Journal of Austrian Studies

Abstract:

In his novella "Die Büste des Kaisers" (1934) and his unfinished novel Erdbeeren, Joseph Roth explored the decline of aristocratic models of gift-giving in the Austro-Hungarian empire. In both works, Roth engages with rituals of "largesse," the practice of standing on a balcony and tossing coins or sweets to the public below. "Die Büste des Kaisers" is oft en taken to be a product of Roth's most conservative phase, a work of imperial nostalgia written during his exile in Paris aft er Hitler's rise to power. Contrasting it with his unfinished novel Erdbeeren, however, reveals an astute analysis of modernity and its transformation of existing models of authority.