Austrian national identity in the centre-periphery model

Abstract

This article deals with the question of Austrian national identity, seen as a case study set within the theoretical frameworks of the centre-periphery model, and in particular, the theories of cultural emancipation of a periphery from the preponderance of a centre. The article examines, firstly, the unequal partnership between Germany and Austria, whose roots are to be found in the rivalry between the Habsburgs and Hohenzollerns, and, secondly, the way Austria invented its concept of a cultural centre after 1945. Finally, emphasis is put on selected political, cultural, and social phenomena, as well as processes that have happened since the 1960s, which question the traditional image of Austria. The salient element of this deconstruction process is by means of unearthing Austria’s memory of the Nazi past, which facilitates the emergence of a critical culture of remembrance and undermines the artificial post-war construct of Austrian national identity.