Description: A critical assessment of the works of the Austrian-Jewish author, in whom there has been a recent resurgence of interest, from the perspective of world literature.
Brief description: ROBERT KELZ is Professor & Chair, Department of World Languages and Literatures, University of Memphis, TN.
Review Quotes:
"This volume is an important contribution to Stefan Zweig scholarship, attempting to account for the author's persistent worldwide significance. [The editors] bring together a collection of essays that expose the narrowness of the trenchant critiques of what Michael Hofmann in the London Review of Books of 28 January 2010 called this 'purveyor of Trivialliteratur, ' and they rightly expand the context of Zweig's reception beyond Europe. With the ambitious objective of 'focusing on the totality of Zweig's literary output' (p. 4), the book covers most of the phases and genres of Zweig's life and work. . . . The best essays in this collection plainly concede many of the flaws and problems associated with Stefan Zweig's life and work, while understanding that the context for these criticisms has shifted, substantially nullifying their potency as critical shibboleths in the twenty-first century and showing very clearly why Zweig demands to be re-evaluated in the light of the contemporary re-evaluations of modernism, authorship, and literary value." --Modern Language Review