Heimatliteratur#

Heimatliteratur (regionalist literature), collective term for writings dedicated to the topic of "Heimat". Heimatliteratur can be categorised according to content and form into provincial literature, Vernacular Literature or rural fiction. A literary movement idealising the home country, rural traditions and life in the country and advocating them as an alternative to modern civilisation, developed within the Austrian Heimatkunst Movement.

The most popular category of Heimatliteratur is the "Heimatroman"; some of its most important exponents were E. Ertl (Vienna), E. v. Handel-Mazzetti, F. Nabl, J. Wichner, K. Landsteiner (Lower Austria, Upper Austria), R. H. Bartsch, P. Grogger (Styria), J. Perkonig, D. Viesèr (Carinthia), K.-H. Waggerl (Salzburg), J. G. Oberkofler, M. V. Rubatscher (Tirol), J. Seeber, K. Schoenherr and Reimmichl (Tirol). Modern authors such as T. Bernhard, A. Brandstetter, F. Innerhofer, G. F. Jonke, P. Handke or J. Winkler sometimes include themes and motifs from Heimatliteratur in an ironical or critical fashion.