideas.”--Gerald Izenberg, Washington University

“David Luft’s impressive <I>Eros and Inwardness in Vienna<I> explores the profound challenges that Austrian liberal thought faced after 1900 and especially after 1918, revealing the impact of convergent streams of scientific materialism and philosophical irrationalism. Luft’s skillful, deeply researched triptych of Weininger, Musil, and Doderer uncovers fascinating differences between Austrian and German intellectual life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His book is both substantial and stimulating, and it will be considered a major contribution to central European intellectual history.”--John W. Boyer, University of Chicago

“A fresh and insightful look at the ways in which Otto Weininger, Robert Musil, and Heimito von Doderer tried to refashion our understanding of gender and sexuality while transgressing the limits of scientific rationalism and German philosophical idealism. With this accomplished work of scholarship, Luft has made an important contribution to the growing literature on Austrian intellectual history.”--Anson Rabinbach, Princeton University