Essay from the year 2022 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: Sehr gut, University of Vienna, language: English, abstract: Walter Abish, born on December 24, 1931, emigrated from Vienna shortly after Austria was annexed to Hitler Germany in March 1938. Later in life, developed a deep interest in authors of experimental literature. Drawn to the functions of semiotic systems, he followed strategies of narrative openness and verbal defamiliarization in his own writing. His innovative literary work made him a leading representative of American postmodernist writing.