Abstract: The present contribution aims to chart the power struggles and constraints within the literary field as well as their effects on that field through an analysis of Austrian official Wolfgang Kraus’s involvement in the Europalia festival of 1987. Since the late 1950s, Kraus had created a comprehensive network spanning all domains of cultural and political life in Austria. As Austria’s postwar identity construct and its image to the outside world became increasingly controversial, the organization of a big international event centered around Austria – the 1987 edition of the Belgian cultural festival, Europalia – presented a challenge to Kraus to which his conservative approach could not provide an appropriate answer.

Keywords: Wolfgang Kraus – cultural field – Austrian literature – Europalia 1987