The study of ethnology or 'Volkskunde' in Austria has had a troubled past. Through most of the 20th century it was under the influence of the so-called Viennese 'Mythological School' and the controversy between the two opposing branches, the 'Ritualist' and the 'Mythologists', set much of the agenda from the 1920s until long after the World War ended in 1945. The volume examines two Austrian characters, Richard Wolfram and Karl Haiding, and the impact of their research and sets them in the context of Austrian ethnology before, during and after the war years. The book concludes by examining the present day ethnological outlook in the country.

James R. Dow is Professor of German in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Iowa State University, USA. Olaf Bockhorn is a Professor at the Institut fÿr Europÿische Ethnologie, University of Vienna, Austria.

Contents: All beginnings are difficult; Between the wars: 1918-1938; Vienna, Vienna, you and you alone; Pure German scholarship; Zero hour was not zero hour; Farewell to folklife - also in Austria?; Notes; Bibliography; Index.