Neuhäuser, Rudolf

Rudolf Neuhäuser (Wien/Vienna, June 17, 1933). Ph. D. (Vienna), M.A. (Toronto). Professor emeritus of Slavic Studies, Alpen-Adria Universität Klagenfurt.
He graduated with distinction (1952) and pursued philological Studies at the University of Vienna (1952-57) and Toronto University (1960-61). From 1961 to 1975 he was lecturing and doing research in Russian literature at several American and Canadian Universities rising from Assistant Professor to Full Professor. In 1968 he presented a new interpretation of Dostoevsky’s enigmatic tale “The Landlady” (Khoziaika) at the International Congress of Slavists, praised highly and noted in the Complete Russian Edition of Dostoevsky’s Works (PSS, v.i, 508). The same year he received a Canada Council Grant to do research in Moscow and Leningrad which led to the publication of his book on Russian Sentimentalism and Preromanticism, the first such study in the West. In 1971 he took a leading part in organizing the founding Symposium of the International Dostoevsky Society (IDS) in Bad Ems. Being Head of the Department at the U. of Western Ontario (UWO) he built up the Slavic library resources (ranked as the third best collection in Canada) and established Polish and Ukrainian Studies at UWO. In the 1970ies he succeeded in locating in London (G.B.) the lost manuscript of a chapter of Dostoevsky’s novel The Insulted and Humiliated from Stefan Zweig’s collection of autographs. (See PSS, v. xvii, 457f.) Being on leave of absence in 1969-70, he assumed the post of Director of the Austrian Cultural Institute in Zagreb and organized the first joint meeting of Austrian and Croatian Slavists after World War 2 in Zagreb. In 1975 he was appointed to the chair of Slavic Studies at the University in Klagenfurt. The major achievement of the ensuing years was the establishment of Slovenian and Croatian/Serbian Studies, and the cultivation of close ties with the U. of Ljubljana. As a result, regular joint conferences, joint publications, and visiting professorships took place. When he retired in 2001 Klagenfurt U. had the best Slovenian Study Program in Austria. From 1971 to 1989 he was editor of the publications of IDS and from 1989 to 1995 its President, since then Honorary President. In these years he gave lectures at Universities in Zagreb, Ljubljana, Cracow, Venice, Padua, Oslo, Tromsǿ, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Columbia (N.Y.) and major Universities in Germany and Austria. In the 1980ies until 1996 he chaired the Austrian Association of Slavists and represented Austria in the International Committee of Slavists. He was a visiting professor at the Universities of Edmonton, Ljubljana, Salzburg and Köln and wrote numerous expert assessments for universities and institutions in Canada (Canada Council), England (Oxford), Germany, Switzerland (Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung) and Slovenia (Ministrstvo za znanost in tehnologijo). He retired in 2001.
In 1995 he was elected Corresponding Member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Rudolf Neuhäuser’s central discipline is Russian Literature in the social, cultural, historical and political context from the early 18th c. to the beginning 21st c. with special attention to the interrelationship with major European literatures, the rise and passage of literary trends. He still serves on the Honorary Board of the International Dostoevsky Society and is a member of the Editorial Board of “Dostoevsky Studies”. He has gained a world-wide reputation as a Dostoevsky specialist .Close to 200 publications are witness to this.
Slovenian Literature became an important second field of interest leading to over a dozen publications and two anthologies of Slovene prose and poetry in translation (in collaboration with colleagues).
For many years Rudolf Neuhäuser has participated actively in university matters as a member of Senate and various committees. He has refounded the local Association of University Professors and has been its Chairman and a member of the Executive of the Austrian University Association (UPV). From 1992 till 2006 he participated in the General Conferences of the OECD’s IMHE Program in Paris. In 2000-01 he sat in the Austrian Parliament’s “Wissenschaftsausschuss” (ÖVP) preparing the new University legislation.

Relevant publications in these areas include :
Books: Towards the Romantic Age. Essays on Sentimental and Preromantic Literature. Nijhoff, The Hague 1974.
The Romantic Age in Russian Literature: Poetic and Esthetic Norms. Sagner, München 1975.
Das Frühwerk Dostoevskijs. Carl Winter, Heidelberg 1979.
F. M. Dostojevskij: Die großen Romane und Erzählungen. Interpretationen und Analysen. Böhlau, Wien-Köln-Weimar 1993.
Dostojewskij im Kreuzverhör. Ein Klassiker der Weltliteratur oder ein Ideologe des neuen Russland? Zwei Abhandlungen. Mattes Verlag: Heidelberg 2008 (co-authored with H.-J. Gerigk).
Articles and Contributions to books: “Nekaj pripomb k evoluciji mladega Župančiča med leti 1895-1899.” Simpozij o Otonu Župančiču, (ed. F. Bernik), SAZU, Ljubljana 1979, 347-367.
„Die russische Literatur zwischen Karamsin und Puschkin.“ Neues Handbuch der Literaturwissenschaft, hg. Klaus von See, Bd. 15. Athenaion, Wiesbaden 1981, 323-354.
"Zur Rolle der Lautinstrumentierung und Lautmetapher im lyrischen Gedicht der Romantik an Hand von Beispielen aus den Poezije von Prešeren.“ Obdobje romantike v slovenskem jeziku, književnosti in kulturi, (ed. B. Paternu), Ljubljana 1981, 177-203.
„Zur Frage des literarischen Biedermeiers in Russland“. Wiener Slawistischer Almanach, 10, 1982, 111-136.
„ ‚Avantgarde’ und ‚Avantgardismus’ in der russischen Literatur.“ Zeitschrift für slavische Philologie, xiv, 1, 1985, 130-152.
“The Russian Short Story 1917-1980.” The Russian Short Story. A Critical History (ed. Charles A. Moser). Twayne Publishers, Boston 1986, 147-190.
„Sound and Meaning in Romantic Poetry: Prešeren’s Poezije.” Russian Literature,
v. xxx, 1991, 85-108.
„Le romantisme russe“, „La critique russe des années 1830-1840“, „Senkovski“, “Les écrivains conservateurs” Histoire de la littérature russe (Le XIXe siècle : L'époque de Pouchkine, Chapitres VII, 407-444 et XIII, 800-843). Arthéme Fayard, Paris, 1995.
“Anton Čechov und Josip Murn: Zur existentiellen Befindlichkeit der Moderne.“ Zadravčev zbornik (Slavistična Revija 45, 1-2. Ed. M. Kmecl, A. Skaza), Ljubljana, 1997, 155-160.
“The Austrian University System in Change: An Adequate Response to New Challenges?” In: Higher Education Mangement, v. x, 1, OECD, Paris, 1998, 55-68.
„Institutional Autonomy versus Government Control. The New University Act in Austria.” Higher Management and Policy Journal, xvi, 1, OECD, Paris 2004, 205-212.
„What is Wrong with America? Dostoevsky and Others. Neoliberalism Criticized from the Point of View of the 19th Century.” Dostoevsky Studies, ix, 2005, 9-30.
„Der Lohn des Glaubens und der Bürger des Kantons Uri: F. M. Dostojewskij und seine Bösen Geister“. Dostoevsky Studies, New Series, v.xiv (2010), 115-144.

Awards and decorations: Emeritus Professor of Alpen-Adria University Klagenfurt (2001). Goldenes Doktorjubiläum (2006). Österreichisches Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst I. Klasse (2008).

(December 2010)