It is far too early to determine whether the noughties constitute a distinct period of literary or cultural history with specific characteristics all of their own. It is, nevertheless, timely and illuminating to take a look at individual phenomena that characterize this decade. The articles in this volume discuss certain topical debates (for example surrounding the infamous Austrokoffer literary project, or the debates about pension provision and about religion), they identify emerging trends in Austrian film (the hybridization of genres and the use of the mock-documentary as political intervention), and they highlight new departures in literary expression (recent Romani writing and the rise of the multi-generational family novel). Other contributors to Austrian Studies 19 identify literary engagement with features of contemporary culture (the author as celebrity or the textual exploration of sound and image in the digital age). Finally, The Austrian Noughties volume does not neglect to probe new publications of established authors such as Arno Geiger, Doron Rabinovici, Robert Menasse, Christoph Ransmayr and Josef Winkler.
