Bestseller - gestern und heute Albrecht Classen / Eva Parra-Membrives (Hrsg./ Eds.) Ein Blick vom Rand zum Zentrum der Literaturwissenschaft Popular Fiction Studies 2 Bestseller - Yesterday and Today A Look from the Margin to the Center of Literary Studies Bestseller - gestern und heute Bestseller - Yesterday and Today Popular Fiction Studies edited by Eva Parra-Membrives and Albrecht Classen volume 2 Albrecht Classen / Eva Parra-Membrives (Hrsg./ Eds.) Bestseller - gestern und heute Ein Blick vom Rand zum Zentrum der Literaturwissenschaft Bestseller - Yesterday and Today A Look from the Margin to the Center of Literary Studies Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http: / / dnb.dnb.de. Das Werk einschließlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlages unzulässig und strafbar. Das gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung in elektronischen Systemen. Gedruckt auf säurefreiem und alterungsbeständigem Werkdruckpapier. © 2016 · Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG Dischingerweg 5 · D-72070 Tübingen Internet: www.narr.de E-Mail: info@narr.de Printed in Germany ISSN 2197-6392 ISBN 978-3-8233-6938-7 Table of Contents Albrecht Classen Introduction ............................................................................................................. 7 Manuel Almagro Jiménez From Political Vindication to Cultural Politics: The Case of the Chartist Movement .................................................................. 30 Montserrat Bascoy Lamelas Eine Geschichte von Opfern und Helden. Lisa Fittkos Autobiografie Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen ................................................................................. 56 Rocío Carrasco Learning Masculinities through Mainstream Hollywood Cinema. The Blockbuster ..................................................................................................... 67 Albrecht Classen Bestsellers in the European Middle Ages? An Examination of Some of the Most Popular Books in the Premodern Era. With Particular Reflections on Wolfram von Eschenbach´s Parzival ...................... 83 Luis J. Conejero-Magro The Spanish Reception of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas via Víctor Úbeda’s Translation ........................................................................................... 104 Francisco Manuel Mariño Intentionaler Realismus in Goethes Werther als Voraussetzung seiner Popularisierung ...................................................................................... 113 M. Cinta Mesa González A Latino Conversation from the Borderland ................................................. 125 Reinhold Münster Abenteuer erleben auf dem Camino de Santiago: Das Sachbuch als Bestseller .............................................................................. 134 Eva Robustillo Bayón Female detectives in French contemporary crime fiction: Morvan, Parker-Simmons and Khan .............................................................. 149 Table of Contents 6 Ana Rodríguez Domínguez and Silvia Martínez Martínez Irony in Sherlock (BBC, 2010): From Literary to Audiovisual Translation ..................................................... 159 Lorena Silos Ribas Selling the South Seas Vicki Baum’s Liebe und Tod auf Bali .................................................................. 172 Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero “Well, so I did: but yet I did not think / To show to all the world my pen and ink”: John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress as an early bestseller ............................................................................ 184 Juan Miguel Zarandona Vincent Mulberry’s Claudio y la Tabla Redonda (1976) or the Hidden Truths of the Translation / Adaptation of an English Original into a Spanish Bestselling Comic Book ............................. 200 Amira Žmirić Robert Michels Trivialroman Die allerhöchste Frau ........................................ 214 Contributors ......................................................................................................... 226 Index .................................................................................................................... 228 Albrecht Classen Introduction At first sight, bestsellers can be easily defined as books that have sold in very large numbers, which says nothing about the work’s quality or relevance, content or genre, theme or subject matter. There are bestseller lists that inform us regularly about the success of individual item on the book market, and sometimes those titles are then also recognized as major contributions to literature with a capital letter. Scholars, however, tend to be cautious and even suspicious when it comes to bestsellers since such a huge success among the wider reading audience often signals to them that the literary quality might be rather low, appealing to the masses, satisfying simple interests and concerns, relying on unsophisticated language, plain thematic structures, naive configurations of the major characters, and on a stark, mostly binary opposition of good versus evil. Bestsellers, in other words, tend to be the result of mass culture, which is, however, not necessarily a negative judgment, as we will see below. Not surprisingly, this negative evaluation, as relative as it might be, has not diminished the interest in this type of book by literary and social historians who have consistently regarded the bestseller as a fascinating and insightful phenomenon reflecting much on the book market and the reading habits of a certain society at specific times. 1 Bestsellers prove to be a rather amorphous groups of books that often intend to be literary, but which also can be biographical, historical, instructional, religious, and informative. As a rule, the general reader is looking for entertainment, distraction, release from work or other kind of stress, and s/ he is hence searching for 1 See, for instance, Deutsche Bestseller - deutsche Ideologie: Ansätze zu einer Verbraucherpoetik, ed. Heinz Ludwig Arnold (Literaturwissenschaft - Gesellschaftswissenschaft, 15). Stuttgart: Klett, 1975; Werner Faulstich, Bestandsaufnahme Bestseller-Forschung: Ansätze, Methoden, Erträge (Buchwissenschaftliche Beiträge aus dem Deutschen Bucharchiv München, 5) Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1983; Harald Dzubilla: Zwei Handbreit unterm Nabel: Bestseller. Düsseldorf: My Favourite Book, 2001; Marc Keuschnigg: Das Bestseller-Phänomen: die Entstehung von Nachfragekonzentration im Buchmarkt (Forschung und Entwicklung in der Analytischen Soziologie - Research). Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 2012; Bestseller des 21. Jahrhunderts, ed. Martin Huber (Mitteilungen des Deutschen Germanistenverbandes, 57.2). Göttingen: V & R unipress, 2010; The German Bestseller in the Late Nineteenth Century, ed. Charlotte Woodford (Studies in German Literature, Linguistics, and Culture). Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2012. The list of other relevant studies on the bestseller could be easily extended, since there have been bestsellers in most cultural periods and most languages. Albrecht Classen 8 books or other reading (and visual or audio) material that makes possible to forget for a short moment the pressure and anxieties in one’s real life. Good poetry, for instance, that demands attention, critical evaluation, or wants to provoke and stimulate, has hardly ever sold in large numbers because it might be too challenging for the everyday situation. Some writers who received the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature also enjoyed the status of having been authors of bestsellers, such as Thomas Mann (1929) with his Der Zauberberg from 1924 (translated into at least twenty-seven languages; film versions 1968 and 1982, opera versions 2002 and 2010, etc.) 2 and Gabriel García Márquez (1982) with his novel Cien años de soledad from 1967, the latter of which has been translated from Spanish into thirty-seven languages and has sold in more than 30 million copies. 3 Most bookstores, however, survive today (if at all in face of ever changing market conditions with online sales aggressively taking over the traditional selling venues) only if they stock up reading material that sells easily and attracts not only the avid reader and highly motivated individual concerned with expanding his/ her intellectual, spiritual, artistic, or philosophical horizon, but above all the average person whose profession or daily life is not dedicated to literature itself, however we might want to define it. For that reason, attractive but not overly demanding bestsellers that require fairly little in terms of educational background and linguistic sophistication, hence normally not the works by Nobel Prize winners, stand out the most and are those books that easily find their way into the public discourse, are discussed in TV shows, or in other social media. In the context of the U.S. book market, bestsellers are, quite tellingly, commonly sold primarily at bookstores located at airports since many travelers need light but stimulating reading material to cover many hours of flying time. Quite commonly politicians or other public figures, when interviewed by a reporter who might be inquisitive about his or her personal life, education, world view, and mentality, are asked to identify what they have read most recently or what books they regard as influential and important in their lives. These journalists follow the traditional precept acutely formulated in the following, slightly adapted motto: Tell me what you read and I am going to tell you who you are. Similarly, many book clubs, reading circles, public 2 http: / / de.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Der_Zauberberg#Wirkungsgeschichte (last accessed on May 19, 2015). Dealing with the issue of bestsellers requires that here I draw much information, especially quantitative data, from the web. 3 For a list of all Nobel Prize winners, see http: / / www.nobelprize.org/ nobel_prizes/ literature/ laureates/ (last accessed on May 19, 2015); for Márquez, see Gerald Martin, The Cambridge Introduction to Gabriel García Márquez (Cambridge Introductions to Authors). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012); cf. also the compact overview online at http: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ One_Hundred_Years_of_Solitude (last accessed on May 19, 2015). Introduction 9 libraries, and other social groups focus naturally on bestsellers. Once a title has been recognized as a bestseller, the mechanism of self-fulfilling prophecy sets in. When everyone seems to talk about a new and exciting book, the next person also wants to buy it and find out what is so interesting about it. Once a discourse has focused on a bestseller, which might be almost an oxymoron, this book gains an ever growing circle of friends and followers. Each new reader incites others in his/ her social circle to turn to this book as well, and soon enough that title is being sold in millions of copies. A striking example might be the famous Japanese author Haruki Murakami (1949-), whose novels and short stories have been translated into more than fifty languages and sold in millions of copies. 4 Little wonder that The New York Times Best Seller List is so influential for the book market, strongly identifying, or rather determining, public culture because it reflects and at the same time also controls the public taste and culture in terms of reading material. 5 It might be hard to determine what is coming first, the bestseller itself or the bestseller list, the author or the reader (or: the chicken or the egg), but the concept and phenomenon of the bestseller have been around already for a long time. As we can read online, “Although the first best seller list in America was published in 1895, in The Bookman, a best seller list was not published in The New York Times until 36 years later with little fanfare on October 12, 1931.” 6 While the English-language website of Wikipedia dedicated to this phenomenon focuses only on the twentieth century, the German-language version takes a different approach and recognizes that the phenomenon of bestsellers existed already in earlier times: Von Martin Luthers Flugschrift An den christlichen Adel aus dem Jahre 1520 wurden 4.000 Exemplare gedruckt[4] und innerhalb einer Woche verkauft. Sein „Das Newe Testament Deutzsch“ erschien im Folioformat im September 1522 mit einer Auflage zwischen 3.000 und 5.000 Exemplaren.[5] Bereits im Dezember 1522 war eine zweite Auflage erforderlich, eine dritte folgte 1524 und weitere in späteren Jahren; sein Neues Testament entwickelte sich zum Steadyseller und dürfte zu seinen Lebzeiten etwa 200.000 Exemplare verkauft haben.[6] Christian Fürchtegott Gellerts Fabeln und Erzählungen (1746-1748) fanden große Verbreitung. Als 1839 die neue Auflage erschien, war sie inner- 4 http: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Haruki_Murakami (last accessed on May 19, 2015). For the cultural context, see the contributions to Contemporary Japan and Popular Culture, ed. John Whittier Treat (ConsumAsiaN Book Series). Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1996, especially the study by Aoki Tamotsu and Rebecca Suter: The Japanization of Modernity: Murakami Haruki Between Japan and the United States. Boston, MA: Harvard University Asian Center, 2008. 5 http: / / www.nytimes.com/ best-sellers-books/ (last accessed on May 19, 2015). 6 http: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ New_York_Times_Best_Seller_list (last accessed on May 19, 2015). Albrecht Classen 10 halb weniger Monate vergriffen; rasch hintereinander folgten drei weitere Auflagen. 7 [Martin Luther’s broadsheet An den christlichen Adel from 1520 was printed in 4000 copies and sold within one week. His Das Newe Testament Deutzsch appeared in folio format in September 1522 with a print run betweeen 3000 and 5000 copies. Already in December 1522 a second edition was necessary; a third followed in 1524, and others in the subsequent years; his New Testament turned into a steadyseller since ca. 200,000 copies were sold during his lifetime. Christian Fürchtegott Gellert’s Fabeln und Erzählungen (1746-1748) were widely distributed. When the new edition appeared in 1839, it was sold within few months; three more editions then appeared in rapid succession.] These remarks alert us to two fascinating conclusions. First, bestsellers appeared in print already in much earlier times than we might have assumed today. Moreover, as the contribution to the present volume by Albrecht Classen will demonstrate, we can even trace this phenomenon further back to the Middle Ages, when texts were disseminated only in manuscripts, i.e., texts written by hand on animal skin (parchment). The issue of the bestseller’ can already be observed then because some texts were hugely successful, as documented by a vast number of copies preserved or by numerous references to the original writer by contemporaries or later poets. But the really important realization consists of the observation that a bestseller, especially in the medieval context, must not necessarily be a novel, a fictional account, a short story, or the like. Didactic or pragmatic texts have often reached a much wider audience than courtly romances and poetry. In sum, we would certainly be entitled to call ‘Books of Hours’ or sermons also bestsellers because of their wide dissemination throughout the late Middle Ages, in many ways anticipating, despite (or for that time, just because of) their strong religious content, the modern graphic novel. 8 And in the present situation (2015) we observe a remarkable shift from print-culture to electronic media in which a vast amount of literature is produced and posted online, reaching millions of new readers. Countless readers today demonstrate a remarkable interest in the socalled ‘fantasy’ novel which is commonly based on medieval themes, such as the epic book series A Song of Ice and Fire (begun in 1991 and first published in 1996) by George R. R. Martin (the “American Tolkien” 9 ), inspired by the Wars of the Roses and Ivanhoe, which became the source text for the film series 7 http: / / de.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Bestseller (last accessed on May 19, 2015). 8 Painted Prayers: The Book of Hours in Medieval and Renaissance Art, ed. Roger S. Wieck. New York: Braziller, 1997; Albrecht Classen: “The Book of Hours in the Middle Ages.” In Futhark: Revista de Investigación y Cultura 2 (2007), pp. 111-29. 9 This was the title given him by Time Magazine, Nov. 13, 2005; see: http: / / content.time.com/ time/ magazine/ article/ 0,9171,1129596,00.html (last accessed on June 24, 2015). Introduction 11 Game of Thrones by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss (since 2011). 10 We observe, in other words, an increasing intertwining of the printed bestseller with the cinematic and video medium, both supporting each other in unique ways. More specifically, there are many different kinds of books that sell in huge numbers, or that have been extremely popular in past and present. Many of them we would not categorize as literary texts, i.e., fictional, or at least written with a particularly aesthetic ambition to draw the best out of language and to transform reality by means of words. There are, for instance, cook books, guide books, travelogues, manuals of many different kinds, but then also maps, charts, school textbooks, and the like. For example, in his contribution to this volume, Reinhold Münster examines the genre of highly popular pilgrimage guide books for Compostella from the late Middle Ages to the present, which experience ever new manifestations and transformations because the quest for spiritual guidance, both in the past in in our postmodern world continues to hold sway. Then there are large numbers of prayer books, hymnals, bibles, and we could easily add many other types of religiously inspired texts that were printed in hundreds of thousands of copies. Sermons, for instance, were extremely popular already since the late Middle Ages. 11 The same applies to religious tracts and similar narratives, such as the Imitatio Christi by Thomas à Kempis. 12 At the same time we should also not neglect to mention the vastly expanding genre of prose novels and prose narratives from the middle of the fifteenth century onward, such as Thüring von Ringoltingen’s Melusine (1456) or Eleonore of Austria’s Pontus und Sidonia (ca. 1450-1460), many of which certainly enjoyed the status of bestsellers, often as the result of the newly invented printing press by Johann Gutenberg (ca. 1450). 13 However, 10 http: / / www.georgerrmartin.com/ .https: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ A_Song_of_Ice_ and_Fire. See also https: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Geoge_R._R._ Martin. For the film series, see https: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Game_of_ Thrones (all last accessed on June 24, 2015). 11 See, for instance, Hans-Jochen Schiewer: “Die Schwarzwälder Predigten”: Entstehungs- und Überlieferungsgeschichte der Sonntags- und Heiligenpredigten; mit einer Musteredition (Münchener Texte und Untersuchungen zur deutschen Literatur des Mittelalters 105). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 1996; Die Predigt im Mittelalter zwischen Mündlichkeit, Bildlichkeit und Schriftlichkeit, ed. René Wetzel and Fabrice Flückiger (Medienwandel - Medienwechsel - Medienwissen 13). Zürich: Chronos, 2010. The research literature on this topic is simply legion and cannot be listed here in detail. Most famous Christian theologians throughout time held sermons and made those available for readers, so we are really dealing with an enormous flood of relevant texts in countless languages. 12 Maximilian von Habsburg: Catholic and Protestant Translations of the Imitatio Christi, 1425-1650: From Late Medieval Classic to Early Modern Bestseller (St. Andrews Studies in Reformation History). Farnham, Surrey, England; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2011. 13 Hugo Kuhn: “Versuch über das 15. Jahrhundert in der deutschen Literatur.“ In Kuhn: Liebe und Gesellschaft (Kleine Schriften 3). Stuttgart: Metzler, 1980, pp. 135-55; Barbara Weinmayer: Studien zur Gebrauchssituation früher deutscher Druckprosa (Münchener Tex- Albrecht Classen 12 religious literature produced in the following centuries undoubtedly continued to outpace secular literature in quantitative, often also in qualitative terms, as Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero illustrates in his contribution, focusing on the astounding bestseller, John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (first part appeared in 1678). Because of its strong reliance on allegory - just as in the case of Guillaume de Lorris’ and Jean de Meun’s Roman de la rose (ca. 1230 and ca. 1270) - then a simplified theological teaching, the reliance on the narrative structure of the quest, and the straightforward discussion of good versus evil as they affect the protagonist, Bunyan was able to reach many different audiences throughout time, appealing both to the ordinary reader and the learned audience. His The Pilgrim’s Progress thus represents one of the most successful bestsellers in the early modern period. Would we also have to include newspapers and news magazines, as they emerged since the seventeenth century, among bestsellers as well? What about telephone books, manuals for machines and gadgets, and other practical texts? However, here we would have to draw a line since that excessively inclusive approach might be too challenging or problematic, opening floodgates that would inundate us with all sorts of further complications in the examination of bestsellers since then any large number of a print-run would mean very little. So, for the present purposes, I will leave them aside and focus on individually printed items/ books with a literary but not always fictional, then philosophical, or religious content. Nevertheless, to revisit the question once again, can we rely on quantita- tive categories in order to gain insights into qualitative conditions? Would a highly popular book simply not fall into the category of canonical ‘literature’ because so many people enjoy it? Vice versa, could we argue that a novel, for instance, gains in status because only an elite circle of readers has turned to it and accepted it as remarkable and worthwhile their attention? Neither proposition would hold up against any critical examination because we know of many really important books (judging on their impact factor) have reached millions of readers. 14 But could we assume that truly elaborate and te und Untersuchungen zur deutschen Literatur des Mittelalters 77). Munich: Artemis Verlag, 1982; Albrecht Classen: The German Volksbuch: A Critical History of a Late- Medieval Genre (Studies in German Language and Literature 15). Lewiston, Queenston, and Lampeter: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1995. 14 See, for instance, Claude Cockburn: Bestseller: The Books that Everyone Read: 1900-1939. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1972. For modern German bestsellers, see the contributions to Mitteilungen des Deutschen Germanistenverbandes: Bestseller des 21. Jahrhunderts, ed. Martin Huber (Mitteilungen des Deutschen Germanistenverbandes 57,2). Göttingen: V & R Unipress, 2010. For more fundamental studies of this phenomen, see Heinz Ludwig Arnold: Deutsche Bestseller - deutsche Ideologie: Ansätze zu einer Verbraucherpoetik (Literaturwissenschaft, Gesellschaftswissenschaft 15). Stuttgart: Klett, 1975; Helmut Popp: Der Bestseller. 2nd improved and expanded ed. (Studientexte für die Kollegstufe). Mu- Introduction 13 powerful novels, short stories, poems, or plays are always determined by an esoteric, high-level, elaborate linguistic code, whereas bestsellers tend to be characterized by the opposite feature? Are all detective stories, adventure novels, Gothic literature, or fairy tales - each term being just an umbrella for a wide range of sub-genres - nothing but trivial and secondary? 15 Raising this question is tantamount to denying it immediately since we must discriminate much more carefully to do justice to the matter at hand. Many great works of literature are detective stories, for instance, and while many representatives are certainly rather trivial, many can demonstrate literary brilliance. When they gain in reputation and turn into bestsellers, then this might be explained with a reference to various level of meaning and thematic orientation, each appealing to different segments of the reading or reception audience. 16 Some modern bestsellers stand out just because of their technically sophisticated language, such as David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas (2004), or countless other science-fiction novels. This sophistication can be an enormous challenge for translators, who thus could make or break a bestseller in their own countries, as Luis J. Conejero-Magro elucidates in his critical review of the Spanish translation by Víctor Vicente Úbeda Fernández (2012). In other words, bestsellers are not at all automatically simplistic in their content, structure, or lexicon. nich: Oldenbourg, 1978; Bestseller und Bestsellerforschung, ed. Christine Haug (Kodex 2). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2012. 15 For a challenging but still trenchant definition of triviality, see Georg Lukács: Theorie des Romans: Ein geschichtsphilosophischer Versuch über die Formen der großen Epik (orig. 1920). Darmstadt and Neuwied: Hermann Luchterhand-Verlag, 1977, p. 48: “jede Leichtigkeit oder Blässe, die freilich nichts mit dem banausischen Begriff von Unlebendigkeit zu tun hat, zeigt, daß die normativ tragische Gesinnung nicht vorhanden war, zeigt, bei aller psychologischen Feinheit und lyrischen Sorgfalt der Einzelerfindung, die Trivialität des Werkes auf” (every levity or paleness, which, however, has nothing to do with the banal concept of lack of vivaciousness, demonstrate that the normative, tragic attitude was not present, and reveals further, irrespective of all psychological finesse and lyrical carefulness in individual creativity, the triviality of the work). For a specialized study on French detective novels with a female protagonist, see the contribution to this volume by Eva Robustillo Bayón. For a critical approach to triviality in modern literature, see Eva Parra Membrives: “Destrivializando lo trivial: Reflexiones en torno a la necesidad de una nueva orientación crítico-literaria.” In Trivialidades Literarias: reflexiones en torno a la literatura de entretenimiento, ed. eadem (Biblioteca filológica hispana 144). Madrid: Visor Libros, D.L. 2013, pp. 3-17 (with a solid bibliography). Although this book has not yet found much attention, the other contributions also offer valuable insights into the larger issue. 16 A Companion to Crime Fiction, ed. Charles J. Rzepka and Lee Horsley (Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture 66). Chichester, UK, and Malden, MA: Wiley- Blackwell, 2010. Albrecht Classen 14 We have explored some of these global problematic issues already in the previous volume of our series, Literatur am Rand, 17 but now the focus turns to the topic of the bestseller, which also requires from us to investigate in depth what the full meaning of ‘literature’ might be altogether. As the term implies, the question is how to evaluate really popular texts, how to situate them within the so-called ‘canon’ of German, English, Spanish, French, Japanese or any other literature, and how to project some categories that allow us to understand their significance, after all. German Studies, for instance, is no longer simply concerned with the tradition of the history of German literature, but with the culture of the German-speaking countries, which also includes texts that are written by German speakers in North and South America, Australia, and in various parts of Africa. 18 But from a more global perspective, here we look specifically at individual texts that appealed to many different people throughout the world, so the number of translations proves to be quite revealing. After all, a bestseller is a text that offers something for all kinds of tastes and interests, and this often beyond many cultural, religious, or political borders. It would not be correct to claim that a bestseller achieves its marketing success only because all readers represent the same educational, social, religious, or cultural background, are of the same age or gender group, or pursue the same interests. Umberto Eco (1932-)’s famous Il nome della rosa (1980; The Name of the Rose), for instance, was a world bestseller, translated into many languages, and it continues until today to be accepted as an intriguing and fascinating novel set in the Middle Ages; it was even made to a movie in 1986. Eco’s work not only appealed to vast numbers of readers, it also spawned numerous other literary works, and even operas, board and video games influenced by his novel. 19 Not only did Eco draw from many different literary and philosophical works he was familiar with (Jorge Luis Borges, Rudyard Kipling, Ludwig Wittgenstein, et al.), he also utilized a variety of 17 Literatur am Rand: Perspektiven der Trivialliteratur vom Mittelalter bis zum 21. Jahrhundert, ed. Albrecht Classen and Eva Parra-Membrives (Popular Fiction Studies 1). Tübingen: Narr Verlag, 2013. 18 Claus Altmayer: „Was ist ‚deutsche Kultur? : Zum Gegenstand der Kulturstudien im Fach Deutsch als Fremdsprache aus transkultureller Perspektive.“ In Transcultural German Studies / Deutsch als Fremdsprache: Building Bridge / Brücken bauen, ed. Steven D. Martinson and Renate A. Schulz (Jahrbuch für Internationale Germanistik. Reihe A. Kongressberichte 94). Bern, Berlin, et al.: Peter Lang, 2008, pp. 25-37; see also the fascinating contributions to Transkulturalität - Identitäten in neuem Licht: Asiatische Germanistentagung in Kanazawa 2008, ed. Maida Ryozo. Munich: Iudicium, 2012, raising similar questions and offering a variety of different answers regarding the meaning of culture. 19 http: / / it.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Il_nome_della_rosa; the English version overlaps, but contains additional or simply other information: http: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ The_Name_of_the_Rose (last accessed on May 19, 2015). Introduction 15 historical sources and thus created a most complex, intricate detective story that has been hailed as a literary masterpiece of the late twentieth century. At the same time, The Name of the Rose has emerged as a bestseller, defying all previous attempts by certain scholars to ridicule such success stories on the book market as mediocre in their literary quality. One of the major reasons for Eco’s accomplishments with his novel consists of the multi-level approach of his text. It is not necessary to understand all the historical and literary-philosophical allusions, but those who comprehend some of the intellectual games which the author plays can enjoy them which enhances their reading pleasure. Those who find Il nome della rosa simply entertaining or fascinating, or those who delight in the medieval setting, have also responded very positively to this major work, and altogether these ‘customers’ have made Eco’s novel to a true bestseller. As Ted Goia notes in his review, “The book also follows the familiar genre patterns of the mystery - think of it as a cross between Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and Aquinas’s Summa Theologica.” 20 Irrespective of the media through which individuals engage with this novel (printed text, movie, video game, rock music, opera), it has appealed to many different consumers, being accessible for a vast variety of interests, educational backgrounds, age groups, cultural groups, etc. It might be a considerable stretch to compare Eco’s The Name of the Rose with any of the highly popular adventure novels by Karl May (1842-1912), 21 especially if we consider the different approaches by May to his literary sources (or lack thereof), the typical, regularly repeated structure of his novels, and identical thematic patterns throughout his entire vast œuvre. Nevertheless, May continues to enjoy highest respect and admiration - though this might be waning among the present generation - at least in Germanspeaking lands. He was certainly a bestseller author, and the reasons for his success are not difficult to fathom, although he tended to include long, and for some people rather boring landscape descriptions. 22 His novels have 20 Ted Goia, http: / / www.postmodernmystery.com/ name_of_the_rose.html (last accessed on May 19, 2015). See also the contributions to Para leer “El nombre de la rosa” de Umberto Eco: sus temas históricos, filosóficos y políticos, ed. Francisco Bertelloni (Cursos y conferencias. Segunda época 6). Buenos Aires: Secretaria de Extensión Universitaria, Facultad de Filosofiía y Letras, Oficina de Publicaciones, 1997; Postscript to the Middle Ages: Teaching Medieval Studies Through The Name of the Rose, ed. Alison Ganze (Medieval Studies). Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2009. 21 Karl-May-Welten, ed. Jürgen Wehnert and Michael Petzel, 5 vols. Bamberg: Karl-May- Verlag, 2005-2012; see also the contributions to the Karl-May-Handbuch, ed. Gert Ueding together with Klaus Rettner. 2nd expanded and rev. ed. Orig. 1987; Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2001. May’s works continue to be re-published and research on his novels and other works continues quite energetically. 22 http: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Karl_May (last accessed on May 19, 2015). Albrecht Classen 16 been translated into more than forty languages, and the sold copies amount to more than 200 million copies. 23 Even though some scholars have worked with May’s many texts, he is still generally regarded and appreciated only as a popular writer, producing mostly trivial novels and other texts. As Peter Nusser comments, he designed his novels according to simple patterns, with the German hero always achieving every one of his goal, being clearly the good one fighting evil characters, espousing a strong Christian patriotism coupled with exciting and terrifying struggles and escape strategies. The North-American, by now actually global, audience would compare him, for instance, with the main character in the movie series Indiana Jones first launched in 1981. 24 In Nusser’s words, May created identificatory figures for a mass audience, “das Bedürfnisse nach Anerkennung, Macht, Unersetzbarkeit usw. während der Lektüre wenigstens in der Phantasie ausleben konnte” (which could live out its needs for recognition, power, irreplaceability etc. in its fantasy at least during the reading process). 25 Bestsellers often tend to do that, and hence their great appeal to the masses. This is not, however, a negative judgment, that is, not a criticism by itself, since bestsellers simply serve their own purposes and are necessary contributions to the complex book market today and also in the past, hence to the larger culture, high and low. In our day and age, for instance, bestsellers such as J. K. Rowling (1965-)’s individual books about Harry Potter in her book series launched in 1997 have triggered a huge wave of reading enthusiasm all over the globe especially by younger people, many of whom even took on the original English version and thus improved their English language skills. There are many avenues to use Rowling’s novels even for a variety of teaching purposes, all depending, of course, on the specific class goals. 26 Very similar to her case, Kenneth Martin Follett (1949-) has achieved world fame with his so far twenty-nine thrillers and historical novels, which have sold in more than 130 million copies worldwide, such as his most popular The Pillars of the Earth from 1989. 27 23 http: / / de.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Karl_May (last accessed on May 19, 2015). 24 http: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Indiana_Jones (last accessed on May 19, 2015). 25 Peter Nusser: Deutsche Literature: Eine Sozial- und Kulturgeschichte. Vom Barock bis zur Gegenwart. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2012, p. 440. 26 Teaching with Harry Potter: Essays on Classroom Wizardry from Elementary School to College, ed. Valerie Estelle Frankel. Jefferson, NC, and London: McFarland, 2013. See also Sandra Bak: Harry Potter: auf den Spuren eines zauberhaften Bestsellers (Europäische Hochschulschriften. Reihe 1: Deutsche Sprache und Literatur, 1889). Frankfurt a. M. et al.: Peter Lang, 2004. 27 http: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Ken_Follett; http: / / ken-follett.com/ en/ ; http: / / kenfollett. com/ bibliography/ the_pillars_of_the_earth/ index.html (last accessed on May 19, 2015). Introduction 17 At the same time, we could point to countless other bestsellers that would not even deserve any serious attention, and which certainly would not have a place in any school or college setting. Bestsellers, in other words, prove to be a curious phenomenon which literary scholars almost have difficulties with. 28 The large number of copies sold seems to indicate a certain qualitative level (low), but we know of too many examples of bestsellers that prove to be, after all, profound works of literature (high). It all depends on individual cases, on cultural conditions, on institutions or groups supporting an individual text, and on marketing strategies by publishers. Political movements such as the Chartists in mid nineteenth-century England (ca. 1837‒ca. 1854) heavily relied on the print media to propagate their ideals and values, and achieved some of their successes by way of producing bestsellers, so to speak, addressing the ordinary person among the working class, appealing to their own concerns and reflecting on their daily lives. The newspaper The Northern Star proved to be one of the central organs for the Chartists, and here we find a vast amount of Chartist literature that today holds more historical than literary interests. In his contribution to our volume, Manuel Almagro Jiménez examines the entire movement and focuses on their many different publications (newspapers and pamphlets, but then also serialized novels, poetry and songs, short stories and novels), which ultimately established a basis for the subsequent rise of socialist literature produced since the late nineteenth century well into the late twentieth century. Although the Chartists pursued primarily political goals, they understood well how to utilize these popular media and could thus reach vast audiences. Most famously, Ernest Jones, Thomas Martin Wheeler, Elizabeth Gaskell, or Charles Kingsley, among others, created bestsellers which reflected their new aesthetic ideals and laid the foundation for a new focus in the literary discourse of their time. Admitted, bestsellers often tend to be trivial literature, as Amira Žmirić illustrates in her article on Robert Michel’s novel Die allerhöchste Frau (1947) in the present volume, which is characterized by typical narrative and stylistic features revealing how much the author simply followed traditional patterns and stereotypical concepts. Michel portrayed the life of the famous, almost idolized Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837-1898), sentimentally called “Sissi,” but although this novel has not attracted much attention by scholarship, it proves to be relevant in our context because it continues the literary efforts to idealize this female representative of the Habsburg dynasty and relies, as its numerous predecessors, on standard features of trivial literature. 28 But see the insightful study by David Viñas Piquer: El enigma bestseller. Fenómenos extraños en el campo literario. Barcelona: Ariel, 2009. Albrecht Classen 18 But other works, such as Lisa Fittko’s autobiography Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen (1985), here studied by Montserrat Bascoy Lamelas, have proven to be highly popular particularly because of the valuable historical and literary information contained in them. Fittko reported at one point especially about her efforts to guide refugees from the Nazi persecutions across the Pyrenees, among them famous Walter Benjamin, which has attracted huge interest far and wide. Fittko’s account proves to be well written, serious, critical, and rich in the material about historical events seen from her personal perspective, and there is nothing that might smack of ‘triviality’ here. Similarly, sometimes ‘classical’ authors such as William Shakespeare or Johann Wolfgang Goethe have not only gained a status as the supreme voice of their age, culture, and language. Some of their works were read not only by the intellectual elite, but by a wide range of individuals as well, who thus made some of the works by those authors to bestsellers. Francisco Manuel Mariño demonstrates this through his analysis of Goethe’s famous Sorrows of Young Werther, first published in 1774, which he revised in 1778, and which became, in both versions, a true success story on the European book market. 29 As sentimental or passionate as this short epistolary novel might be, it contains numerous features which we would normally expect in literature produced in the age of realism. There are, for instance, direct references to the real world as observed by Werther and the personal address to the reader. Then we notice seemingly precise biographical information provided about the protagonist and a clear time framework, not to forget both the fictional necessity to keep the names of important individuals a secret and the allusions to famous literary works, such as Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s Emilia Galotti. All these narrative elements contributed to the establishment of a surprisingly realistic panopticon supporting the account of this suicidal character who at the end willingly accepts his own death because he cannot gain Lotte’s love and is a misfit in the encrusted aristocratic society. Of course, all this does not change our traditional assessment that Werther was a key narrative for the movement of Storm and Stress, but Mariño offers solid and far-reaching explanations for the stunning success of this epistolary novel on the European book market both immediately after its first publication and in the following centuries, virtually until today, considering that it has become a staple item in countless school and university reading lists until today. An intriguing example of a literary work that had a mass appeal both in its original language and in many different translations proves to be the 29 Giganten: große Wegbereiter der Moderne, ed. Hans-Christian Huf. Berlin: List, 2006. See also Reinhold Knoll: „Goethes Werther: der erste Fall von Borderline ein Bestseller.“ In Biblos 54 (2005), 1, 119-128. Of course, the scholarship on Goethe, and so on his Werther, is legion. Introduction 19 modern German novel Der Vorleser by Bernhard Schlink (1944-) from 1995, first published in English in the U.S. under the title The Reader in 1997. Impressively, it was the first German novel translated into that language to reach the top of the bestseller list of The New York Times in 1999. 30 Of course, we must not overlook that it gained much of its fame especially after it had been introduced to the American public in the Oprah’s Book Club (television) in that same year. Schlink’s novel has by now been translated into at least fifty languages and has gained a number of book prizes. Most curiously, The Reader has deeply appealed both to the general readers and to literary scholars, who have both praised and criticized that novel, detecting both elements of triviality and sophisticated literary quality. 31 This novel offers intriguing perspectives of and for the post-war generation in Germany, and adds a fascinating new angle to Holocaust literature, taking us far into the late twentieth century and confronting even the modern readers with the question of guilt, both by the actual perpetrators and by their descendants. Normally one would assume that the central themes, following the usual “Nabelschau” (studying one’s own navel; i.e., introspection) characteristic of post-war German literature would be appealing mostly to a German audience, but the opposite has been the case, especially in North America, where it has been outselling even Andrew Morton’s biography of Monica Lewinsky, Monica’s Story (1999), famous, or rather notorious, for her sexual relationship with President Clinton. 32 There are many aspects to Schlink’s novel, which finds admirers and detractors, and this dialectical situation invites many controversial discussions and appeals to a variety of interests, concerns, and inquiries. In other words, this bestseller specifically defies the usual concept scholars might have of this genre. Great popularity in numerical terms hence is not sufficient for a critical examination of a text, as most of the holy books of all world religions have demonstrated as well, as different as their literary-social context has certainly been. The very same situation now determines the way how Schlink’s latest novel, Die Frau auf der Treppe (2014), is viewed by the critics, some of whom condemn it as kitsch, while others pay considerable respect to the author’s precise, compact, insightful, and meaningful development of his topic. 33 Hence, all this casts a curious light on the phenomenon of the bestseller and alerts us once again to the fact that purely quantitative criteria do not 30 http: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ The_Reader (last accessed on May 19, 2015). 31 Manfred Heigenmoser: Bernhard Schlink, Der Vorleser (Erläuterungen und Dokumente). Stuttgart: Reclam, 2005. 32 http: / / www.nytimes.com/ 1999/ 03/ 30/ books/ seeking-guilt-finding-fame-german-snovel-ofnazi-era-becomes-a-us-best-seller.html (last accessed on May 19, 2015). 33 http: / / www.literaturkritik.de/ public/ rezension.php? rez_id=19889 (last accessed on May 19, 2015). Albrecht Classen 20 help us in assessing a literary text all by itself. Most bestsellers come and go without leaving much of an imprint on people’s minds and on literary scholarship, but some stand out and remain major contributions to their culture because they have meaning and provide relevance. This also applies to a genre that is normally not considered in this context, but which has certainly witnessed the emergence of major bestsellers, such as the fairy tale. While highly popular primarily since the early nineteenth century, it is currently going through astounding transformations by means of the electronic media, the movie industry, and others formats. 34 The fairy tale is represented in virtually all cultures across the world, and the Grimms’ fairy tales have certainly enjoyed the status of bestsellers ever since their first appearance in 1812. 35 Quite a number of texts for young readers have also experienced tremendous success in their original language and in multiple translations, such as Michael Ende’s fascinating and most meaningful novel Momo: Die seltsame Geschichte von den Zeit-Dieben (1973; Momo, or the Strange History of the Time Thieves), which was made into several films (1975, 1986, 2001) and radio plays (1984, 1999, 2008, 2013), and once even into an opera (1978). In 2007 the artist Ulrike Enders created a sculpture of the central figure, Momo. Characteristic of enjoying the status of a bestseller, Momo was subsequently translated into many languages and can now almost be considered a world ‘classic’ since it enjoys great popularity both in Germany and all over the world and appeals both to young and old readers. Similarly, we also ought to consider the enormously successful genre of the comic book, as illustrated here by Juan Miguel Zarandona in his study on the intriguing and highly popular Claudio y la Tabla Redonda by Vincent Mulburry (1976; Víctor Mora Pujadas was the original author who used that name as a pseudonym), produced by the Spanish publishing house Editorial Bruguera. One of their most successful selling strategies was to adapt a large number of world literature classics into the genre of the comic book, including the Arthurian material, as in the case of Claudio. The world of graphic novels knows of millions of other examples from all over the world profiting from the enormous appeal exerted by the intimate interaction between words and images, such as in the case of the French series Asterix et Obelix, which was also translated into many lan- 34 Vanessa Joosen, and Gillian Lathey, ed.: Grimms’ Tales Around the Globe: The Dynamics of Their International Reception. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2014. Jack Zipes: Grimm Legacies: The Magic Spell of the Grimms’ Folk and Fairy Tales. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2015. 35 Jack Zipes: The Golden Age of Folk and Fairy Tales: From the Brothers Grimm to Andrew Lang. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, 2013. Their origin, particularly in oral form, goes much further back, of course; see the useful survey article online: http: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Fairy_tale (last accessed on June 10, 2015). Introduction 21 guages, 36 or the US-American comic series of the Peanuts. 37 However, we can trace the history of the graphic novel even as far back as the Middle Ages, if we consider, for instance, the Biblia pauperum, that is, the illustrated bibles produced in large numbers and finding countless customers already at that time. 38 After all, images that convey easy messages have always appealed to more people than abstract texts without images. Nevertheless, this does not mean that all bestsellers throughout time were of a low-quality caliber, as we have already seen above. A striking example, apart from the Bible, would be the highly influential philosophical treatise De consolatione philosophiae by Boethius (d. ca. 525), which was read throughout the entire Middle Ages and far beyond and can thus be categorized as a bestseller as well. 39 The present volume intends to offer a variety of case studies, taking us as far back as the Middle Ages and moving quickly forward to the present time, and it extends an invitation to take bestsellers much more seriously than before because they can inform us so broadly and so deeply about the role of literature for the public, for the various levels of cultural development, and because they have had such a deep impact on both the popular and elite culture, and hence matter significantly for cultural studies. I would venture to claim that every literary period has produced and witnessed its own bestsellers, whether those books were sold in million copies or whether they have survived until today in a few hundred manuscripts. 40 A good 36 André Stoll: Asterix, das Trivialepos Frankreichs: die Bild- und Sprachartistik eines Bestseller- Comics. 3rd. ed. (DuMont-Kunst-Taschenbücher 17). Cologne: DuMont, 1977. 37 Ricarda Strobel: Die ‘Peanuts’ - Verbreitung und ästhetische Formen: ein Comic-Bestseller im Medienverbund (Reihe Siegen 77. Germanistische Abteilung). Heidelberg: Winter, 1987. 38 Franz Simmler: „Grundlagen einer Typologie religiöser Textsorten vom 2. Viertel des 15. Jahrhunderts bis zur Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts: die Textsorten ‘(Geoffenbarte) Erzählung’, ‘(Geoffenbarter) Bericht’, ‘Historienbibel’ und ‘Biblia pauperum’.“ In Textsortentypologien und Textallianzen von der Mitte des 15. bis zur Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts: Akten zum internationalen Kongress in Berlin 21. bis 25. Mai 2003, ed. id. (Berliner sprachwissenschaftliche Studien 6). Berlin: Weidler, 2004, pp. 343-427. See also the brief survey online at http: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Biblia_pauperum (last accessed on June 10, 2015); cf. also the collection of relevant studies in Pictorial Narrative in Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Proceedings of the Symposium Pictorial Narrative in Antiquity and the Middle Ages . . . held in Baltimore on 16 - 17 March 1984, ed. Herbert L. Kessler and Marianna Shreve Simpson (Studies in the History of Art 16). Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1985. 39 Maarten J. F. M. Hoenen: Boethius in the Middle Ages: Latin and Vernacular Traditions of the Consolatio philosophiae (Studien und Texte zur Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters 58). Leiden and Boston: Brill, 1997. See also the contributions to A Companion to Boethius in the Middle Ages, ed. Noel Harold Kaylor and Dario Brancato (Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition 30). Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2012. 40 Donald Ray Richards: The German Bestseller in the 20th Century: A Complete Bibliography and Analysis, 1915-1940 (German Studies in America 2). Bern: Lang, 1968; The German Bestseller in the Late Nineteenth Century, ed. Charlotte Woodford and Benedict Schofield (see note 1). For socio-economic perspectives, see the contributions to Bestseller Global- Albrecht Classen 22 example from around 1800 would be Christian August Vulpius (1762-1827) who achieved, much in contrast to his famous brother-in-law, Goethe, a phenomenal success with his wildly romantic novel Rinaldo Rinaldini (1797; German film version in 1927; German TV series in 1968). 41 We are currently experiencing a transformation of the medium through which people digest literature altogether, whether they read online or with the help of an electronic book, such as the Kindle. But the phenomenon of the bestseller does not disappear, on the contrary. In fact, the often voiced fear of the death of the book is one of the many premature obituaries that have not become realities. Bestsellers, irrespective of the media, come and go, and many of them are rather mediocre works, but some can also be considered outstanding contributions to literature with a capital ‘L.’ In order to do justice to this broad and fascinating phenomenon, which combines sociological and economic aspects with literary criticism, hermeneutics, and epistemology, the contributors to the present volume offer a variety of specific examples of bestsellers from the Middle Ages, the early modern time, and from the last half century. The study of bestsellers allows us, to be sure, to understand much about popular culture, common values and ideals, general perceptions about political and social conditions. This also applies to movies, and especially to blockbusters, which have deeply influenced public culture especially in the USA and all over the Western world. Rocío Carrasco, in his contribution, offers a critical reading of the image of masculinity as portrayed in Hollywood blockbusters from the late 20th to the 21st century, outlining practical steps how to utilize this filmic media for teaching purposes on gender roles. Those popular films have regularly deeply impacted popular culture and have both shaped and reflected dominant concepts about male roles. Irrespective of their often rather low cinematographic quality, they allow extensive insight into changing ideas about masculinity in contemporary Western society and thus prove to be of high pedagogical value. Crime novels, or detective novels, have also become highly attractive for the masses of readers today. Even though not an entirely modern genre, they still represent very much what contemporary audiences are looking for. For that reason crime stories on television also prove to be greatly successful, probably because they reflect on law and order as the ordinary framework isierung: wirtschaftliche Verflechtungen zwischen Euphorie und Polemik, ed. Manfred Prisching (Reihe Sozialethik der Österreichischen Forschungsgemeinschaft 5). Vienna: Passagen Verlag, 2002. 41 Roberto Simanowski: Die Verwaltung des Abenteuers: Massenkultur um 1800 am Beispiel Christian August Vulpius (Palaestra: Untersuchungen zur europäischen Literatur 302). Göttingen: V & R unipress, 1998; see also the contributions to Lesekultur: populäre Lesestoffe von Gutenberg bis zum Internet, ed. Hans-Friedrich Foltin (Schriften der Universitätsbibliothek 93). Marburg: Universitäts-Bibliothek, 1999. Introduction 23 for most people and then illustrate how that framework can be deconstructed, creating a certain excitement and intrigue which liberates the viewers or readers from their own trivial and banal existence. Eva Robustillo Bayón, focusing on this genre, takes into view how three bestselling French crime story authors, Andrea H. Japp, Dominique Sylvain, and Maud Tabachnik, develop their female police detectives as individuals and as idiosyncratic investigators who often do not even hesitate the break the law themselves in order to crack the mystery. The large number of reprints and translations confirms that those innovative approaches, having professional women solve crime problems very much in their own ways, strongly contributed to these novels quickly emerging as impressive bestsellers. The same phenomenon can be observed in other literary markets as well, as Imelda Whelehan illustrates with respect to feminist bestsellers. 42 The enormous popularity of the Sherlock Holmes detective stories, first created by the Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887, over the last 128 years until today is fully documented by countless novels, short stories, and more than 200 modern movie versions, such as the BBC series from 2010. 43 In their contribution, Ana Rodríguez Domínguez and Silvia Martínez Martínez apply the theoretical concepts of intersemiotic translation for an analysis of how irony, already originally a major feature of this literary figure, transpired into the modern movie version without major changes. Although the TV series is set in modern Britain, with the characters using all the new technology available, in essence the characteristic irony determining the original protagonist is still present without any significant changes. As the two authors argue, this bestseller achieved one of its hallmarks through the timeless quality of Holmes’s ever pungent irony, as the filmic version of 2010, among many others, illustrates. Most interestingly for contemporary society, literature at borderlands all over the world challenges the mainstream culture and permeates it at the same time. M. Cinta Mesa González discusses the highly popular texts by Latino writers in the US, focusing on Sandra Cisneros and Junot Díaz in order to illustrate the complex situation for this new generation since they do not want only to write for their Latino audience, but pursue larger goals, addressing all people. The borderland situation thus becomes a springboard for the transformation of the central cultural framework in the USA, that is, American-English literature. 42 Imelda Whelehan: The Feminist Bestseller: From Sex and the Single Girl to Sex and the City. Basingstoke et al.: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. See also Marc Keuschnigg: Das Bestseller- Phänomen: Die Entstehung von Nachfragekonzentration im Buchmarkt. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2012. 43 Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle: Multi-Media Afterlives, ed. Sabine Vanacker and Catherine Wynne. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013; see also the excellent article online at: http: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Sherlock_Holmes (last accessed on May 19, 2015). Albrecht Classen 24 While in the past borderland, that is, globally speaking, Latino literature, was pretty much marginalized, recent years have witnessed a tremendous growth of interest in those texts, elevating them even to the rank of the latest bestsellers. Boundaries break down at the current time, at least in the world of literature, and as much as conservative circles in North America try hard to hold back the Latino immigrants, to build a border fence, to deny the illegals any rights, as much do we witness a striking percolation and acceptance of Latino-American literature into the mainstream markets, at times enjoying even a bestseller status. A true successful bestseller author from the early twentieth century, today somewhat forgotten, proved to be the Viennese author Vicki Baum (1888-1960), whose literary triumphs are the topic of Lorena Silos Ribas’s study in this volume. Some of her novels were even serialized and reached a vast audience over many decades. 44 Works such as Menschen im Hotel were even translated into theater plays. Since 1932, living in the US due to her persecutions by the Nazi regime - she was Jewish - she gained even the status of a ‘rock star’ in the literary scene and continued to publish always highly popular works. However, Baum was quite conscious about the tricky balance between high and low literature and aspired herself to reach a more sophisticated status by producing more demanding novels later in her life. But Silos Ribas’s analysis makes clear that all the standard features of a ‘trivial’ bestseller tend to come through here after all. For instance, some of her novels clearly fall into the category of adventure stories and tend to sensationalize the topic, and then we commonly observe the standard happy-end, even though Baum certainly tried her hardest to overcome these limitations herself. Altogether, to conclude with our reflections, the term ‘bestseller’ proves to be problematic and productive at the same time, to say the least, for literary and other scholarship in the humanities (including, for instance, cinematic research). Purely quantitative terms are useful for the market economy, that is, the production sector, since all publishers hope to achieve good sales, but they do not help us necessarily in determining the quality of content and form. Some bestsellers achieve their goal by being simple and trivial enough to appeal to a maximum of readers or viewers (for movies). Others are much more complex and contain elements both of adventure and tragedy, and are determined both by plain excitement and philosophical insights, making them attractive for a variety of audiences. This observation does not undermine the heuristic value of the term itself, but we have to be very care- 44 Recent scholarship has increasingly turned to Baum’s works; see now, for instance, the contributions to Lifestyle - Mode - Unterhaltung oder doch etwas mehr? : die andere Seite der Schriftstellerin Vicki Baum (1888 - 1960), ed. Susanne Blumesberger and Jana Mikota (BiografiA: neue Ergebnisse der Frauenbiografieforschung 13). Vienna: Praesens-Verlag, 2013. Introduction 25 ful and sensitive in our approach to bestsellers as readers, critics, teachers, and social and political analysts. We can thus probably all agree that bestsellers are of considerable significance, and this for many different reasons. Beyond that, however, the global equation of bestsellers with triviality would be dangerously erroneous. Many bestsellers have certainly been of low literary or aesthetic quality; but others have been fully recognized as remarkable and profound works that shed much light on human existence, both past and present. Then, many bestsellers have nothing to do with literature in the narrow sense of the word. Others, again, consist of a mixture of literary and non-literary material. Altogether, bestsellers deserve to be studied closely by scholars in the humanities and social sciences because they reflect on public tastes, concerns, values, and meaning. Some bestsellers help us to grasp fundamental problems within a given society that enjoys those texts (or movies); others reveal, through their deliberately illusionary character, how society viewed, or simply disregarded problems and issues. All contributors to the present volume offer insights into specific cases and hence validate the bestsellers altogether as a truly relevant, though certainly problematic cultural manifestation from the Middle Ages to the present. They simply matter because of their huge impact on the mass reading audience, and they reflect, in turn, popular culture wherever they emerge on the book market. And more bestsellers than assumed have demonstrate a high literary quality and so immediately deserve a critical attention by literary scholarship. A final word would be appropriate. This is the second book in our series, and we hope to take on more challenges in the future when the next volumes will be readied for publication. It has been a pleasure to work with my colleague Dr. Eva Parra Membrives who initially had conceived of this volume, solicited most of the contributions, and helped in the international academic communications among the colleagues from Spain, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the United States. While I edited all the contributions, she worked hard to cast the preliminary manuscript into the publishable form until she became too ill to continue, which required from me to complete the editing process. I am also very grateful to Karin Burger at Narr Verlag for her most valuable help in the final preparation of the cameraready manuscript for publication. Even though we all address the issue of bestsellers throughout time, it was not easy to align all pieces seamlessly because the individual contributors originated from quite different fields of investigations. Nevertheless, we hope to have established a workable and common basis for the critical analysis of the phenomenon of bestsellers both in the Middle Ages and ever since until the immediate presence, both in the form of novels and comics, both as film scripts and compilations of religious texts, etc., taking as our Albrecht Classen 26 starting point the concrete fact of a work’s great popularity at its time and within its cultural-historical context. Undoubtedly, bestsellers could and ought to be viewed from many other perspectives as well, such as the bestseller in the age of the Protestant Reformation, the Baroque, or the Englightenment, but we believe that this collection of articles has already brought together a solid kaleidoscope of approaches which certainly place the bestseller specifically within the spectrum of all literary and cinematographic research. Bibliography A Companion to Boethius in the Middle Ages, ed. Noel Harold Kaylor and Dario Brancato (Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition 30). Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2012. A Companion to Crime Fiction, ed. Charles J. Rzepka and Lee Horsley (Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture 66). Chichester, UK, and Malden, MA: Wiley- Blackwell, 2010. Claus Altmayer: „Was ist ‚deutsche Kultur‘? : Zum Gegenstand der Kulturstudien im Fach Deutsch als Fremdsprache aus transkultureller Perspektive.“ In Transcultural German Studies / Deutsch als Fremdsprache: Building Bridge / Brücken bauen, ed. Steven D. Martinson and Renate A. Schulz (Jahrbuch für Internationale Germanistik. Reihe A. Kongressberichte 94). Bern, Berlin, et al.: Peter Lang, 2008, pp. 25-37. Heinz Ludwig Arnold: Deutsche Bestseller - deutsche Ideologie: Ansätze zu einer Verbraucherpoetik (Literaturwissenschaft, Gesellschaftswissenschaft 15). Stuttgart: Klett, 1975. Sandra Bak: Harry Potter: auf den Spuren eines zauberhaften Bestsellers (Europäische Hochschulschriften. Reihe 1: Deutsche Sprache und Literatur, 1889). Frankfurt a. M. et al.: Peter Lang, 2004. Bestseller und Bestsellerforschung, ed. Christine Haug (Kodex 2). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2012. Bestseller des 21. Jahrhunderts, ed. Martin Huber (Mitteilungen des Deutschen Germanistenverbandes 57.2). Göttingen: V & R unipress, 2010. Bestseller Globalisierung: wirtschaftliche Verflechtungen zwischen Euphorie und Polemik, ed. Manfred Prisching (Reihe Sozialethik der Österreichischen Forschungsgemeinschaft 5). Vienna: Passagen Verlag, 2002. Albrecht Classen: The German Volksbuch: A Critical History of a Late-Medieval Genre (Studies in German Language and Literature 15). Lewiston, Queenston, and Lampeter: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1995. Albrecht Classen: “The Book of Hours in the Middle Ages.” In: Futhark: Revista de Investigación y Cultura 2 (2007), pp. 111-29. Claude Cockburn: Bestseller: The Books that Everyone Read: 1900-1939. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1972. Contemporary Japan and Popular Culture, ed. John Whittier Treat (ConsumAsiaN Book Series). Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1996. Introduction 27 Deutsche Bestseller - deutsche Ideologie: Ansätze zu einer Verbraucherpoetik, ed. Heinz Ludwig Arnold (Literaturwissenschaft - Gesellschaftswissenschaft 15). Stuttgart: Klett, 1975. Die Predigt im Mittelalter zwischen Mündlichkeit, Bildlichkeit und Schriftlichkeit, ed. René Wetzel and Fabrice Flückiger (Medienwandel - Medienwechsel - Medienwissen 13). Zürich: Chronos, 2010. Harald Dzubilla: Zwei Handbreit unterm Nabel: Bestseller. Düsseldorf: My Favourite Book, 2001. Werner Faulstich: Bestandsaufnahme Bestseller-Forschung: Ansätze, Methoden, Erträge (Buchwissenschaftliche Beiträge aus dem Deutschen Bucharchiv München 5). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1983. Giganten: große Wegbereiter der Moderne, ed. Hans-Christian Huf. Berlin: List, 2006. Manfred Heigenmoser: Bernhard Schlink, Der Vorleser (Erläuterungen und Dokumente). 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Jahrhundert in der deutschen Literatur.“ In id.: Liebe und Gesellschaft (Kleine Schriften 3). Stuttgart: Metzler, 1980, pp. 135-55. Lesekultur: populäre Lesestoffe von Gutenberg bis zum Internet, ed. Hans-Friedrich Foltin (Schriften der Universitätsbibliothek 93). Marburg: Universitäts-Bibliothek, 1999. Lifestyle - Mode - Unterhaltung oder doch etwas mehr? : Die andere Seite der Schriftstellerin Vicki Baum (1888 - 1960), ed. Susanne Blumesberger and Jana Mikota (BiografiA: neue Ergebnisse der Frauenbiografieforschung 13). Vienna: Praesens-Verlag, 2013. Literatur am Rand: Perspektiven der Trivialliteratur vom Mittelalter bis zum 21. Jahrhundert, ed. Albrecht Classen and Eva Parra-Membrives (Popular Fiction Studies 1). Tübingen: Narr Verlag, 2013. Georg Lukács: Theorie des Romans: Ein geschichtsphilosophischer Versuch über die Formen der großen Epik. (orig. 1920) Darmstadt and Neuwied: Hermann Luchterhand- Verlag, 1977. Gerald Martin: The Cambridge Introduction to Gabriel García Márquez (Cambridge Introductions to Authors). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Maximilian von Habsburg, Catholic and Protestant Translations of the Imitatio Christi, 1425-1650: From Late Medieval Classic to Early Modern Bestseller (St. Andrews Studies in Reformation History). Farnham, Surrey, England; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2011. Albrecht Classen 28 Mitteilungen des Deutschen Germanistenverbandes: Bestseller des 21. Jahrhunderts, ed. Martin Huber (Mitteilungen des Deutschen Germanistenverbandes 57, 2). Göttingen: V & R Unipress, 2010. Peter Nusser: Deutsche Literature: Eine Sozial- und Kulturgeschichte. Vom Barock bis zur Gegenwart. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2012. Painted Prayers: The Book of Hours in Medieval and Renaissance Art, ed. Roger S. Wieck. New York: Braziller, 1997. Para leer “El nombre de la rosa” de Umberto Eco: sus temas históricos, filosóficos y políticos, ed. Francisco Bertelloni (Cursos y conferencias. Segunda época 6). Buenos Aires: Secretaria de Extensión Universitaria, Facultad de Filosofiía y Letras, Oficina de Publicaciones, 1997. Eva Parra Membrives: “Destrivializando lo trivial: Reflexiones en torno a la necesidad de una nueva orientación crítico-literaria.” In Trivialidades Literarias: reflexiones en torno a la literatura de entretenimiento, ed. Eadem (Biblioteca filológica hispana, 144). Madrid: Visor Libros, 2013, pp. 3-17 Pictorial Narrative in Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Proceedings of the Symposium Pictorial Narrative in Antiquity and the Middle Ages . . . held in Baltimore on 16 - 17 March 1984, ed. Herbert L. Kessler and Marianna Shreve Simpson (Studies in the History of Art 16). Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1985. Helmut Popp: Der Bestseller. 2nd improved and expanded ed. (Studientexte für die Kollegstufe). Munich: Oldenbourg, 1978. Postscript to the Middle Ages: Teaching Medieval Studies Through The Name of the Rose, ed. Alison Ganze (Medieval Studies). Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2009. Donald Ray Richards: The German Bestseller in the 20th Century: A Complete Bibliography and Analysis, 1915-1940 (German Studies in America 2). Bern: Lang, 1968. Hans-Jochen Schiewer: “Die Schwarzwälder Predigten”: Entstehungs- und Überlieferungsgeschichte der Sonntags- und Heiligenpredigten; mit einer Musteredition (Münchener Texte und Untersuchungen zur deutschen Literatur des Mittelalters 105). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 1996. Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle: Multi-Media Afterlives, ed. Sabine Vanacker and Catherine Wynne. New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. Roberto Simanowski: Die Verwaltung des Abenteuers: Massenkultur um 1800 am Beispiel Christian August Vulpius (Palaestra: Untersuchungen zur europäischen Literatur, 302). Göttingen: V & R unipress, 1998. Franz Simmler: „Grundlagen einer Typologie religiöser Textsorten vom 2. Viertel des 15. Jahrhunderts bis zur Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts: die Textsorten ‘(Geoffenbarte) Erzählung’, ‘(Geoffenbarter) Bericht’, ‘Historienbibel’ und ‘Biblia pauperum’.“ In Textsortentypologien und Textallianzen von der Mitte des 15. bis zur Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts: Akten zum internationalen Kongress in Berlin 21. bis 25. Mai 2003, ed. id. (Berliner sprachwissenschaftliche Studien 6). Berlin: Weidler, 2004, pp. 343-427. André Stoll: Asterix, das Trivialepos Frankreichs: die Bild- und Sprachartistik eines Bestseller-Comics. 3rd. ed. (DuMont-Kunst-Taschenbücher 17) Cologne: DuMont, 1977. Ricarda Strobel: Die ‘Peanuts’ - Verbreitung und ästhetische Formen: ein Comic-Bestseller im Medienverbund (Reihe Siegen 77. Germanistische Abteilung). Heidelberg: Winter, 1987. Introduction 29 Aoki Tamotsu and Rebecca Suter: The Japanization of Modernity: Murakami Haruki Between Japan and the United States. Boston, MA: Harvard University Asian Center, 2008. Teaching with Harry Potter: Essays on Classroom Wizardry from Elementary School to College, ed. Valerie Estelle Frankel. Jefferson, NC, and London: McFarland, 2013. The German Bestseller in the Late Nineteenth Century, ed. Charlotte Woodford and Benedict Schofield (Studies in German Literature, Linguistics, and Culture). Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2012. Transkulturalität - Identitäten in neuem Licht: Asiatische Germanistentagung in Kanazawa 2008, ed. Maida Ryozo. Munich: Iudicium, 2012. David Viñas Piquer: El enigma bestseller. Fenómenos extraños en el campo literario. Barcelona: Ariel, 2009. Barbara Weinmayer: Studien zur Gebrauchssituation früher deutscher Druckprosa (Münchener Texte und Untersuchungen zur deutschen Literatur des Mittelalters 77). Munich: Artemis Verlag, 1982. Imelda Whelehan: The Feminist Bestseller: From Sex and the Single Girl to Sex and the City. Basingstoke et al.: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Jack Zipes: The Golden Age of Folk and Fairy Tales: From the Brothers Grimm to Andrew Lang. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, 2013. Jack Zipes: Grimm Legacies: The Magic Spell of the Grimms’ Folk and Fairy Tales. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2015. Manuel Almagro Jiménez From Political Vindication to Cultural Politics: The Case of the Chartist Movement 1 Ah, yes, the Chartists Many years ago, on after-dinner television programs, one could watch some series with a certain educational or cultural value. One of these was a 1978 BBC history production about the British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli. 1 In one scene, one can see the eternal Queen Victoria converse with her French counterpart. The latter comments that he has heard about recent social disturbances in Great Britain to which the Queen simply replies “Ah, yes, the Chartists.” This scene is significant: in a series about a Prime Minister (who suppressed social protests with the monarchy’s support), the screenwriter gives the floor to relevant historical figures, in this case monarchs, for whom it seems that an entire social reality can be summarized by this quoted phrase, thereby dismissing the historical existence of a social movement that dreamed of the future and envisioned some reforms that nowadays are inseparable from the idea of democracy in Western countries. In effect, Chartism was a major political movement that was too complex and important to be settled by a queen’s simple utterance. However, instead of studying it here from a historical perspective, the purpose of this paper will be to investigate Chartism through a literary-historical lens, reflecting on the great success which many of their writings had, often achieving the status of a bestseller. Let us begin, then, by looking at the description of this movement in the words of a literary historian: Chartism was the first mass working-class movement in Britain … representing a majority of the adult population of the nation. The people who wrote and read [Chartist] works … were the pioneers of all subsequent self-organization on behalf of proletarian interests in Britain … As the foundation of so much subsequent practice and debate for such a significant majority of the British populace, the Chartist movement retains a compelling interest. There had been unions, sporadic demonstrations, and Owenite cooperatives before the 1830s when Chartism was born, but this movement was unique for its nationwide character and overwhelming popularity, its combination of political demands 1 Disraeli. Associated Television (ATV), 1978. From Political Vindication to Cultural Politics 31 with the economic muscle of laborers, its working-class composition, and its literariness. 2 Thus, first of all, Chartism, as a social and radical movement, emerged during the English Industrial Revolution, a historical process that could serve as an illustration for Walter Benjamin’s much later observation that there “has never been a document of culture, which is not simultaneously one of barbarism.” 3 But at the same time, even nowadays Chartism continues to arouse investigators’ attention. A search in amazon.com results in more than a thousand titles relating to this topic. In Google, however, the sum rises to almost more than eleven thousand documents. But why is Chartism relevant for us today? In general terms, one can say that there are two levels of importance: one concerns the political situation because of the reforms that were demanded and then materialized throughout time; the second concerns the literature produced by the Chartists. This a new type of literature that advocated social reform and raised the awareness of the power of literature to frame the minds of people then in the years to come. Indeed, at a time when the bestselling literary products were the serialized novels of established writers such as Charles Dickens and W. M. Thackeray, or the so-called penny novels that catered for the need of fiction by the working classes, Chartist writers clearly envisioned a new kind of literature. This new literature aimed at faithfully representing the concerns, the interests, and, specially, the actual lives of the workers, and which eventually would gain the favour of readers from the working classes. 4 2 Margaret A. Loose: The Chartist Imaginary: Literary Form in Working-Class Political Theory and Practice. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 2014, pp. 4-5. 3 Walter Benjamin, 'Theses on the Philosophy of History.' In: Illuminations. Harry Zohn (ed.). New York: Schocken Books, 1969, p. 256. W. Benjamin’s “Theses on History” can be found online at https: / / www.marxists.org/ reference/ archive/ benjamin/ 1940/ history.htm (last accessed on July 31, 2015). 4 Of course, Chartists also realized that they could not rely on established presses, journals, or magazines, to achieve their goals. They needed to have an appropriate vehicle to make their voice be heard. Therefore, the only solution was to create their own presses: “Central to both Chartist organization and propaganda was the Chartist press, which performed the vital service of keeping Chartists informed of developments in other localities and regions. A plethora of newspapers and journals, drawing on the tradition of the unstamped and mostly short-lived, represented regional and sectional Chartist opinion.“ In: D. G. Wright: Popular Radicalism: The Working Class Experience 1780-1880. London: Routledge, 1988, p. 143. Peridodicals and journals such as The Northern Star, The Chartist Circular, The Leicestershire Movement, The Friend of the People, The Labourer, The Red Republican, The Poor Man’s Guardian, or The Charter, flourished during this time in their mission of reproducing the writings and the views of Chartist thinkers and artists. Among these, The Northern Star (1837-1852), was Manuel Almagro Jiménez 32 The Chartist movement owes its name to a Charter conceived as a petition directed at the British Parliament. A series of political reforms was solicited that would finally permit the consolidation, strengthening, and improvement of British democracy during a time in which it was still limited and elitist. The fundamental result of these reforms was supposed to be the expansion of the right to vote throughout the British nation. The so-called People’s Charter was published in 1838 and was presented in succession to the House of Commons in 1839, later in 1842, and finally in 1848. 5 It was rejected in each of these occasions and obtained meager support by the members of parliament, even though, in one of those instances, the petition had been endorsed by two million citizens’ signatures. The last attempt in 1848 was canceled due to a series of factors, among which was the preventive intervention by the police and military forces and the government’s subsequent slander campaign that the radical movement had to endure. 6 The Chartist movement disappeared little by little. This was partially due to the emergence of other reform movements such as the Anti-Corn Law League that called for the lowering of levies that taxed cereal imports, then the gradual appearance of union organizations, the general improvement of the economy, or, as a result of all of this, the legislation introduced by the government with the objective of considered “the most important of the radical newspapers and ... the only authentic organ of Chartism.“ In: Dr. Marjorie Bloy: The Web of History at http: / / www.historyhome.co.uk/ peel/ chartism/ nstar.htm (last accessed on July 31, 2015). It reached a circulation of up to 48.000 copies a week. Together with The Chartist Circular, (1839-1842), peaking at more than 20.000 copies in its first year, they were among the most popular and the most successful. A comprehensive analysis of Chartist press can be found in Joan Allen and Owen R. Ashton (ed.): Papers for the People: A Study of the Chartist Press. London: Merlin Press, 2005. 5 A quick “framework of events” can be consulted in http: / / victorianweb.org/ history/ chartism/ 7.html (last accessed on July 31, 2015). 6 In addition to the many documents about Chartism that can be found now on the Internet, a more detailed investigation of this movement from a historical perspective can be seen in, for example, the works of R.C. Gammage: History of the Chartist Movement, 1837-1854. London: Merlin Press 1976 (facsimile of the 1894 edition); Mark Hovell: The Chartist Movement. Machester: Manchester University Press, 1970 (f.p. 1918); Asa Briggs (ed.): Chartist Studies. London: St. Martin’s Press, 1959; David Jones: Chartism and the Chartists. London: Allen Lane, 1975; J. Epstein and D. Thompson (ed.): The Chartist Experience: Studies in Working-Class Radicalism and Culture, 1830-1860. London: Macmillan, 1982; and John Saville (ed.): 1848: The British State and the Chartist Movement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. More recent historical accounts can be found in the works by Edward Royle: Chartism (Seminar Studies). 3rd Edition. Routledge, London: 1996; John K. Walton: Chartism. London: Routledge 1999; and Macolm Chase: Chartism: A New History. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007. From Political Vindication to Cultural Politics 33 improving, to use Friedrich Engels’ words, the condition of the English working class. 7 In addition to its revolutionary activity, the Chartist movement had a vision beyond the simply political to cover very diverse cultural aspects which it also questioned, and to which it proposed an alternative progressive solution. The Chartist movement, initially a social movement made up of members of the working class of the time, participated also in the field of what we might call today “literary theory” by proposing a change also in the concept and function of literature. The aesthetic ideas of this movement were disseminated through the Chartist literature that was produced, sometimes in essays published in the newspapers which most of the time naturally dealt with questions related to the political movement the authors were living in; or in reviews of other literary productions that were sometimes even outside of the Chartist movement; or in serialized novels, poems, and plays. In short, there was never an explicit program or a series of basic tenets summarizing this new theory, and this in contrast to the explicit and specific character of their political program. In other words, there was never a literary manifesto. Nevertheless, I would like to focus my work on the two traits that reflect the vision that Chartists held about literary activity: first, the necessity of creating a new literature, and second, the importance of cultural heritage. 8 2 A new literature Not all the aesthetic ideas that appear in the Chartist literary production are fully developed. Some are clearly specified. Others, to a greater or lesser degree, seem to insinuate a certain direction that I will specify later. What is more, we must take into consideration that the Chartist aesthetics developed in a critical response to the official aesthetics, that is, to official art, to official information, and to the vision of an official world. That is to say, it is an oppositional aesthetic, and in a certain way, an imperfect, incomplete and inthe-making kind of aesthetics. 7 Friedrich Engels published his well-known The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1845 (edition in German). It remains to this very day one of the most important contemporary efforts to document the effects of the English Industrial Revolution on the actual lives of workers during this period. 8 A quick general guide to Chartist literature is provided by John Plotz: “Chartist Literature.” In: David Scott Kastan (ed.): The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature. Vol. I. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, pp. 440-444. More extensive studies can be found in Ethel Ramage: ”Chartism in English literature, 1839-1876.” Ph. D. Diss. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1939; and Margaret A. Loose: The Chartist Imaginary: Literary Form in Working-Class Political Theory and Practice. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University Press, 2014. Manuel Almagro Jiménez 34 One of the reasons for this imperfection may be based on the fact that, as Mitchell points out, in the working-class literature of this time, reality was not deeply enough digested, their art is too defensive, too tactical, still too much a reflex-action to local stimulus and events and therefore liable to complete collapse when this stimulus was removed. 9 In any case, what is clear is that Chartists proposed a new type of literature that, even though it started from the conventions of established literature, would also have a new quality, a new perspective, and a new hero. That innovative desire which is visible in Chartist literature is one of the qualities that draws the most attention. According to Kovalev, 10 editor of a now classic anthology of Chartist literature, the Chartist movement and Chartist literature enriched English literature with new themes, broadened its framework, and drew the attention of writers to those sides of people’s life which until then had for the most part remained in the shadow. Moreover the very broad scope of the proletarian movement and its reflection in literature forced writers to see life from a new point of view. However, themes are not the only new attributes. There is also a search for a new literary method. Here is how Kovalev, again, summarizes the efforts of the Chartist writers: literature must faithfully portray the condition of the people and their struggle for emancipation; literature is one of the most powerful kinds of weapon in the people’s struggle and, in its turn, it is fed with ideas which arise in the course of this struggle; a true writer of the people is one who can express in his works the mind and the feelings of the people and the ‘spirit of the age’. 11 However, on the other hand, Chartist literature must be seen within the global context of the Chartist movement since literature “was a valued part of this way of life, and the foremost Chartist writers sought to create a class-based 9 Jack Mitchell: “The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.” In: Marxism Today, May (1961), p. 155. 10 Y. V. Kovalev: “The Literature of Chartism.” In: Victorian Studies, Vol. II, No. 2, December (1958), p. 126. The Russian critic was the first to publish an anthology of Chartist writings which is still considered a valid collection of texts. But other anthologies have joined Kovalev’s pioneering effort. Among them one must note Ian Haywood (ed.): The Literature of Struggle: An Anthology of Chartist Fiction. Brookfield VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 1995; Ian Haywood (ed.): Chartist Fiction. Vol. 1: Thomas Doubleday, The Political Pilgrim’s Progress; Thomas Martin Wheeler, Sunshine and Shadow. Brookfield VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 1999; Ian Haywood (ed.): Chartist Fiction. Vol. 2: Ernest Jones, Woman’s Wrongs. Brookfield VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2001; and Peter Scheckner: An Anthology of Chartist Poetry: Poetry of the British Working Class, 1830s-1850s. Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1985. 11 Y. V. Kovalev 1958, p. 129. From Political Vindication to Cultural Politics 35 literature, written by and for the people. Their efforts influenced not only working men aspiring to become writers, but also the popular press … Out of the political turmoil of Chartism came a new respect for people’s literature” in a social context “expressive of personal aspiration. Protest, politics and individual hope all came together.” 12 The Chartist aesthetics could be summarized in that its purpose was the creation of a new class-based literature. 13 However, we must always remain conscious of the fact that the novelty of Chartist literature does not lie in the fact that it is a class literature all by itself since bourgeois realism, which concentrated on the representation of the concerns of the aristocracy and the middle classes, hence certainly a class literature, already existed. By contrast, the novelty lies in that the said class is the working class. Indeed, it was meant to be a new literature because, among other things, it pursued a new perspective, and because its hero was the common man associated with the Chartist movement and whose social and political actions provided sufficient material for the narrative. And by the same token, Chartist writers tried to “recast the conservative plotting and characterization of the popular novel in order to create a new radical novel.” 14 Furthermore, Chartist writers aimed at democratizing the novel by putting the proletariat in the centre of the picture; their heroes were chosen exclusively from the workers, peasants or progressive intellectuals; they made the revolutionary struggle of the masses their main subject; they told the truth, as far as they could, about class relationships in Victorian society at a time when the ‘official’ school of novelists was tending more and more to falsify these relationships. 15 12 Martha Vicinus: The Industrial Muse. London: Croom Helm, 1971, pp. 94-95. 13 That Chartist writing, and Chartism in general, is a class-based movement has been famously brought under scrutiny by Gareth Stedman Jones in “Rethinking Chartism,” a chapter in his study Languages of Class: Studies in English Working Class History 1832- 1982. London: Cambridge University Press, 1983. For him, Chartism, as a political movement,” cannot satisfactorily be defined in terms of the anger and disgruntlement of disaffected social groups or even the consciousness of a particular class.“ Such a movement, to be successful, must also provide a”particular political vocabulary ... such that potential recruits can think within its terms ....Thus the history of Chartism cannot satisfactorily be written in terms of the social and economic grievances of which it is argued to be the expression“ (96). In turn, this position has been challenged from a feminist point view by Joan Scott in Gender and the Politics of History. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988. See specifically on this point Chapter 3, ”On Language, Gender, and Working-Class History.” 14 M. Vicinus 1971, p. 133. See also the concise survey article online at http: / / www.enotes.com/ topics/ chartist-movement-and-literature (last accessed on Aug. 5, 2015). 15 Jack Mitchell: “The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.” In: Marxism Today, May (1961), p. 155. Manuel Almagro Jiménez 36 The previously mentioned characteristics of Chartist literature are opposed to critical realism, 16 and are representative of the opposition to the extant literature of the time to which Chartist literature was to become adversary. This literature can, in general, be divided in two groups: on the one hand, realist literature represented by Charles Dickens or Mrs. Gaskell; on the other hand, serialized literature, or “penny novels.” Let’s consider them one by one. In the congress of Soviet writers in 1934, after praising the great work of critical realism of the 19 th century, Gorki concluded that this realism was not good enough. 17 He reached the same conclusion as the Chartists had done regarding English critical realism. The rejection of the official or established literature can be found in poetry as well (for example, Wordsworth as opposed to Shelley or Byron). But this is most clearly perceived in prose texts. The treatment of the working class found in Charles Dickens’ Hard Times or Mrs. Gaskell’s North and South did not satisfy the Chartist perspective. Even in the case of a social novel such as Hard Times, Dickens’ attitude identified more with a type of ‘laissez faire’ moral than with the point of view of the workers. His social perspective “was not socially revolutionary but conservative including reforms to social harmony.” 18 Even though there was not a total rejection, and even though the method of such writers was valued among the Chartists, 19 Chartist writers tried to create a literature that would be consistently revolutionary, something not found in critical realism, and so would transmit “the conviction that the working class must emancipate itself and not rely on the mercy and benevolence of the ruling classes.” 20 In this way, and in contrast to the middle class writers of the time, they tried to present the working class not as “children in need of instruction” but as adults “who must learn from their mistakes,” 21 and who emphasize “the rightness of class conflict as a means of solving working- 16 See Georg Seehase: “Sunshine and Shadow and the Structure of Chartist Fiction.” In: Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik 21 (1973), pp. 126‒136; p. 129. Another relevant analysis of the same novel is that by Margaret A. Loose: ”Chartist Revolutionary Strategy in Thomas Wheeler’s Sunshine and Shadow.” In: Philological Quarterly 92.2 (Spring 2013, but published July 2014), pp. 199‒224. For a study of another important Chartist novelist, Ernest Jones, see the more contemporary analysis by Sally Ledger: “Chartist Aesthetics in the Mid Nineteenth Century: Ernest Jones, a Novelist of the People.” Nineteenth-Century Literature 57.1 (June 2002), pp. 31‒63. 17 See José Hesse: Breve historia del teatro soviético. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1971, p. 93. 18 G. Seehase 1973, p. 126. 19 See specifically about Charles Dickens “A Christmas Garland.” In: Y. V. Kovalev (ed.): An Anthology of Chartist Literature. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1956, p. 306‒307, p. 306; and Louis James: Fiction for the Working Man, 1830-1850. Harmondsworth: Penguin University Books, 1974, p. 82. 20 G. Seehase 1973, pp. 133‒134. 21 M. Vicinus 1971, p. 129. From Political Vindication to Cultural Politics 37 class problems.” 22 Thus, it is not surprising that the typical hero in the Chartist novel does not resemble the heroes that appear in the works by Dickens or in those by W. M. Thackeray, but rather as a kind of “revolutionary warrior, fighting for social justice.” 23 The Chartist hero would be portrayed without the romantic clichés of the time, and so establish “a new standard of realism based not on the presuppositions of Mrs. Gaskell, Disraeli, or Dickens but upon the realism of felt experience.” 24 However, Chartist opposition did not only struggle against critical realism. Additionally, as I stated before, it was against serialized literature referred to as “penny novels.” This is not the place to discuss this type of literature (which is extensively dealt with by Louis James, among others), yet we can allow for some remarks which emphasize its relation to Chartism and Chartist literature. In the Preface to Lyrical Ballads in 1800, William Wordsworth already complained of the invasion of cheap literature that was popular at that time (“frantic novels, sickly and stupid German Tragedies, and deluges of idle and extravagant stories in verse” that tried to cater for a “degrading thirst after outrageous stimulation” 25 ). It seems that this invasion did not diminish over time; instead the complete opposite occurred. Between 1840 and 1850, the number of cheap magazines grew “from eight to a hundred, and whereas before twenty-two had been exclusively concerned with fiction, now the number was fifty.” 26 One must emphasize that this type of literature was directed towards the working class but was not written by the working class, nor did it maintain the attitude or perspective, at least in the majority of cases, of the working class. This class was considered simply a consumer when popular fiction grew “out of the experimental stage into big business.” 27 This sub-literature ultimately affected Chartist literature in some way. The first thing it did was to create confusion in such a way that some types of press made the “mistake” of equating those “penny magazines” to Chartist presses. In fact, for some Chartist literature was at the same level as “penny novels” that told stories about all types of crimes and adventures or deeds of common criminals. The identification of Chartist literature with “penny novels” might have arisen from ignorance of the real situation of the working class, or it 22 P. J. Keating: The Working Classes in Victorian Fiction. London: Hutchinson University Library, 1974, p. 235. 23 Y. V. Kovalev 1958, p. 137. 24 M. Vicinus 1971, p. 134. 25 William Wordsworth: “Preface to Lyrical Ballads” (1800). In: G. MacMaster (ed.): William Wordsworth. Harmondsworth: Penguin Critical Anthologies, 1972. Wordsworth’s ”Preface“ can be easily consulted online at http: / / www.bartleby.com/ 39/ 36.html (last accessed on July 31, 2015). 26 L. James 1974, p. 49. 27 L. James 1974, p. 113. Manuel Almagro Jiménez 38 might have been an attempt to minimize the importance of the former and to suppress the qualitative differences between the two. In any case, we find that identification, although sometimes in a hidden manner (as in a series of articles by J. Hepworth Dixon in The Daily News). 28 In this context, it is not surprising to find the opinion of some, like Fanny Mayne in an article in Englishwoman’s Magazine, 29 who considered that it was a type of literature that needed to be eliminated for the good of the working class and the entire nation. Meanwhile, others (for example, a writer in an anonymous article titled “Popular Literature of the Day”) 30 contemplated the evils produced by this popular bestselling literature and how the working class suffered from a more pernicious influence due to their being less cultivated. Chartists rejected this type of literature for specific reasons, such as “encouraging a love of aristocratic romance among the poor.” 31 Further more, they considered it a type of ideological invasion since it propounded the admiration of a series of human qualities that could only be found, according to that literature, in the upper classes. The method and fantastic quality of these works also seemed unacceptable, as is openly shown in the most relevant Chartist novel, Thomas Martin Wheeler’s Sunshine and Shadow (chapter 1), a work in which that literature is placed on the same level as crime literature, a genre which is also explicitly rejected (Chapter 31). There is something that both types of literature (serialized and critical realism) have in common and which upset Chartist writers: the distorted vision that is offered of the working class, and, in particular, of Chartism. As I have previously stated, this was something that did not satisfy them and which constituted one of the reasons for the creation of a new literature. This discomfort is found in their writings, and is visible, for example, in what is affirmed by T. M. Wheeler, author of the already mentioned Sunshine and Shadow. He points out (in chapter 18) that the enemies of Chartism assert that it is a coarse and vulgar doctrine, and that its advocates are destitute of refined feelings or imaginations; poor slaves of prejudice, they know not what they assert. 32 In this way, Wheeler attacked those who considered Chartists people incapable of profound sentiments (in this case the hero of the novel, Arthur, a 28 See J. Hepworth Dixon: “The Literature of the Lower Orders.” In: The Daily News, October, 26, November 2, November 9, 1847. 29 Fanny Mayne: “The Literature of the Working Classes.” In: Englishwoman’s Magazine, N.S., V. October 1850, pp. 619-622. 30 Anon.: “Popular Literature of the Day.” In: British and Foreign Review, X, 1840. 31 M. Vicinus 1971, p. 113. 32 T. M. Wheeler: Sunshine and Shadow. Published in The Northern Star, March 31 1849 through January 5 1850. From Political Vindication to Cultural Politics 39 Chartist, is deeply in love with Julia) by trying to show the other side of reality. At the end of the novel, the writer insists that his goal has been to “prove that Chartism is not allied with base and vicious feelings, but that it is the offspring of high and generous inspirations” (Chapter 37). This position is so clearly formulated in his novel that it can be considered one of the central topics since the main character is, in great measure, a “polemic against the slanderous picture of the revolutionary worker-leader as a subhuman animal.” 33 As Benjamin Disraeli wrote in 1845 in his novel, Sybil or The Two Nations, two nations existed in England at that time between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other’s habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets. 34 And, indeed, two nations did exist. One of them had its culture, its literature, in which it could express its attitudes, its aspirations, and its vision of the world. The other also had its own attitudes, its own aspirations, and its own vision of the world. However, it did not have its own literature. For the early leaders of the Chartist movement, like Bronterre O’Brien, the use of literature by the ruling classes was already something obvious. 35 Thus, the need to develop their own literature would become a task that was perceived by Chartist writers as an evident necessity. However, as I have already stated, this task was inscribed within a more generalized struggle the ultimate objective of which was the attainment of a series of political and social reforms. Gerald Massey, a Chartist poet, writes in his article “Poetry for the People” about the vision of the masses ruthlessly robbed of all the fruits of their industry, of all the sweet pleasures of life, and of that nobleness which should crown human nature as with a crown of glory, and the subsequent desire to make them conscious of their degradation “and urge them to end the bitter bondage and the murderous martyrdom of Toil! ” 36 Likewise, Ernest Jones, another Chartist poet, edited a literary magazine, Notes to the People, with the purpose of representing democratic forces in literature 33 Jack Mitchell: “Aesthetic Problems of the Development of the Proletarian-Revolutionary Novel in Nineteenth-Century Britain.” In: David Craig (ed.): Marxists on Literature: An Anthology. Harmondsworth: Pelican Books, 1975, pp. 255‒256. 34 Benjamin Disraeli: Sybil or The Two Nations. (Orig. 1845) London: Oxford University Press, 1975, p. 67. 35 In “Account of the Radical Meeting at The Crown and Anchor, February 28, 1837.” In Dorothy Thompson (ed.): The Early Chartists. London: Macmillan, 1971, p. 58. 36 Gerald Massey: “Poetry for the People.” In: The Friend of the People, II, April 26, 1851. Manuel Almagro Jiménez 40 and thus “to stir the mind and heart of the people.” 37 As signaled in another similar publication, Cooper’s Journal, that literature which must be created, and which is inscribed among the rest of necessities, is a literature conceived as a weapon in the struggle against the other nation, to use Disraeli’s term. It is considered a way to communicate their own ideas in an interconnected fashion, to create respect and identitary pride, and to acquire awareness of themselves and the strength generated by their union. 38 The need, even the urgency, of a new literature is reflected in an article by William Thomson that appeared on January 30th, 1841 in The Chartist Circular, titled “Literary Reform.” 39 It is a fundamental article in which some central ideas about the Chartist aesthetic are gathered. The article synthesizes the reasons for the birth of a Chartist literature, one of which is precisely the need for a new literature. The article points out that the only way to elevate the masses to their natural status in society is a radical literary reform. Until then, literature had been unfair in its treatment of different social classes since “no heroes illuminate the pages of fiction but gallant knights, chieftains, and noble ladies.” Furthermore, if low-class characters do appear, “they appear base and ignoble, like the swine-herd of Ivanhoe,” the renowned historical novel by Walter Scott (1820), or “servile and sensual, like the peasants in The Gentle Shepherd,” a pastoral drama by Allan Ramsay (1725). After having signaled how that literature only assigns virtues to the upper classes and only sees vices in the lower classes, the writer points to the falsity and dangers of a point of view which is the result of how the people “are instructed to believe in this false philosophy.” 40 For him, writers, pandering to the vanity of the rich and noble of the land, have propagated this error and have contaminated their texts to the point in which the masses, in their ignorance, have come to worship “their oppressors, as if they were incarnate divinities. As long as this literary vileness continues, so long will the people be led astray.” 41 For Thomson, the solution is obvious: These things ought not to be. There ought to be a Radical Literary Reform. The virtues of the masses should be sought out and extolled; the iniquities of the titled honestly exposed and condemned. Every man should be praised and blamed as he merits, and false glory extinguished. All men are equal, 37 Georg Seehase: “Poetry of and for the Working Class in Ernest Jones’s Notes to the People.” In: William Gallacher (ed.): Life and Literature of the Working Class: Essays in Honour of William Gallacher. Berlin: Englisch-Amerikanisches Institut der Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, 1966, pp. 141‒150, p. 145. 38 See M. Vicinus 1971, pp. 108-109. 39 William Thomson: “Literary Reform.” In: The Chartist Circular, January 30, 1841, p. 299. 40 W. Thomson 1841, p. 299. 41 W. Thomson 1841, p. 299. From Political Vindication to Cultural Politics 41 distinction is artificial, and the vile press has spread the iniquity. Let us therefore unite to obtain an immediate Literary Reform. 42 But this desire to create a new literature in which justice is served for the working class is not limited to writers of working-class origin. As Ernest Jones writes in his article “Literary Review,” he urges the great minds of the time to come among the people, write for the people and your fame will live forever. The people’s instinct will give life to your philosophy, and the genius of the favoured few will hand down to peace and plenty, knowledge and power, as an heirloom to posterity. 43 Turning to the well-established Victorian poet Robert Browning, specifically, he asks him to leave his kings, queens, and pages of the court aside, and to “ascend into the cottage of the poor.” Similarly, he warns that Chartist poetry and prose may exist, but “the precincts of drama it has not yet passed.” However, this is a task which belongs to all: writers as well as the working class audiences who are the targets of this literature and whose support is essential. Thus, after some verses by William Jones, a Chartist poet, an anonymous columnist from The Leicestershire Movement emphasized that such verses are highly creditable to a working-man. They deserve encouragement. Not by the old mode of patronage, but by working men themselves. If they are to possess a literature of their own they must themselves encourage it. 44 The same concerns in poetry can be found in prose. Although it is of a later manner than in the poetic works, we come to find a Chartist narrative the principal exponent of which is the work Sunshine and Shadow, previously mentioned. The writer, T. M. Wheeler, attempted to create a novel that would be a full representation of the working class attitude, and, particularly, that of the Chartist workers. In the prologue, he expounds the need for this literature, highlighting in a somewhat pompous diction that the fiction department has been hitherto neglected by the scribes of our body, and the opponents of our principles have been allowed to wield the power of imagination over the youth of our party, without any effort to occupy this wide and fruitful plain. 45 Thus, Wheeler gives himself the task of creating a narrative with its own characteristics, a task that, as Vicinus states, Chartist poets also accepted, when they were given “the responsibility of fitting a new subject - working-class 42 W. Thomson 1841, p. 299. 43 Ernest Jones: “Literary Review.” In: The Labourer, II, 1847, pp. 94‒96, here p. 96. 44 Anon.: “Review: The Spirit, or a Dream in the Woodlands.” In: The Leicestershire Movement, I, 1850, p. 79. 45 T. M. Wheeler 1849‒1850, “Prologue.” Manuel Almagro Jiménez 42 ideals - into the traditional forms of English poetry” and thus forge “a new written working-class literature.” 46 Another Chartist poet, Thomas Cooper, intended to create a new epic of the working man, even though he was unable to go further and create a new literary aesthetic. 47 However, this does not invalidate the fact that Chartist literature, taken as a whole, has an inherent value that can only be acknowledged in hindsight. Chartist literature takes the first step in a new literary direction and, in the case of fiction, it thus makes “an original contribution to the development of the proletarian-revolutionary novel,” which, in spite of its aesthetic shortcomings “must be taken into account,” 48 since it “established the right of future working man to write a fiction of class solidarity.” 49 This is something in which poets will participate and will go further than propagandist songs and hymns “to create a new poetic tradition which embodied their political ideals.” 50 It is a tradition which will be continued here and there in the 19th and 20th centuries in the poetry of William Morris and of the Scot poet Hugh MacDiarmid or in the poetry of the 1930s. 51 In this way, Chartism presupposes the desire and the will of historical subjects to reach a representation (not mere existence) as historical subjects not only in the political sphere but also in the cultural. That is the rationale of these writers’ demands for a new literature which questions the previous one and opens new doors for the future. However, Chartists were not Adamites who thought that the world began with them. Thus, they conceived of their own literature as a literature that wants to be part of a “democratic” tradition in the pre-existing literature in and out of Great Britain. In this way, certain universal problems, like those of the oppression of the working class, find a correlate in the representation, which is also universal, of the sentiment of struggle for democratic and civil liberties in other texts and other literatures. 3 The importance of the cultural heritage The Chartist attitude toward cultural heritage is naturally associated with its anxiety over the education of the working class. They were to take from the cultural heritage all of those aspects that, in one way or another, could contribute to that working-class education. This, as can be easily imagined, was related to the didacticism which, according to the Chartists, was ideally a characteristic of all good literature. 46 M. Vicinus 1971, p. 97. 47 See Vicinus 1971, p. 111. 48 J. Michell 1975, p. 255. 49 M. Vicinus 1971, p.134. 50 M. Vicinus 1971, p. 96. 51 See G. Seehase 1966, p. 150. From Political Vindication to Cultural Politics 43 The importance Chartists assigned to the education of workers can be deduced from a series of texts that confirms this dramatically. Chartists felt that, in some way, the government denied them a valid education because they were not considered to be prepared for it, or because it believed they did not need it. 52 On the other hand, the education offered by the government in its schools was not completely satisfactory. Chartists wanted to establish their own schools for the children of workers in which, for example, they would read Robert Burns, the most admired poet among the Chartists, and where students would receive a complete moral education in which literature would be a basic pillar. 53 This attitude was the result of their strong conviction that an adequate education could assist them in achieving improvements for the working class. The importance given to education and the concern for realizing it was a fundamental aspiration for the Chartists, since the early Chartists already spoke of the need to acquire “a select library of books” as an essential requisite, “choosing those at first which will best inform of our political and social rights.” 54 This concern with educating the working people through the adequate use of the cultural heritage can be found later in the Chartist press. Ernest Jones, in the introduction to his translations of the German poet Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810‒1876), pointed out that his purpose was none other than “to make the English people acquainted with the works of this great poet and patriot of Germany, now in England - a compulsory exile from his country,” 55 an objective which he also pursued in his attempt to disseminate the social poetry of George Crabbe (1754‒1832), whose work had circulated little among the working class until then. 56 On the other hand, the previously mentioned allusion made by Wheeler in the introduction to his novel Sunshine and Shadow, referring to the need to develop “the fiction department” and to rise to the level of Thomas Cooper in “the epic,” was an indication of the importance of poetry in this educational effort, something which is also reflected in the publication of poems in the “poet’s corners” of Chartist newspapers, even though “these were usually filled with the works of the revolutionary romantics (primarily Shelley and Byron).” 57 Within this search for an education for the working class, the desire to connect with the cultural heritage was one of the first steps. This recovery of the cultural heritage was supported by the Chartist writers’ conviction that great men belong to all of humanity, and that great 52 See, for example, Anon.: “The Useful Education of the Unfranchised Working Man.” In: The Chartist Circular, May 9, 1840, p. 135. 53 See M. Vicinus 1971, p. 201. 54 In: Dorothy Thompson (ed.): The Early Chartists. London: Macmillan, 1971, p. 52. 55 Cited in G. Seehase 1966, p. 148. 56 See G. Seehase 1966, p. 148. 57 Y. V. Kovalev 1958, p. 122. Manuel Almagro Jiménez 44 authors wrote for all people. Thus, their works were to be disseminated for the benefit of all people. In this way, Jones considered the poet as a “citizen of the world” (in parallel to Shelley’s idea of poets as “the unknown legislators of the world”). Furthermore, in the introduction to “National Literature: III, Germany,” Jones writes that a great man’s works belong not alone to the nation in which he was born, they are given to the world at large, the legacy of a master spirit to mankind, and as such they should pass as watch-words from land to land, admitting us into that vast realm of every age and clime, the empire of soul and intellect. It is thence, that the works of authors of all countries should be translated and inter-translated, that we may all participate in their beauties, and drawing from the spirit of each, fill thought’s own temple with glorious images, amid which at times we may become worshippers, listening to the hallowed music that pervades its invisible but eternal aisles. 58 And in this spirit Jones began the history of German literature, which he considered important for the English working class as well. The effort to recover the cultural heritage was reflected in two fields: the political and the literary. Let us not forget that Chartism was a movement which had as its main objectives social and political concerns. Thus, the presence of the political aspect is not surprising. For Chartist writers, there was no need to separate between the literary and the political since the “commitment to writing ennobling poetry went hand in hand with an earnest desire to master the literary and political antecedents of Chartism.” 59 In other words, in the same way that, within the cultural heritage, the literature that expresses ideas related to Chartist values is taken advantage of, also within the political aspect, we can find a vindication of views and characters that are, 58 Ernest Jones: “National Literature: III, Germany.” In: The Labourer, III, 1848, pp. 232‒ 233, p. 233. 59 M. Vicinus 1971, pp. 98‒99. Michael Sanders describes the first chapter of his study of Chartist poetry in the following manner: “Chapter 1, The Chartist imaginary: ‘talking in turns of politics and poetry‘, is the result of the realisation that for the Chartist movement, the political and the aesthetic are not just closely related concepts but are thouroughly imbricated practices“ (p. 3). In Michael Sanders: The Poetry of Chartism. Aesthetics, Politics, History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Margaret A. Loose expressed a similar view when she stated that, after considering the function which literature had for the Chartists, she had “come to realize how absolutely essential it was for the existence of a political movement” (p. 1), an idea which she expands later on: “Chartist writers perceived no disjunction between politics and literature, because it was precisely the fact that they wrote in mixed genres, such as Spenserian stanzas, heroic couplets, and melodramatic novels that generated a cognitive dissonance within literary history and made Chartists into protagonists in Britain’s national history and culture.” In: Margaret A. Loose: The Chartist Imaginary: Literary Form in Working-Class Political Theory and Practice. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 2014, p. 4. From Political Vindication to Cultural Politics 45 likewise, identified or identifiable with Chartist political ideas or attitudes. We can find one example in “The Politics of Major John Cartwright,” 60 who already in the 18th century advocated reforms similar to those of the Chartists. A paradoxical example is found in “Literary Sketches: James I of Scotland”: 61 Chartism, a republican movement, searched for its origins in the figure of a king. However, what happened was that the social rank of the historical figure was unimportant, as long as he had been progressive and in line with the ideas and aspirations of freedom of the Chartists for whom s/ he could become an example. This is the case of this king, lover of the arts and letters, who propelled a series of progressive reforms. However, this attitude did not only embrace British figures but also foreign ones. The Chartist position, in this sense, was internationalist as can be seen in “On Internationalism.” 62 They admired the Russian Decembrists, and the French and American revolutions. They also published short biographies of figures who were distinguished in the fight against tyranny and despotism and in favor of democratic freedoms (as, for example, in W. J. Linton’s article, “Pestel and the Russian Republicans”). 63 Sometimes, the writer takes a break and wonders “when will that true millennium arrive - that millennium of reason and liberty, of which Voltaire and Rousseau were the prophets; Paine and Robespierre the harbingers…” 64 In the same way that Chartists tried to find political antecedents of their ideas, they also undertook a thorough revision of the cultural heritage with the intention of finding forerunners of their literary agenda. The Chartists considered their poetry as being part of a democratic tradition that included some writers from the end of the 18th century as well as political philosophers such as William Godwin and the previously mentioned Paine, 65 or later on Lord Byron and Robert Southey in his first works, according to Ernest Jones in “Literary Review: Ebenezer Jones.” 66 However, there were also other authors considered to be within this democratic tradition. For example, Homer, Demosthenes, Cicero, Robert Burns, Thomas Campbell, P. B. Shelley, Ebenezer Elliott, Dante, Chaucer, and of course, Shakespeare (see “The Politics of Poets” 60 Anon.: “The Politics of Major John Cartwright.” In: The Chartist Circular, January 25, 1840, p. 69. 61 Anon.: “Literary Sketches: James I of Scotland.” In: The Chartist Circular, July 3, 1841, p. 390. 62 In: J. Saville (ed.) 1952, p. 215. 63 W. J. Linton: “Pestel and the Russian Republicans.” In: The Friend of the People, June 14, 1851. In: Y.V. Kovalev (ed.): An Anthology of Chartist Literature. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1956, pp. 365‒369. 64 In: T. M. Wheeler, Sunshine and Shadow, Chapter 4. 65 See Y. V. Kovalev 1958, p. 120. 66 Ernest Jones: “Literary Review: Ebenezer Jones.” In: The Labourer, II, 1847, pp. 235‒240. Manuel Almagro Jiménez 46 I). 67 As can be observed, the Chartists’ perspective was extensive and their admiration for both national and foreign literature deserves to be recognized. Let us then first consider some of these foreign authors.Indeed, the Chartists did not limit themselves to disseminating solely their own national heritage. They also looked beyond their borders for those authors who in some way or another were considered as standing within the same tradition. Thus, apart from translations of French novels, generally created by George Reynolds which would normally appear in Chartist publications, we can find biographical reviews or poems from a series of foreign authors. Among these was Sandor Petöfy (1823‒1849), to whom George Massey dedicated an entire article (“Petöfy, the People’s Poet of Hungary”), 68 with a clear didactic tone that mixes personal and political qualities with those of his work. We can also point to general articles about literature from a certain country, for example, Poland or Russia. In the case of the latter (“National Literature: Russia”), 69 Ernest Jones took a look at a series of authors, in whose works, as always, it was difficult to separate the political from the literary. Among them we find the names of Michael Lomonosoff (1711‒1765), Nicolai Karamsin (1766‒1826), Ivan Kriloff (1769‒1844, praised for putting his fables to the service of liberty), or Alexander Pushkin (1799‒1837), who is analyzed in more detail. German Literature is also present in the Chartist press with authors as diverse in range and importance as Friedrich Schiller (1759‒1805), or Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810‒1876). Two American poets, James Russell Lowell and Walt Whitman, inspired the Chartists as well. Harney and Massey regarded Lowell as “a true worker for the people’s enfranchisement,” and included a poem of his, titled “Stanzas of Freedom,” in “Our May Garland.” 70 Whitman’s poem entitled “Resurgemus,” taken from the New York Tribune, is published in The Red Republican. 71 It is interesting to note the fact that the Chartists knew of Whitman even before the publication of his famous Leaves of Grass in 1855. However, evidently, national authors are the ones most mentioned and examined. Shakespeare, above all, was one of the most admired authors by the Chartists, and excerpts of his works were frequently published in Chartist 67 William Thomson: “The Politics of Poets I.” In: The Chartist Circular, July 11, 1840, p. 170. 68 Gerald Massey: “Petöfy, the People’s Poet of Hungary.” In: The Friend of the People, February 7, 1852. In: Y. V. Kovalev (ed.): An Anthology of Chartist Literature. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1956, pp. 324‒326. 69 Ernest Jones: “National Literature: Russia.” In: The Labourer, III, 1848. In: Y. V. Kovalev (ed.): An Anthology of Chartist Literature. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1956, pp. 235-240. 70 George J. Harney and Gerald Massey: “Our May Garland.” In: The Northern Star, May 8, 1852. 71 Walt Whitman: “Resurgemus.” In: The Red Republican, I, 1850, p. 56. From Political Vindication to Cultural Politics 47 newspapers. This was sometimes with the intention of illustrating a political argument in a literary way since Shakespeare was considered a political author, which was a feature specially admired in Hamlet or in Macbeth, two tragedies in which they perceived a “sublime political treatise” (“The Politics of Poets” I). 72 Another motive for the inclusion of Shakespeare in the Chartist press was his capacity to portray the lower classes, something which was also recognized in Burns and Byron (“A Christmas Garland”). 73 Finally, another indication of Chartist admiration for Shakespeare, is the publication of The Shakespearean Chartist Hymn Book in 1843. John Milton is another author who was claimed in the search for cultural roots, of course also due to his political ideas. According to the Chartists, he had been a contender for the democratic cause, a republican, and had died a poor, yet honest man. His ideas about liberty and equality won him a place in that tradition (in “John Milton”). 74 However, without a doubt, the most beloved and important poet for the Chartists was Robert Burns whose influence can be seen in poems by Chartist authors. His importance is demonstrated by the fact, as mentioned already above, that Chartists wanted to create schools in which working-class children would read Burns. Another fact that reflected this importance is that the greatest honor that the Chartists could confer to a poet was, precisely, to put him on the same level as Burns. The Scottish poet, on his part, had many features in common with the majority of Chartists since he was of humble origins and had known poverty and had always identified himself with the aspirations of the people. 75 Burns, like many Chartists, was a self-taught man and his political ideas coincided with those of the Chartists. Thus, in the article mentioned, the author highlighted that Burns “was the friend to humanity, the brother of man, the scourge of the oppressor, the soother of the oppressed - a republican, a democrat; and, in principle and in practice, an honest Chartist” (“Robert Burns”). Burns was also considered “the unbending foe of priestcraft,” and this completed the group of necessary qualities in a poet. His famous “A man’s a man for a’ that” was a password between Chartist workers. In short, he was considered the poet of the poor (in “Burns, the Poor Man’s Poet”). 76 The influence and importance attributed by the Chartists to Romantic poets is fundamental. The treatment received by these differs from case to 72 W. Thomson 1840, p. 170. 73 Anon.: “A Christmas Garland.” In: The Northern Star, December 21, 1844. In: The Northern Star, December 21, 1844. In: Y. V. Kovalev (ed.): An Anthology of Chartist Literature. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1956, pp. 306‒307. 74 Anon.: “John Milton.” In: The Chartist Circular, March 13, 1841, p. 321. 75 See Anon.: “Robert Burns.” In: The Chartist Circular, February 20, 1841, p. 309. 76 Anon.: “Burns, the Poor Man’s Poet.” In: The Northern Star, August 24, 1844. In: The Northern Star, December 21, 1844. In: Y. V. Kovalev, 1956, pp. 305. Manuel Almagro Jiménez 48 case. Wordsworth came off the worst. On the other hand, Byron and, above all, Shelley were the most beloved and popular ones. In the instance of the former, a poem by Robert Browning, “The Lost Leader,” was used due to the fact that, in it, Wordsworth is recriminated for his charge as Poet Laureate in 1846. 77 Thus, it is not surprising to find a note in The Democratic Review of Wordsworth’s death, in which its author confesses to not being deeply affected by this death since Wordsworth cannot be included in the list of those, such as Burns, Byron, and Shelley, who had gained a durable admiration by the people for their immortal aspirations and invocations in favour of Liberty: “Unlike those great spirits, Wordsworth passes from amongst us unregretted by the great body of his countrymen, who have no tears for the salaried slave of Aristocracy and pensioned parasite of Monarchy.” 78 The political poetry of Byron and Shelley was undoubtedly more popular. Hypocrisy and stupidity, the main themes in Byron’s works, were equated to the greed, despotism and frivolity of the upper classes. Byron was placed on the same level as Burns, Dante, Milton, and Shakespeare. He was also compared, as was Shelley, to Homer and Virgil (in Sunshine and Shadow, chapter 2). Like Burns, Byron was considered a poet of the poor, in solidarity with the oppressed, and therefore, in some way, a rebel who, like no other, “has shewn a more determined spirit of resistance and retaliation to the oppressor” (“The Politics of Poets” IV). 79 He was also admired for exposing, as Shakespeare did, to the eyes of the world, the passions that dwell in the breasts of kings and the powerful (“A Christmas Garland”). 80 But more specifically, he was greatly praised not only for his ability to unravel these passions but also for his capacity to laugh at them sarcastically. Another appealing aspect for Chartists was Byron’s realism in his poetry. Ernest Jones, for example, protested against fantastical and Gothic literature which was full of “salamandrines and seraphines, mysteries and super-natural gentlemen, who are particularly intimate with other supernatural gentlemen,” and instead preferred Byron’s along with others’ “fresh vigour and practical philosophy” (“Poems. By T. Powell”). 81 A final fact confirms Byron’s importance. Arthur, the working-class Chartist hero of Sunshine and Shadow, reads poems by Byron and Shelley in the afternoons after work. He reads “the glorious stanzas of the immortal Byron” and the divine Shelley for himself and also for his own wife (Chapter 29). A conjunction of factors in Byron, namely, 77 See G. Seehase 1966, p. 149. 78 In: Y. V. Kovalev 1956, p. 309. 79 William Thomson: “The Politics of Poets IV.” In: The Chartist Circular, August 29, 1840, p. 198. 80 Anon.: “A Christmas Garland.” In: The Northern Star, December 21, 1844. In: Y. V. Kovalev, 1956, pp. 306-307. 81 Ernest Jones: “Poems. By T. Powell.” In: The Labourer I, 1847, p. 284. From Political Vindication to Cultural Politics 49 his political ideas, his realist verse, his sympathy for the lower classes, his ridicule of the aristocracy (from which he himself came), his didactic colloquial style, and his rebellious attitude against a hypocritical society, made him one of the most admired poets by the Chartists. Bernard Shaw considered Shelley a realist writer, an opinion which deserved the censure of some critics. 82 But this quality is precisely what Chartists most appreciated in this poet who was said to possess “the happy power of never swerving from a practical aim in his most ideal productions” (Jones, in “Poems. By T. Powell”). This could be, to begin with, one of the reasons why Shelley was so admired, together with his faith in the people, an attitude related to the Chartist idea of the capacity of the working class to do things for themselves, and the idea that the solution to the working class problems resides in their own strength. Like Byron, Shelley was born and educated in the bosom of aristocracy, but soon “his noble and benevolent soul … broke from the many fetters which his birth and education had cast around it,” and when he came to the conclusion that a collision between the classes was inevitable, “he ranged himself on the people’s side” (“Percy B. Shelley”). 83 Thus, Shelley was transformed into a poet of the people and this was reflected in his poetry, as can be seen in “The Masque of Anarchy,” for example, a poem based on the massacre that took place in 1819 in Manchester when a peaceful gathering of working-class protestors were charged by the army cavalry. The Chartists admired Shelley for his solidarity with the oppressed and his didacticism which aimed at showing “the great laws of union, and the strength of passive resistance” (“Percy B. Shelley”). Like Byron, Shelley was placed alongside the greatest English authors. But he was also admired because his political ideals were connected with those of the Chartist movement. His revolutionary spirit and his utopian dreams had much influence in the “revolutionary” petitions found in the Charter. The Chartists also hoped for their own own revolution, for which they considered Shelley as a sort of Messiah (Sunshine and Shadow, Chapter 4). If Walter Scott was the bard of the past and Byron the poet of the present, Shelley was the visionary of the future. 84 82 Richard Ellman and Charles Feidelson (ed.): The Modern Tradition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1971 pp. 238‒242. 83 Anon.: “Percy B. Shelley.” In: The Chartist Circular, October 19, 1839, p. 16. 84 Thomas Frost: “Scott, Byron, and Shelley.” In: The Northern Star, January 2, 1847. In: Y. V. Kovalev (ed.): An Anthology of Chartist Literature. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1956, pp. 320-323. A thorough study of the relevance of Shelley for Chartist writers and specially poets is that by Bouthaina Shaaban: “Shelley's influence on the Chartist poets, with particular emphasis on Ernest Charles Jones and Thomas Cooper,” Ph.D. diss. University of Warwick, 1981. Other more comprehensive studies of Chartist poetry are those by Ulrike Schwab: The Poetry of the Chartist Movement: A Literary and Historical Study. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1987; Anne Janowitz: Lyric and Labour in the Romantic Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Manuel Almagro Jiménez 50 Shelley’s importance is also reflected in his influence on some Chartist writers, and in the fact that his poems were often cited in newspapers or used as an introduction to a chapter in a Chartist novel. This is the case in Chapter 26 in Sunshine and Shadow in which a poem is inserted, in line with the story, where the poet instigates the people to rise against despotism and oppression. There are other literary figures that were also relevant to the Chartist “sensibility,” even though they did not have the impact and importance of the previously cited authors. Dickens, for example, is certainly more important for mainstream literary studies today than he was for Chartist criticism. However, as is the case with other exponents of critical realism of the time, excerpts of his works were published in Chartist newspapers. The realist method, as I have already stated, attracted Chartist writers, but only this one component, since ultimately they did not share Dickens’ attitude towards the working class. 85 Other poets who enjoyed exposure in Chartist publications were the already mentioned Crabbe and Browning. Alfred Tennyson, however, was criticized for lacking “the fire of passion” (“Our May Garland”), and, much in line with Chartist ideas, Ernest Jones urged him to set aside love stories and to take part in the cause of the people. 86 Robert Tannahill (1774‒1810), a minor poet, was also considered through a biographical review in the section “Literary Sketches” (“Robert Tannahill”) 87 which emphasized his working class perspective. As is easy to imagine, all of this investigation into the cultural heritage generated an influence which established a series of connections in the production of Chartist writers themselves. A list of these sources could include the poetry of the great progressive romantics like Byron and Shelley, the work of the best Radical poets of the 1830’s and 1840’s, popular working-class poetry, and the Methodist Hymns which were popular amongst the ordinary people. 88 One can also mention formal aspects like the metre and rhyme which were characteristic of popular songs, the colloquial Byronian style, or the idealism of Shelley. However, as Vicinus remarks, 89 the Romantic influence was also significant in more general terms. Thus, for example, we find the idea of nature being in opposition to society: everything in nature had an order, its laws were strict yet just in providing for all. On the other hand, in human society, the city and its factories were in total chaos, life had become difficult Press, 1998; and Michael Sanders: The Poetry of Chartism. Aesthetics, Politics, History. Cambridge: Cam-bridge University Press, 2012. 85 See L. James 1974, p. 82. 86 Ernest Jones: “Literary Review.” In: The Labourer, II, 1847, p. 94‒96. 87 Anon.: “Robert Tannahill.” In: The Chartist Circular, April 10, 1841, p. 341. 88 Y. V. Kovalev 1958, p. 120. 89 M. Vicinus 1971, p. 97. From Political Vindication to Cultural Politics 51 to comprehend, and it seemed to have escaped human control. Without a doubt, better than the Romantics, the Chartists, a mass movement of workers from all regions in Great Britain and all kinds of trades, knew very well, from their first-hand experience, about the life in the city and its factories. 4 Demanding the impossible Chartist literature represented the search for a new theme and a new method. The theme is the experience of the working class in the context of a struggle for a series of rights. The method was associated with, as was already stated, that of the Romantic revolutionaries. The duty of each good Chartist was to contribute to the great task of transforming individuals who would thus change society, an idea that can also be traced in the Romantics. But, above all, Chartist literature and the conception by the elites of Chartism of what literature should be are indications of the existence of a social group that had been able to become aware of their historical situation and to reflect on the cultural means through which that historical existence, until then distorted by the official culture and the dominant ideology, could be represented in a reliable manner and in their own terms. The literary aims of Chartism may not have produced immediate results nor can it be confirmed that the literature written by authors connected with this movement was of great quality in comparison to the other literature of the time. To their intention of creating a new literature and the use of an inherited democratic tradition we must add a series of features that aimed at being a part of that new literature and which was present in the Chartist movement when it came to conceiving a specific cultural politics whose axis or initial center would be literature. Those other features (the didactic quality, the new conception of the hero, the new realism, the creation of types, or the new perspective) make it possible for us to speak of an initial rough draft of what later would become the aesthetic theories of socialist realism in the first half of the 20th century, and this can be seen, at a practical level, as a precedent of the social literary current from the end of the 19th century throughout the 20th century. This anticipatory character of their cultural agenda has its parallels more strictly in the political field of the Chartist movement, with the six vindications that were initially rejected for being absurd and ridiculous. Ironically, these petitions by the Chartist movement, which some saw as an indication of the beginning of a revolutionary process in Great Britain, were slowly accepted within the democratic practice of the country: universal suffrage (between 1918 and 1928), vote by ballot (1872), no property qualifications to access Parliament (1858), payment of members (1911), or equal voting districts (1884, Manuel Almagro Jiménez 52 et sequitur). There was also a petition that, maybe fortunately, has never materialized: that of annual general elections. Looking at it from the distance, the political and the literary activities of the Chartist movement leave us with a paradoxical feeling of failure and success. The political success in the long run is more than evident. As an avant la lettre version of the famous French May 68 slogan (“Soyez réalistes, demandez l’impossible”), the Chartists dared to imagine a radically different world that, despite the initial failure, today we identify with characteristics belonging to the culture and politics of Western societies. But what about the literary? We cannot say that they have been successful when we realize how Chartist poetry has been largely ignored for a number of reasons in anthologies of Victorian verse. 90 But at the same time we must not forget that in the case of poetry, undoubtedly the most practiced genre by Chartist writers, the contemporary response was more than eloquent: “Chartist poems were read every week by hundreds of thousands of active Chartist workers and supporters throughout England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland; the ideas and commitment behind these works were translated month by month into political action.” 91 But then, maybe, to think of the literary achievement of this movement in terms of failure or success is not the right approach. Chartism started out by fighting the dominant literary trends of that period, the critical realism of the bourgeois novels and the sensational quality of cheap literature. In their stead they wanted to bring about a new literature with new concerns and new attitudes, and connected to the earlier radical tradition. In other words, they were not so much concerned with writing bestsellers in a conventional sense with the hope for large profits than with providing their followers with a different kind of literature. In the same way that Chartism effected a qualitative opposition to the old regime, their writers also tried to engage in what we might call an oppositional aesthetics, concerned, rather than with enormous quantities of sales, with a certain quality in their literature, which linked their proposals with a radical democratic tradition and were a harbinger of the future. Bibliography Joan Allen and Owen R. Ashton (ed.): Papers for the People: A Study of the Chartist Press. London: Merlin Press, 2005. Anon.: “A Christmas Garland.” In: The Northern Star, December 21, 1844. In: Y. V. Kovalev (ed.): An Anthology of Chartist Literature. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1956, pp. 306‒307. 90 See M. Sanders 2012, p. 28‒29. 91 P. Scheckner 1985, p. 15. From Political Vindication to Cultural Politics 53 Anon.: “Burns, the Poor Man’s Poet.” In: The Northern Star, August 24, 1844. . In: Y. V. Kovalev (ed.): An Anthology of Chartist Literature. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1956, p. 305. Anon.: “John Milton.” In: The Chartist Circular, March 13, 1841, p. 321. Anon.: “Literary Sketches: James I of Scotland.” In: The Chartist Circular, July 3, 1841, p. 390. Anon.: “Percy B. Shelley.” In: The Chartist Circular, October 19, 1839, p.16. Anon.: “Popular Literature of the Day.” In: British and Foreign Review, X, 1840. Anon.: “Review: The Spirit, or a Dream in the Woodlands.” In: The Leicestershire Movement, I, 1850, p.79. Anon.: “Robert Burns.” In: The Chartist Circular, February 20, 1841, p. 309. Anon.: “Robert Tannahill.” In: The Chartist Circular, April 10, 1841, p. 341. Anon.: “The Politics of Major John Cartwright.” In: The Chartist Circular, January 25, 1840, p. 69. Anon.: “The Useful Education of the Unfranchised Working Man.” In: The Chartist Circular, May 9, 1840, p. 135 Walter Benjamin: 'Theses on the philosophy of history.' In: Id.: Illuminations. Harry Zohn (ed.). New York: Schocken Books, 1969. Dr. Marjorie Bloy: The Web of History, at http: / / www.historyhome.co.uk/ peel/ chartism/ nstar.htm (last accessed on July 30, 2015). Asa Briggs (ed.): Chartist Studies. London: St. Martin’s Press, 1959. Macolm Chase: Chartism: A New History. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007. Benjamin Disraeli: Sybil or The Two Nations. London: Oxford University Press, 1975 (f.p. 1845). Disraeli. Associated Television (ATV), 1978. J. Hepworth Dixon: “The Literature of the Lower Orders.” In: The Daily News, October, 26, November 2, November 9, 1847. Richard Ellman and Charles Feidelson (ed.): The Modern Tradition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1971. Friedrich Engels: The Condition of the Working Class in England. Oxford: Oxford: University Press, 2009 (first German edition 1855). J. Epstein and D. Thompson (ed.): The Chartist Experience: Studies in Working-Class Radicalism and Culture, 1830‒1860. London: Macmillan, 1982. Thomas Frost: “Scott, Byron, and Shelley.” In: The Northern Star, January 2, 1847. In: Y. V. Kovalev (ed.): An Anthology of Chartist Literature. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1956, pp. 320‒323. R. C. Gammage: History of the Chartist Movement, 1837‒1854. London: Merlin Press 1976 (facsimile of the 1894 edition). George J. Harney: “Poetry for the People.” In: The Friend of the People, II, April 26, 1851. George J. Harney and Gerald Massey: “Our May Garland.” In: The Northern Star, May 8, 1852. Ian Haywood (ed.): The Literature of Struggle: An Anthology of Chartist Fiction. Brookfield VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 1995. Ian Haywood (ed.): Chartist Fiction. Vol. 1: Thomas Doubleday, The Political Pilgrim’s Progress; Thomas Martin Wheeler, Sunshine and Shadow. Brookfield VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 1999. Ian Haywood (ed.): Chartist Fiction. Vol. 2: Ernest Jones, Woman’s Wrongs. Brookfield VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2001. José Hesse: Breve historia del teatro soviético. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1971. Manuel Almagro Jiménez 54 Mark Hovell: The Chartist Movement. Machester: Manchester University Press, 1970 (f.p. 1918). Louis James: Fiction for the Working Man, 1830‒1850. Harmondsworth: Penguin University Books, 1974. Anne Janowitz: Lyric and Labour in the Romantic Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. David Jones: Chartism and the Chartists. London: Allen Lane, 1975. Ernest Jones: “Literary Review.” In: The Labourer, II, 1847, pp.94‒96. Ernest Jones: “Literary Review: Ebenezer Jones.” In: The Labourer, II, 1847, pp. 235‒240. Ernest Jones: “National Literature: III, Germany.” In: The Labourer, III, 1848, pp. 232‒233. Ernest Jones: “National Literature: Russia.” In: The Labourer, III, 1848. In: Y. V. Kovalev (ed.): An Anthology of Chartist Literature. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1956, pp. 314‒319. Ernest Jones: “Poems. By T. Powell.” In: The Labourer I, 1847, p. 284. Gareth Stedman Jones: Languages of Class: Studies in English Working Class History 1832‒1982. London: Cambridge University Press, 1983. P. J. Keating: The Working Classes in Victorian Fiction. London: Hutchinson University Library, 1974. Y. V. Kovalev (ed.): An Anthology of Chartist Literature. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1956. Y. V. Kovalev: “The Literature of Chartism.” Victorian Studies, Vol.II, No. 2, December (1958), pp. 117‒138. Sally Ledger: “Chartist Aesthetics in the Mid-Nineteenth Century: Ernest Jones, a Novelist of the People.” In: Nineteenth-Century Literature 57.1 (Jun 2002), pp. 31‒63. W J. Linton: “Pestel and the Russian Republicans.” In: The Friend of the People, June 14, 1851. In: Y. V. Kovalev (ed.): An Anthology of Chartist Literature. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1956, pp. 365‒369. Margaret A. Loose, ‘Chartist Revolutionary Strategy in Thomas Wheeler’s Sunshine and Shadow’. In: Philological Quarterly 92: 2 (Spring 2013, but published July 2014), pp. 199‒224. Margaret A. Loose: The Chartist Imaginary: Literary Form in Working-Class Political Theory and Practice. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 2014. Gerald Massey: “Petöfy, the People’s Poet of Hungary.” In: The Friend of the People, February 7, 1852. . In: Y. V. Kovalev (ed.): An Anthology of Chartist Literature. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1956, pp. 324‒326. Gerald Massey: “Poetry for the People.” In: The Friend of the People, II, April 26, 1851. Fanny Mayne: “The Literature of the Working Classes.” In: Englishwoman’s Magazine, N.S., V. October 1850, pp. 619‒622. Jack Mitchell: “Aesthetic Problems of the Development of the Proletarian-Revolutionary Novel in Nineteenth-Century Britain.” In: David Craig (ed.): Marxists on Literature: An Anthology. Harmondsworth: Pelican Books, 1975, pp. 245‒266. Jack Mitchell: “The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.” In: Marxism Today, May (1961), pp. 154‒159. Bronterre O’Brien: “Account of the Radical Meeting at The Crown and Anchor, February 28, 1837.” In: Dorothy Thompson (ed.): The Early Chartists. London: Macmillan, 1971. John Plotz: “Chartist Literature.” In: David Scott Kastan (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature. Vol. I. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, pp. 440-444. From Political Vindication to Cultural Politics 55 Ethel Ramage: “Chartism in English literature, 1839‒1876,” Ph. D. diss., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1939. Edward Royle: Chartism (Seminar Studies). 3rd Edition. Routledge, London: 1996. Michael Sanders: The Poetry of Chartism. Aesthetics, Politics, History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. John Saville (ed.): Ernest Jones: Chartist. London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1952. John Saville (ed.): 1848: The British State and the Chartist Movement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Peter Scheckner: An Anthology of Chartist Poetry: Poetry of the British Working Class, 1830s‒ 1850s. Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1985. David Scott Kastan (ed.): The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature. Vol. I. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, pp. 440-444. Joan Scott: Gender and the Politics of History. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988. Georg Seehase: “Poetry of and for the Working Class in Ernest Jones’s Notes to the People.” In: William Gallacher (ed.): Life and Literature of the Working Class: Essays in Honour of William Gallacher. Berlin: Englisch-Amerikanisches Institut der Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, 1966, pp. 141‒150. Georg Seehase: “Sunshine and Shadow and the Structure of Chartist Fiction.” In: Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, vol. 21, 1973, pp. 126‒136. Bouthaina Shaaban: “Shelley's Influence on the Chartist Poets, with Particular Emphasis on Ernest Charles Jones and Thomas Cooper.” Ph. D. diss., University of Warwick, 1981. Ulrike Schwab: The Poetry of the Chartist Movement: A Literary and Historical Study. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1987. Dorothy Thompson (ed.): The Early Chartists. London: Macmillan, 1971. Dorothy Thompson: The Chartists: Popular Politics in the Industrial Revolution. New York: Pantheon, 1984. William Thomson: “The Politics of Poets I.” In: The Chartist Circular, July 11, 1840, p. 170. William Thomson: “The Politics of Poets IV.” In: The Chartist Circular, August 29, 1840, p. 198. William Thomson: “Literary Reform.” In: The Chartist Circular, January 30, 1841, p. 299. Martha Vicinus: The Industrial Muse. London: Croom Helm, 1971. John K. Walton: Chartism. London: Routledge 1999. Thomas Martin Wheeler: Sunshine and Shadow. Published in The Northern Star, March 31, 1849 through January 5, 1850. Walt Whitman: “Resurgemus.” In: The Red Republican, I, 1850, p. 56. William Wordsworth: “Preface to Lyrical Ballads” (1800). In: G. MacMaster (ed.): William Wordsworth. Harmondsworth: Penguin Critical Anthologies, 1972. D. G. Wright: Popular Radicalism: The Working Class Experience 1780‒1880. London: Routledge, 1988. Montserrat Bascoy Lamelas Eine Geschichte von Opfern und Helden Lisa Fittkos Autobiografie Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen (1985) 1 Lisa Fittko: Widerstandskämpferin, politischer Flüchtling und Schriftstellerin Im Jahr 2005 starb die Exilautorin Lisa Fittko in Chicago, wo sie seit 1948 lebte. Fast vierzig Jahre nach ihrer Ankunft in den USA begann sie die Erinnerungen aus ihrem früheren Leben in Europa aufzuschreiben. Durch die Publikation ihrer ersten Memoiren Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen. Erinnerungen 1940/ 41 im Jahr 1985 erlebte die Autorin einen großen Erfolg. 1 Einige Zeit später, im Jahr 1992, veröffentlichte sie ihr zweites Buch Solidarität unerwünscht. Meine Flucht durch Europa. Erinnerungen 1933/ 1940. 2 In diesen Werken verarbeitet die Autorin Episoden ihres Lebens in Berlin, wo sie als junge engagierte Sozialistin im Untergrund an der Verfassung und Verteilung von Flugblättern teilnahm, und ihre lange Fluchtreise durch Europa, die sie durch die Tschechoslowakei, Holland, die Schweiz und Frankreich führte. In ihrem ersten Buch befasst sich die Autorin vor allem mit dem französischen Exil. Von ihrem Aufenthalt in Frankreich sind die Ereignisse der Internierung im KZ Gurs und der Mitarbeit mit dem amerikanischen Emergency Rescue Committee von besonderer Relevanz. Diese beiden Werke gehören zur autobiografischen Exilliteratur. Ein bedeutendes Merkmal der Texte ist, dass sich die Autorin darin auf kurze, konkrete Lebensperioden begrenzt, die für ihre Identitätsbestimmung wesentlich waren. Sie behandelt vor allem diejenigen Probleme ihrer Existenz als Exilantin, die die sozio-politischen Umstände von Widerstand und Exil in den Jahren zwischen 1933 und 1941 bestimmt haben: Die hohe Relevanz der gesellschaftlichen und politischen Veränderungen, welche in den Autobiographien Fittkos und Paulis großen Raum einnehmen, verdeutlicht die Wichtigkeit der Rahmenbedingungen für das Leben der Exilantinnen. Waren doch insbesondere sie von den auf sie prallenden politischen, gesellschaftlichen, 1 Dieses Buch wurde zuerst beim Karl Hanser Verlag veröffentlicht. In diesem Beitrag wird aber nach der späteren Taschenbuchausgabe vom Verlag dtv zitiert. Lisa Fittko: Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen. Erinnerungen 1940/ 41. München: dtv, 2010 3 . 2 Lisa Fittko: Solidarität unerwünscht. Meine Flucht durch Europa. Erinnerungen 1933/ 1940. München und Wien: Carl Hanser Verlag, 1992. Eine Geschichte von Opfern und Helden 57 kulturellen und sozialen Veränderungen intensiver betroffen, als andere Personen ihrer Zeit. 3 In diesem Zitat aus ihrer Untersuchung zu Lisa Fittko und Hertha Pauli betont Sylvia Pötscher die Bedeutung der sozio-politischen Dimension beim autobio-grafischen Schreiben dieser Schriftstellerinnen. 4 In dem Fall von Lisa Fittko wird die Hauptaussage ihrer Schriften durch ihr Engagement für die sozialistischen Prinzipien und bei der Bekämpfung der Nazis zur Zeit der dargestellten Erinnerungen sowie ihre lebenslange moralische und politische Haltung gegenüber dem Krieg bestimmt. Lisa Fittko wurde 1909 in Uzgohrod - in der heutigen Ukraine - geboren und stammte aus dem deutschsprachigen, böhmischen Judentum. Durch die Figur ihres Vaters, Ignaz Eckstein, der von 1916 bis 1918 Mitherausgeber der literarischen Antikriegszeitschrift Die Waage und deren Eigentümer von 1918 bis 1920 war, trat die junge Lisa Fittko mit Intellektuellen der Zeit in Kontakt, die sozial und politisch engagiert waren. Die Zeitschrift zählte zu den revolutionären Publikationen der Nachkriegszeit und ab 1918 wurde sie in Wage! umbenannt, eine Tatsache, auf die in Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen ganz am Anfang aufmerksam gemacht wird. Die Titeländerung dient der Erzählerin dazu, das Hauptprinzip ihres Handelns als Widerstands-kämpferin zu begründen, das ist, „[…] dass es nie wieder einen Krieg geben darf.“ 5 Im Jahr 1922 zog die Familie Eckstein von Wien nach Berlin, wo sich die Autorin, wie sie in ihren Memoiren erklärt, zuerst dem Sozialistischen Schülerbund anschloss und später bei der Sozialistischen Arbeiterjugend engagiert war. 6 Fittkos Werk enthält nur eine ganz schlichte Skizze ihrer Kindheit, die die Autorin für die Erklärung ihrer Identität als Nazi-Gegenerin benutzt. Sie befasst sich dann viel detaillierter mit ihrer Widerstandstätigkeit und ihrem Exilleben. Die literarische Darstellung der individuellen Erfahrungen von Lisa Fittko soll auf jeden Fall als Beispiel eines allgemeinen Schicksals von politisch engagierten Menschen, von Nazi-Gegnern im Exil betrachtet werden. Pötscher ordnet Fittkos Werke zu einer Reihe von Autobiografien von ExilantInnen zu, die in den 90er Jahren geschrieben wurden, und behauptet, dass die Schreibmotivation für die AutorInnen darin läge, 3 Sylvia Pötscher: „Leben im Exil in Frankreich“ Eine vergleichende Analyse der autobiographischen Exil- und Widerstandsdarstellungen im Werk der Autorinnen Lisa Fittko und Hertha Pauli. Diplomarbeit.E-Theses. Universität Wien 2009, S. 44. [http: / / othes.univie.ac.at/ 4633/ ] 4 Wie Michaela Holdenried bemerkt, ist die Berücksichtigung der sozialen Ebene ein wichtiges Merkmal der Genre Memoiren, während in anderen autobiografischen Gattungen die individuelle Dimension im Vordergrund steht. In dieser Hinsicht erfassen Fakten und Handlung in Fittkos erstem Werk die ganze Aufmerksamkeit der Erzählerin. Michaela Holdenried: Autobiographie. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2000, S. 20-21. 5 Fittko 2010, S. 7. 6 Fittko 2010, S. 8-9. Montserrat Bascoy Lamelas 58 […] die Geschehnisse für nachfolgende Generationen vollziehbar zu machen und auf Existenz und Vorgehensweise des Widerstands gegen die Nazis hinzuweisen. 7 Dass Lisa Fittko die Absicht hatte, auf die ungelösten Fragen der jüngeren Generationen an die Vergangenheit eine Antwort zu geben, wird explizit von der Autorin in ihrem Werk erklärt. Die Figur von Fittkos Nichte Marlene stellt im Text die folgenden Fragen: Von mir will sie hören: Wusste man vorher…? Warst du dabei, als sie Hitler zugejubelt haben? Was hat der Widerstand getan, von dem du sprichst? Warum weiß man davon nichts? Wenn der Großvater alles liegen und stehen gelassen hat und gleich am Anfang weg ist, warum sind die meisten anderen geblieben? Wovon habt ihr gelebt in der Emigration? Wie haben sie euch behandelt - die Tschechen, die Schweizer, die Holländer, die Franzosen? Wie war es - die Verfolgung, das Exil, die Lager - tell me what it felt like. 8 Marlene interessierte das Schicksal der Widerstandskämpfer und Flüchtlinge im Allgemeinen, nicht nur die individuelle Erfahrung ihrer Tante. Sie wollte den Zusammenhang der damaligen Geschehnisse verstehen, so wie die Lebensumstände und die Entscheidungen vieler Menschen. Fittko versuchte aber mit ihrem Buch nicht nur eine mögliche Antwort auf ihre Fragen zu geben, sondern gleichzeitig vor ähnlichen zukünftigen Situationen zu warnen. Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen soll die universale Gültigkeit ihres Lebensprinzips zeigen, das der notwendigen Verhinderung von jedwedem Krieg. 9 Lisa Fittko setzte ihre politische Tätigkeit im amerikanischen Exil fort, sie war ihr ganzes Leben lang aktiv bei der Bekämfung von Kriegen. Das Politische stand für sie immer im Vordergrund und in dieser Hinsicht verstand sie sich als politische Schriftstellerin. 10 In ihrem autobiografischen Werk kann man deswegen nicht nur die Wurzeln ihres sozio-politischen Denkens und Handelns während des Zweiten Weltkriegs erkennen, sondern auch, wie bereits erwähnt, eine immer noch sinnvolle politische Antikriegshaltung als Mitteilung an die jüngeren Generationen. 7 Pötscher 2009, S. 53. 8 Fittko 2010, S. 301. 9 Auf der letzten Seite vom Buch dikutieren Marlene und Lisa über diese Idee. Die Erzählerin argumentiert so: „Unmenschlichkeit ist typisch für Faschismus, nicht für die Eigenheiten einer Nation […]. Nur die Formen ändern sich. Man möchte so gerne glauben, dass einzig der Charakter des deutschen Volkes verantwortlich ist, denn dann glaubt man auch: Bei uns kann das nicht passieren. Die das glauben, haben nichts gelernt.“ Fittko 2010, S. 303. 10 Dazu siehe Catherine Stodolsky: „Meine Tante Lisa Fittko und ich.“ In: Inge Hansen- Schaberg, Sonja Hilzinger u.a. (Hrsg.): Familiengeschite(n). Erfahrungen und Verarbeitung von Exil und Verfolgung im Leben der Töchter. Wuppertal: Arco Verlag, 2006, S. 85-91; „Lisa Fittko.“ In: John Spalek u.a. (Hrsg.): Deutschsprachige Exilliteratur seit 1933 (Band 3, Teil 2) München: De Gruyter Saur, 2001, S. 115-129. Eine Geschichte von Opfern und Helden 59 Zur Zeit der Veröffentlichung von Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen bestand großes Interesse am Widerstand gegen das Nazi-Regime und an autobiografischer Literatur, die sich mit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg und dem Holocaust befasste. Michael Geyer und John W. Boyer sprechen in diesem Sinne von einem „veritable boom“ an Konferenzen und Publikationen über den Widerstand gegen die Nazis in den 80er Jahren in den USA und in Europa. 11 Nach anderen Autoren wie Jaime Vándor wuchs dieses Interesse an Holocaust-Literatur vor allem ab den 70er und 80er Jahren. 12 In der Rezeption von Fittkos Memoiren werden die Erzählform und der Schreibstil des Textes, das ist, ihre literarische Qualität, kaum berücksichtigt. Dagegen wird ständig von der dargestellten Lebensgeschichte die Bedeutung von Fittkos Tätigkeit als Menschenretterin hervorgehoben, insbesondere ihre Rolle als Fluchthelferin des Intellektuellen Walter Benjamin. Der Erfolg ihres ersten Erinnerungsbuchs ist spürbar auf das Interesse der Leserschaft an Fittkos Figur als Zeitzeugin der Nazi-Zeit und als Widerstandskämpferin zurückzuführen: Sie wurde vom Publikum als eine wahre Heldin wahrgenommen. Auf jeden Fall hatte die Autorin, wie Edelgard Abenstein in ihrem Porträt von Lisa Fittko behauptet, ein „bemerkenswert ‚interesting life‘.“ 13 Lisa Fittkos Bild als Fluchthelferin kommt bei den Vorstellungen der Autorin in der Presse und in Forschungspublikationen immer wieder vor. So präsentiert zum Beispiel Christoph Neidhart die Figur der Schriftstellerin in Die Weltwoche: Sie rettete Hunderte von politischen Flüchtlingen vor dem Nazi-Regime, bevor sie als Schriftstellerin berühmt wurde. 1933 wurde die in der heutigen Ukraine geborene Jüdin beim Verteilen antifaschistischer Flugblätter erwischt und ging in den Untergrund. Sie lebte in Prag, Basel, Holland und Paris. Aus Basel musste sie fliehen, weil die Schweiz sie an die Gestapo ausliefern wollte. Im Sommer 1940 kundschaftete sie einen alten Schmugglerpfad über die Pyrenäen aus, auf dem sie während Monaten Hunderte von Flüchtlingen nach Spanien begleitete. 14 Die öffentliche Anerkennung von Fittkos heldenhafter Tätigkeit als Fluchthelferin könnte sicher zum Teil der Bekanntmachung ihrer Lebensgeschichte 11 Michael Geyer, John W. Boyer: „Introduction: Resistance against the Third Reich as Intercultural Knowledge.“ In: The Journal of Modern History Nr. 64 (1992), S. S1-S7. 12 Für Vándor handelte es sich bei der Erscheinung einer so großen Anzahl an Holocaust- Werken zu diesem Zeitpunkt nicht um ein punktuelles Phänomen. Er bemerkt, dass dieses ein Universalthema geworden ist, in dem Sinne, dass es in Zukunft immer wieder in der Literatur aufgefasst werden wird. Jaime Vándor: „El Holocausto: hacia la tipología de un nuevo género literario.” In: Aula Orientalis: revista de estudios del Próximo Oriente Antiguo Nr. 17: 18 (1999), S. 323-333. 13 Edelgard Abenstein: „Lisa Fittko.“ In: Edelgard Abenstein (Hg.), Frauen die gefährlich leben. Geschichten von Mut und Abenteuer. München: Knesebeck Verlag, 2010, S. 59-63. 14 Christoph Reidhardt: „Nachruf II. Lisa Fittko (1909-2005).” In: Die Weltwoche, 11.2005. [http: / / www.weltwoche.ch/ ausgaben/ 2005-11/ artikel-2005-11-lisa-fittko-1909.html] Montserrat Bascoy Lamelas 60 durch ihre Memoiren verdankt werden. Nach dem Erscheinen ihres ersten Erinnerungsbuches wurde ihr am 25.6.1986 das Bundesverdienstkreuz l. Klasse verliehen. Sie wurde auch bei unterschiedlichen Gedenkfeiern und Konferenzen im Zusammenhang mit dem Holocaust und dem Kampf gegen die Nazis eingeladen. 1990 nahm sie zum Beispiel im Rahmen der wissenschaftlichen Auseinandersetzung mit dem Widerstand als Zeitzeugin an einer Konferenz in der Universität Chicago teil, deren Beiträge von Geyer und Boyer herausgegeben wurden. 15 Die Widerstandskämpferin und Schriftstellerin Lisa Fittko wurde oft für die Presse und das Radio interviewt und erschien ebenso in verschiedenen dokumentarischen Filmen. 16 Im Jahr 2001 wurde in Banyuls-sur-Mer ein Gedenkstein enthüllt, in den die Namen von Hans und Lisa Fittko eingraviert sind. Trotz der Verbreitung dieses Bildes als Fluchthelferin und Heldin betrachtete sich Lisa Fittko selbst nie als solche: By the downcast eyes and the humility in her voice, it was obvious that 90-yearold Lisa Fittko was not comfortable being honored for completing a mission she considered nothing short of a moral obligation. ‚It was just a natural thing to do, to help people who were persecuted,’ Fittko said matter of factly. ‚The furthest thing on our minds was that we would ever be recognized for this.’ 17 Mit der Publikation ihrer Memoiren wollte die Autorin eigentlich nicht öffentliche Anerkennung erreichen oder den Eindruck erwecken, dass die WiderstandskämpferInnen Helden waren. Dagegen stellte Lisa Fittko unter anderen Aspekten das politische Engagement dieser Gruppe dar und unterstrich die Idee, dass es die moralische Pflicht aller Nazigegner war, das Leben anderer Menschen zu retten und die Dehumanisierung der Welt von Seiten des Faschismus zu bekämpfen. 2 Das Erinnerungsbuch Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen, ein Bestseller Im Gegensatz zu anderen ExilantInnen kümmerte sich Lisa Fittko ihr Leben lang darum, die Erinnerungen ihrer Zeit in Europa wachzuhalten, statt sie zu verdrängen, wie Catherine Stodolsky bemerkt. 18 Trotzdem erfolgte der Anfang ihrer schriftstellerischen Tätigkeit erst spät und das wurde durch die 15 Geyer 1992, S. S4. 16 Einige Beispiele sind Karin Alles: Das letzte Visum, Passage unbekannt. Hessischer Rundfunk, 1987; Katrin Seybold: Lisa Fittko. München, 2000; Barbara Hammer: Resisting Paradise. 2003; „Interview with Lisa Fittko.” Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, 1999. 17 David Mendell: „Award Honors Heroism During Holocaust.” In: Chicago Tribune, 1.07. 2000. [http: / / articles.chicagotribune.com/ 2000-07-01/ news/ 0007010185_1_holocaustsurvivor-emergency-rescue-committee-jews] 18 Stodolsky 2006, S. 91. Eine Geschichte von Opfern und Helden 61 Bekanntschaft mit Walter Benjamins Nachlassverwalter Gershom Scholem verursacht. 19 Unter den Flüchtlingen, denen Lisa Fittko in Frankreich über die Grenze nach Spanien half, ist bestimmt Walter Benjamin der berühmteste. Er gehörte zur ersten Gruppe, die Fittko über die Berge führte. Scholem bat die Autorin um Erlaubnis dafür, die Benjamin-Geschichte, die sie ihm erzählt hatte, zu publizieren. Sie entschied aber, den Text selbst zu verfassen und zu veröffentlichen. Die Erzählung über die Benjamin-Episode erschien zum ersten Mal 1982 in der Zeitschrift Merkur. Dass Lisa Fittko Benjamin über die Berge nach Spanien geführt hatte, und dass er bei der Flucht eine Tasche mit einem unbekannten Manuskript schleppte, erregte großes Interesse unter Benjamins Verehrer, aber auch im Allgemeinen. Diese Geschichte wurde dann Teil von Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen - das ist das 7. Kapitel „Der alte Benjamin.“ Catherine Stodolsky behauptet, dass die Benjamin-Episode den „Kern des Buches“ darstellt. 20 Dieses Erinnerungsbuch erlebte schnell einen großen Erfolg. Ein Jahr nach seiner Publikation bekam es den Preis „Das Politische Buch des Jahres“ - von der Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Verleger, Buchhändler und Bibliotheken in der Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung verliehen - und 1988 den „Prix sur la Fondation FIAT-Institut de France.“ Das Werk wurde auch bald in mehrere Sprachen übersetzt. 21 Und, wie bereits erwähnt, erreichte die Autorin großes Ansehen als Zeitzeugin einer Zeit, in der sie Widerstandskämpferin und Fluchthelferin war. 2.1 Lisa Fittko und Walter Benjamin Bei der Rezeption von Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen ist meistens die Rolle der Autorin als Benjamins Fluchthelferin ein zentraler Aspekt. In einer der bedeutendsten spanischen Zeitungen, die ABC, erschien 1988 eine kurze Rezension der spanischen Übersetzung, in der neben Fittkos Tätigkeit als Fluchthelferin die Bedeutung der Benjamin-Episode ausdrücklich betont wurde. 22 Für die Protagonistin Lisa Fittko war diese Figur‚ der alte Benja- 19 Zur Publikationsgeschichte siehe Pötscher 2009, S. 67ff. Siehe auch Fittko 2010, S. 154ff. 20 Catherine Stodolsky: „Lisa Fittko.” [http: / / catherine.stodolsky.userweb.mwn.de/ lisa/ fittko.html] 21 Le Chemin des Pyrénées. Souvenirs 1940-41. Übers. Léa Marcou.Paris, 1987; Escape through the Pyrenees. Übers. David Koblick. St. Evanston, 1991; La via dei Pirenei. Übers. Sarina Reina. Rom, 1999; Mi travesía de los Pirineos. Evocaciones 1940/ 41. Übers. Andrés Sánchez Pascual. Barcelona, 1988. Laut Catherine Stodolsky wurde das Buch auch ins Japanische übersetzt und nach anderen Autoren ebenso ins Portuguiesische. Leider konnte ich weitere Informationen über diese Übersetzungen nicht finden. Dazu siehe Catherine Stodolsky: “Lisa Fittko (1909-2005).” [http: / / catherine.stodolsky.userweb.mwn.de/ lisa/ fittengl.html] 22 „Mi travesía de los Pirineos. Lisa Fittko.“ In: ABC literario, 27.02.1988, S. 62. Vgl. mit Diego Doncel: „De Berlín a los Pirineos.“ In: ABC literario, 31.10.1997, S. 20. Montserrat Bascoy Lamelas 62 min‘, da sie ihn schon früher kennengerlent hatte. 23 Sie stellt ihn als einen sehr höflichen Mann vor, mit dem durchgeistigten Gelehrtenkopf und dem forschenden Blick hinter dicken Brillengläsern […] 24 Die Veröffentlichung von Fittkos Memoiren löste das Interesse von vielen Menschen an Benjamins Tod aus, aber vor allem an die schwarze Aktentasche, die im Benjamin-Kapitel eine wichtige Rolle spielt, in der er ein unbekanntes Manuskript aufbewahrte und das, wie Fittko erklärt, für ihn wichtiger als sein eigenes Leben war. 25 Die Autorin erwähnt ganz kurz am Ende des Kapitels, welche Auswirkung die Bekanntmachung dieser Episode für sie hatte: Heute, wo Benjamin als einer der wichtigen Gelehrten und Kritiker des 20. Jahrhunderts gilt, heute werde ich manchmal gefragt: Was hat er über das Manuskript gesagt? Hat er sich über den Inhalt ausgelassen? Hat er darin ein neues philosophisches System entwickelt? Du lieber Himmel, ich hatte alle Hände voll zu tun, meine kleine Gruppe bergauf zu führen; die Philosophie musste warten, bis wir über den Berg waren. 26 Trotz der vielen Fragen konnte die Autorin keine weiteren Informationen über das Manuskript geben. Die Umstände um Benjamins Flucht waren die Gefahren der Auslieferung an die Nazis, weswegen sich die Fluchthelferin damals nur um die Sicherheit der Flüchtlinge kümmerte, wie sie hier erklärt. Nach der Bekanntmachung der Benjamin-Episode wurde in verschiedenen spanischen Orten nach dem Manuskript intensiv gesucht. 27 Schon kurz nach der Publikation von Fittkos Memoiren wurde das Benjamin- Kapitel in vielen unterschiedlichen Arbeiten über den Intellektuellen zitiert, darunter auch von spanischen Forschern. So zum Beispiel präsentiert Gonzalo Álvarez Benjamins Fall als der bekannteste, wenn er die Zurückweisung von Flüchtlingen von Seiten der spanischen Grenzbehörden analysiert, und benutzt Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen als Quelle. 28 Fittkos 23 Fittko 2010, S. 139. Die frühere Bekanntschaft dieser Figuren wird in Benjamins Untersuchungen normalerweise nicht erwähnt. 24 Fittko 2010, S. 141. Die Autorin vermittelt ein Bild von Benjamin als Mensch der Ideen, aber nicht des Handelns. Sie erklärt die vielen Schwierigkeiten, die er bei der Flucht hatte, weil er als Gelehrter keinen Sinn für das praktische Leben hatte. Diese Idee wird im Benjamin-Kapitel mehrmals wiederholt. 25 Die Autorin lässt die Benjamin-Figur erklären: „»Wissen Sie, diese Aktentasche ist mir das Allerwichtigste«, sagte er. »Ich darf sie nicht verlieren. Das Manuskript muss gerettet werden. Es ist wichtiger als meine eigene Person.«“ Fittko 2010, S. 143. 26 Fittko 2010, S. 148. 27 Vgl. Josep Matas: „El manuscrit de Walter Benjamin.“ In: Informació: Arxiu historic de Girona, 19.11.2002, S. 1. 28 Siehe S. 199. Gonzalo Álvarez Chillida: “La eclosión del antisemitismo español: de la II República al Holocausto.” In: Gonzalo Álvarez Chillida, Richardo Izquierdo Benito Eine Geschichte von Opfern und Helden 63 Darstellung wurde oft kritisch nach ihrer Genauigkeit überprüft, sodass ihre Memoiren von Benjamins Experten meistens als dokumentarische und nicht als literarische Darstellung der Vergangenheit gelesen wurden. 29 Oft wird auch das Kapitel einfach als die wahre Geschichte von Benjamins Flucht und Tod in wissenschaftlichen Untersuchungen unkritisch aufgenommen. In neuen Arbeiten und Zeitungsartikeln wird immer noch Lisa Fittkos Erinnerungsbuch zitiert in Bezug auf Benjamins letzte Stunden und auf den Mythos des verschollenen Manuskripts. 30 2.2 Bericht oder Literatur? In Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen verwendet die Autorin eine dem journalistischen Stil nahe, einfache Sprache. Mit schlichten Beschreibungen präsentiert sie die Landschaften und die Personen ihrer Erzählung, in der das Wichtigste die Intensität der Handlung und die Dramatik der Situationen ist. Wie auf der Umschlagseite der englischen Übersetzung steht, liest sich das Buch wie ein ‚suspence novel‘. Ricardo Cano hat sich in seiner Rezension der spanischen Übersetzung mit der Genrefrage befasst und zuallererst pointiert, dass sich dabei beim ersten Eindruck um ein dokumentarisches Werk handelt, was er dann infrage stellt. 31 Bestimmte Elemente deuten darauf hin, dass Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen ein literarisches Werk ist. In dieser Hinsicht analysiert Cano die Erzählstimme, die manchmal nicht die Autorin und Protagonistin Lisa Fittko ist, sondern ein allwissender Erzähler. Die verschiedenen Erzählstimmen sind für ihn ein klares Zeichen von Fiktionalisierung und folglich definiert er das Werk als einen autobiografischen Roman. Das episodenhafte Erzählen oder die Einführung von vielen Dialogen können genauso als literarische Elemente des Werkes betrachtet werden. Eine andere Meinung hat aber Jaime Vándor, der Fittkos Buch in seiner Typologie der Holocaust-Literatur einordnet. Bei den Holocaust-Memoiren unterscheidet er zwischen solchen, die einen klaren literarischen Anspruch haben, und solchen, deren Hauptzweck ist, von den Ereignissen und Umständen des Autorenlebens während des Zweiten Weltkriegs zu bezeugen. Im Gegensatz zu Cano liegt für Vándor die Bedeutung von Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen hauptsächlich an der Neuheit des Erzählten - an der Darstellung dessen, was andere Bücher nicht erzählen - und somit am dokumenta- (Hg.): El antisemitismo en España. Cuenca: Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 2007, S. 181-206. 29 Vgl. Narciso Alba: „El demonio no, la Gestapo. Precisiones a un libro de Lisa Fittko sobre muerte de Walter Benjamin.” In: Quimera, Nr. 81 (1988), S. 52-57. 30 Vgl. Javier Sigüenza: „El enigma de Walter Benjamin.” In: Acta poética, Nr. 34: 2 (2013), S. 77-100. 31 Ricardo Cano Gaviria: „La experiencia pirenaica de Lisa Fittko.“ In: La Vanguardia, 14.01.1988, S. 35. Montserrat Bascoy Lamelas 64 rischen Wert, am Zeugnischarakter des Textes. 32 Auf diese Weise ordnet er Fittkos Erinnerungsbuch zu den Holocaust-Memoiren ohne literarischen Anspruch zu. Dagegen handelt es sich dabei für Pötscher - die das Werk als Autobiografie aber nicht wie Cano als autobiografischen Roman definiert - um ein literarisches Werk. Sie behauptet, dass Autobiografien nicht auf ihre Berichtfunktion reduziert werden können und präsentiert die Aspekte der „große[n] enthaltente[n] Authentizität“ des Textes und der „Faktentreue“ als „wesentliches Merkmal literarischer Qualität.“ 33 Wenn man Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen wie eine literarische Autobiografie oder wie einen autobiografischen Roman liest, wie es u.a. die Erzählform oder das Pathos und die Intensität der Erzählung ermöglichen, ist der Aspekt der unbedingten Fiktionalisierung, wie Hans-Albert Walter 34 die Autorin aufgrund der zeitlichen Distanz zwischen den Ereignissen und der Zeit des Schreibens bezichtigt, eigentlich kein negativer Aspekt von Fittkos Memoiren. Trotz des Wahrheitsanspruchs von autobiografischer Literatur - besonders bei Memoiren - handelt es sich bei Lisa Fittkos Text nicht um ein rein dokumentarisches Werk, wie es von vielen ForscherInnen und JournalistInnen gelesen wurde. Die Infrage-Stellung der geschilderten Erinnerungen von Seiten der Autorin ist auch ein Zeichen der Fiktionalisierung, das die Authentizität des Erzählten jedoch nicht mindert. Geschichten von (authentischen) Helden und Heldinnen zählen zu den Lieblingslektüren vieler Menschen. Die Analyse unterschiedlicher journalistischer und wissenschaftlicher Publikationen zeigt, dass der Erfolg von Fittkos Buch besonders dem Interesse zu verdanken ist, das ihr heldenhaftes Leben und ihre Bekanntschaft mit Walter Benjamin erregten. Das Bild der Autorin als Heldin, die Walter Benjamin rettete, so wie ihr Bild als Opfer, das unter der Naziverfolgung litt, sind wesentliche Aspekte des Erfolgs von Fittkos Memoiren. Die Artikel und Rezensionen in der Presse halfen maßgeblich, das Bild der Heldin zu verbreiten, die aber die Autorin in ihrem Buch demontieren möchte. Für sie waren alle ExilantInnen und KämpferInnen Helden und Opfer eines dehumanisierenden, fatalen Nazi-Regimes. Der Horror und die Barbarie trieben Menschen dazu, das moralisch Richtige zu tun und dies wurde als heldenhaft angesehen. Unter anderem machten sowohl die Thematik als auch die Erzählform von Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen, neben der Aktualität der im Text aufgeworfenen Fraugen, dieses Werk zum Bestseller. 32 Vándor 1999, S. 325. Siehe auch „Los campos en la literatura. Reflexiones y ejemplos de la narrativa concentracionaria.” In: Revista anthropos: Huellas del conocimiento Nr. 203 (2004), S. 125‒138. 33 Pötscher 2009, S. 60. 34 Siehe Pötscher 2009, S. 54f. Eine Geschichte von Opfern und Helden 65 Bibliographie Anonym: „Mi travesía de los Pirineos. Lisa Fittko.“ In: ABC literario, 27.02.1988, S. 62. Edelgard Abenstein: „Lisa Fittko.“ In: Edelgard Abenstein (Hg.), Frauen die gefährlich leben. Geschichten von Mut und Abenteuer. München: Knesebeck Verlag, 2010, S. 59-63. Narciso Alba: „El demonio no, la Gestapo. Precisiones a un libro de Lisa Fittko sobre muerte de Walter Benjamin.” In: Quimera, Nr. 81 (1988), S. 52-57. Karin Alles: Das letzte Visum, Passage unbekannt. Hessicher Rundfunk, 1987. Gonzalo Álvarez Chillida: “La eclosión del antisemitismo español: de la II República al Holocausto.” In: Gonzalo Álvarez Chillida, Richardo Izquierdo Benito (Hg.): El antisemitismo en España. Cuenca: Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 2007, S. 181- 206. Ricardo Cano Gaviria: „La experiencia pirenaica de Lisa Fittko.“ In: La Vanguardia, 14.01.1988, S. 35. Diego Doncel: „De Berlín a los Pirineos.“ In: ABC literario, 31.10.1997, S. 20. Lisa Fittko: Solidarität unerwünscht. Meine Flucht durch Europa. Erinnerungen 1933/ 1940. München, Wien: Carl Hanser Verlag, 1992. Lisa Fittko: Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen. Erinnerungen 1940/ 41. München: dtv, 2010 3 . Michael Geyer, John W. Boyer: „Introduction: Resistance against the Third Reich as Intercultural Knowledge.“ In: The Journal of Modern History, Nr. 64, 1992, S. S1-S7. Barbara Hammer: Resisting Paradise. 2003. Michaela Holdenried: Autobiographie. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2000. Josep Matas: „El manuscrit de Walter Benjamin.“ In: Informació: Arxiu historic de Girona, 19.11.2002, S. 1. David Mendell: „Award Honors Heroism During Holocaust.” In: Chicago Tribune, 1.07.2000. Online at: http: / / articles.chicagotribune.com/ 2000-07-01/ news/ 0007010185_1_holocaustsurvivor-emergency-rescue-committee-jews.[ Sylvia Pötscher: „Leben im Exil in Frankreich“ Eine vergleichende Analyse der autobiographischen Exil- und Widerstandsdarstellungen im Werk der Autorinnen Lisa Fittko und Hertha Pauli. Diplomarbeit. E-Theses. Universität Wien, 2009. [http: / / othes.univie.ac.at/ 4633/ ] Christoph Reidhardt: „Nachruf II. Lisa Fittko (1909-2005).” In: Die Weltwoche, 11.2005. [http: / / www.weltwoche.ch/ ausgaben/ 2005-11/ artikel-2005-11-lisa-fittko- 1909.html] Katrin Seybold: Lisa Fittko. München, 2000. Interviews: Katrin Seybold und Catherine Stodolsky / Musik: Zeitblom / Realisation: Michael Farin / BR 2006 / Länge: 54'22 Javier Sigüenza: „El enigma de Walter Benjamin.” In: Acta poética, Nr. 34: 2 (2013), S. 77-100. Catherine Stodolsky: „Meine Tante Lisa Fittko und ich.“ In: Inge Hansen-Schaberg, Sonja Hilzinger u.a. (Hrsg.): Familiengeschite(n). Erfahrungen und Verarbeitung von Exil und Verfolgung im Leben der Töchter. Wuppertal: Arco Verlga, 2006, S. 85-91. Catherine Stodolsky: „Lisa Fittko.“ In: John Spalek u.a. (Hrsg.): Deutschsprachige Exilliteratur seit 1933 (Band 3, Teil 2). München: De Gruyter Saur, 2001, S. 115-129. Catherine Stodolsky: „Lisa Fittko.“ [http: / / catherine.stodolsky.userweb.mwn.de/ lisa/ fittko.html] Catherine Stodolsky: „Lisa Fittko (1909-2005).“ Montserrat Bascoy Lamelas 66 [http: / / catherine.stodolsky.userweb.mwn.de/ lisa/ fittengl.html] Jaime Vándor: „El Holocausto: hacia la tipología de un nuevo género literario.” In: Aula Orientalis: revista de estudios del Próximo Oriente Antiguo Nr. 17: 18 (1999), S. 323-333. Jaime Vándor: „Los campos en la literatura. Reflexiones y ejemplos de la narrativa concentracionaria.” In: Revista anthropos: Huellas del conocimiento Nr. 203 (2004), S. 125-138. Rocío Carrasco Learning Masculinities through Mainstream Hollywood Cinema: The Blockbuster 1 Introduction In this paper, I will focus on the contemporary Hollywood blockbuster to show how this cultural discourse reveals the complexity of the term masculinity at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century in the U.S.A. and elsewhere. The meaning of the term “blockbuster” has led to contradictory debates and reflections on the part of film specialists and critics. Popularly defined as a commercially successful type of filmmaking, the blockbuster has tended to be associated to notions of popularity, spectacle, consumerism and mass audiences, among others. Furthermore, as Julian Stringer (2003) has affirmed, “films labeled as blockbusters are frequently positioned as examples of the culturale retrograde, beneath serious consideration and analysis.” 1 However, and in line with film theorists such as Neale, Buckland, King and Stringer, it is contented here that there is a need to deal with the movie blockbuster, especially for educational purposes, since it can help audiences/ students become aware of certain gender, sex and/ or race conventions and engage with them critically. Moreover, blockbusters represent popular culture, which requires as much scholarly attention as elite culture. The blockbuster has proved difficult to define and its essential characteristics are considered as complex and unclear, leading scholars like Stringer to affirm that it is “a multifaceted phenomenon whose meanings are contigent upon the presence of a range of discourses both internal and external to the Hollywood and indeed the non-US film industry.” 2 Taking this into account, the blockbuster is considered here as a cultural product of mass consumption that, in one or another way, affects the U.S. and any other population worldwide where those movies are consumed and their assumptions about gender and identity. This quite “simplistic” description of the term blockbuster allows for the analysis of the way gender is portrayed in contemporary mainstream Hollywood cinema, which can, on the other hand, be used for teaching - and learning - on masculinities. It is commonly agreed among scholars that the concept of gender is constructed and as such it is acquired through the socialisation process. Social, 1 Julian Stringer, ed.: Movie Blockbusters. London: Routlegde, 2003, p. 1. 2 Stringer 2003, p. 2. Rocío Carrasco 68 historical and cultural factors affect the way males and females are characterised. As Michael Kimmel affirms at the very beginning of his book, The Gendered Society (2000), “gender is not simply a system of classification by which biological males and biological females are sorted, separated, and socialized into equivalent sex roles. Gender also expresses the universal inequality between women and men.” 3 Masculinity, an intimate element of patriarchy, is usually associated with power in most Western cultures. Similarly, the male body has been the site of contention of privileges that are translated into both private and public spheres, suggesting the gendering of certain institutions. The idea of the body as cultural performance was first exploited by feminist scholar Judith Butler in Bodies that Matter (1993), where she argued that sex is a socially constructed category forcibly materialised through time in the service of the consolidation of the heterosexual imperative. 4 Hence, gender role expectation permeates all culture, contributing to the sexist hierarchy of gender. The Hollywood blockbuster has, for much of the last century, offered portraits of men and manhood that have helped Western culture to construct certain notions of masculinity. In relation to this issue, Teresa de Lauretis argues in Technologies of Gender (1987) that the various technologies of gender (such as cinema) and institutional discourses (e.g., theory) have the “power to control the field of social meaning” and can, therefore, “produce, promote, and ‘implant’ representations of gender.” Lauretis poses the question of how to theorise gender beyond the limits of “sexual difference” and advocates for a notion of gender that is constructed in the margins of hegemonic discourses. 5 However, movie images of manhood have normally been sustained by male-oriented power structures, contributing to reinforcing traditional concepts of gender identity. The analysis of masculinity on screen brings about important cultural debates and helps to better understand the social construction of masculinity at each specific historical time. The approach adopted here considers the constructed nature of masculinity and privileges, that is, the text’s immediate socio-cultural context. The way masculinities are understood in contemporary U.S. society seems more than pertinent for this study. Contrary to other approaches based on the study of stereotypes, it is my contention that the teaching of masculinity through contemporary texts should not reduce the analysis to stereotyped male images, since this would obscure the specificities of the film. Rather, 3 See Michael S. Kimmel: The Gendered Society. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 1. 4 Judith Butler: Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits on “Sex.” New York: Routledge, 1993, p. 2. 5 Teresa De Lauretis: Technologies on Gender: Essays on Theory. Film and Fiction. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987, p. 18. Learning Masculinities through Mainstream Hollywood Cinema: The Blockbuster 69 masculinities need to be addressed taking into account the ideology prevalent at a time. Already in 1979, Steve Neale warned us of the “danger” of focusing exclusively upon stereotypes at the expense of the text as a whole, and about the inefficacy of film analyses that measure the stereotype against what is conceived as the “real” or against an “ideal.” These two approaches ignore difference, which is a basic necessity for the production and provision both of meaning and of pleasure. 6 Neale suggests the focus on difference when dealing with stereotypes, a solution that provides the crucial basis for an accurate analysis of race and sex. Following this line of thought, I intend to propose a guideline for an effective teaching on contemporary masculinities. The blockbuster’s sociocultural context becomes essential for any pedagogical approach to gender. This proposal is not concerned with any particular teaching methodology or concept. Rather, by suggesting ideas on how to teach gender and film, this teaching unit aims at illustrating how the Hollywood blockbuster can be considered as a valid example for the working on contemporary masculinities, which can be further used and/ or adapted to different teaching situations. Yet, and since the study of film and gender may encourage complex intellectual debates, its inclusion in university film syllabi seems the most adequate option. The ultimate goal with this teaching unit is to foster debate so that students adopt a critical perspective toward the depiction of masculinity in contemporary Hollywood cinema, especially in the popular formula of the Blockbuster. 2 Masculinities and the Contemporary Blockbuster Apart from the study of male images, an effective film analysis on masculinities involves many aspects, such as the socio-cultural context in which the film is embedded, the film subject and issues addressed, the proper cinematic elements including narrative and technical aspects, and the specificities of the film genre, among others. Moreover, we need to take into account the fact that U.S. blockbusters are consumed all over the world, which further influences global culture. Hence, the analysis of masculinities should not be restricted to male images but to the way the text interacts with these images and gains meaning from them. This study must include, then, references to other important cultural products and to contemporary modes of perception and reflection. From this, it can be deduced that visual analysis is a difficult task and, therefore, one needs to be careful if she/ he intends to use films for 6 Steve Neale: “The Same Old Story: Stereotypes and Difference.” In: Manuel Alvarado et alii, eds.: The Screen Education Reader. Cinema, Television, Culture. Houndmills: Macmillan, 1993, p. 45. Rocío Carrasco 70 teaching purposes in order to avoid misreading, assuming certain aspects as universal truths or imposing certain interpretations. Teaching contemporary masculinities through the blockbuster entails, then, to focus on the above-mentioned aspects, on specific problematics of gender in U.S. society at the turn of the millennium, and on global matters affecting contemporary Western cultures. Background knowledge is, then, necessary to understand popular contemporary films in terms of gender. Hence, instructors should point out that by the 1990s, economic and social changes meant that women were occupying “spaces” traditionally associated with men who no longer dominated economic activities. This caused, according to many critics, a feeling of loss in men, not only of employment but also of a lifestyle and of a privileged position that had placed them over women. It is in this context where we can observe a reversal of traditional roles, especially in their representations in the media. Thus many advertisements were shown depicting unemployed men taking care of their children while their wives became the breadwinners. Men’s employment changed in the sense that it did not, in most cases, encourage them to show physical strength and toughness. This new employment opportunity enabled them to enjoy a more direct relationship with women and children, and provoked a change in the meaning of certain male roles. Previous attempts to “masculinise” society decreased little by little. Messner (1993) deals with three significant changes in recent normative U.S. masculinity: the New Fathering, the mythopoetic men’s movement and the increase in the prevalence of successful men weeping in public. 7 Yet, these shifts in U.S. masculinity do not, he concludes, undermine conventional power structures but they only represent “a shift in the style - not in the social position of power - of hegemonic masculinity. 8 A lament about the loss of old values of manhood is also perceived by many people who, like Robert Bly and his followers, believe in “the spiritual warrior,” one more symbolic ideal of contemporary manhood. 9 7 Characterised by a reliance on the myth of male power, the so-called Mythopoetic Movement draws on Jungian and other psychoanalytic theories to argue that masculinity is inscribed deeply in the male psyche. Robert Bly is considered to be the father of the Mythopoetic Men’s Movement and his many followers look to a mythical past to find the models for contemporary manhood. Bly’s work Iron John (1990) is the most significant text for the movement. 8 M. A. Messner: “Changing Men and Feminist Politics in the United States.” Theory and Society 22 (1993), p. 733. 9 Bly analyses the nature of the male condition to affirm that contemporary masculinity is in crisis because men are nowadays detached from the “wild man.” Some authors have considered this work a “plea for modern men to ‘heal their grief’ and renounce contemporary images of adult manhood in favour of a mythological ‘Wild Man’; an Arthurian warrior figure, connected with the earth and inner mysticism” (Stephen M. Whitehead: Men and Masculinities. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2002, pp. 28-29). Learning Masculinities through Mainstream Hollywood Cinema: The Blockbuster 71 New - and accepted - visions of masculinity began to appear on the cultural stage at the end of the twentieth century. The political sphere also reflected this changing vision of masculinity. President Clinton was believed to have inspired the model of the conflicted masculinity characteristic of the 1990s, “embracing a kind of new, sensitive, non-traditional masculinity at the same time that it sought to demonstrate a powerful, thoroughly established sense of “real American manhood.” 10 Hence, new notions of being masculine emerging at the beginning of our current century erased some of the traditional gender markers. In relation to this issue, Mosse, while admitting the existence of the modern male stereotype, recognised that all the cultural changes at the end of what he called “the new fin de siècle” constituted “an unprecedented menace to the masculine stereotype and seemed to threaten its erosion over a period of time.” 11 Still, he believed that the old masculine stereotype was present and even the “New Man” showed at times nostalgia for so-called real men. 12 Likewise, Messner recognised that men were changing in multiple directions. 13 These changes were linked to an acknowledged crisis of masculinity in the USA. As the new millennium approached, Kimmel contemplated on this crisis as follows: As we face a new century, American men remain bewildered by the sea of changes in our culture, besieged by the forces of reform, and bereft by the emotional impoverishment of our lives. For straight white middle-class men a virtual siege mentality has set in. 14 At the beginning of the year 2000, many debates about masculine values developed. These debates were based on men’s use of violence against their wives at home, on their use of medical treatments such as Viagra pills in order to reassert their masculinity, or in the increasing number of men who then wished to change their external appearance by means of surgery. The appearance of new meanings of manhood and the simultaneous nostalgic call for an idealised masculinity are relevant issues that need to be addressed in any teaching on masculinity covering this time. Another key aspect that needs to be taken into account when dealing with contemporary masculinities in the classroom is the way the male body is constructed in these Hollywood films, since its representation shapes men’s consciousness and attitude towards gender behaviour in society. In 10 Brenton J. Malin: American Masculinity under Clinton. Popular Media and the Nineties “Crisis of Masculinity.” New York: Peter Lang, 2005, p. 7‒8. 11 George L. Mosse: The Image of Man. The Creation of Modern Masculinity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996, p. 189. 12 Mosse 1996, p.190. 13 Messner 1993, p. 724. 14 Michael S. Kimmel: The Gendered Society. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 330. Rocío Carrasco 72 “Behold the Man” (1999), Edisol Wayne Dotson deals with the new ways of representing the male body in contemporary Hollywood cinema. Hard and muscular bodies have been replaced by soft bodies, androgynous characters and aging sex symbols that allow for more permissive representations of male images. Thus, the bodies of well-known actors such as Kevin Costner, Daniel Day Lewis, or Tom Hanks are less muscular, and their personalities are less tough, too. They are not meant to be action or adventure heroes but emotional heroes. 15 New types of heroes seem to dominate the screen at the end of the millennium, something that goes in line with contemporary U.S. gender concerns. Still, this new concept of soft bodies must be adapted to accepted standards of male beauty. Dotson deals with films like the Batman series, the main actor of which falls in the category of the typical Hollywood male sex symbol. His body is not important since the strength and musculature of Batman comes from a rubber suit that becomes the object of display. 16 He argues that mature long-time sex symbols like Clint Eastwood in The Bridges of Madison County can also become a beautiful object. With this he concludes that the defined or thin male body in films remains an indicator of accepted masculinity in U.S. culture. Stereotyped male bodies continue to appear in Hollywood films and spectators still see male images as cultural ideals. The result, he claims, is that “ultramuscular bodies are best, slight muscular bodies are adequate, overweight or otherwise out-of-shape bodies are unacceptable.” 17 As suggested above, teaching should not, however, concentrate exclusively on stereotyped male images. Instead, the sexual traits of the character should be addressed as far as they produce meaning around them. In other words, one should not stop at the visible traits but try to engage them with the cultural panorama and the implied meanings of these bodily markers. The problematic of gender at the turn of the millennium is expressed through the male body in many Hollywood products, which needs to be examined in detail, and compared to other cultural manifestations of it. In doing so, the search for difference and similitude should serve as a tool for analysis. It is also worth noting the ideology affecting most cultural products in contemporary U.S. society. The postmodern thought, characterised by the decentralisation of hierarchical values promoted by binary thinking, has gradually influenced U.S. culture. This has provoked a general sense of uncertainty, dissolution, loss of boundaries and an experience of fragmentation. The possibilities for representation include almost endless variations 15 Edisol Wayne Dotson: Behold the Man. The Hype and Selling of Male Beauty in Media and Culture. New York: The Haworth Press, 1999, p. 69. 16 Dotson 1999, p. 71. 17 Dotson, 1999, p. 73. Learning Masculinities through Mainstream Hollywood Cinema: The Blockbuster 73 between styles, genres and tendencies in every cultural product. In music, architecture, literature, painting, fashion, theatre, cinema and every cultural product there is no prevalence of one style over the rest. We have instead a wide range of influences in each manifestation, sometimes impossible to differentiate from one another, due to the complete transgression of boundaries. In a similar way, postmodernism advocated for the challenge of traditional masculinity in North-American society. In this light, it can be argued that postmodernism becomes the foundation for the decentralisation of normative masculinity. David S. Gutterman in “Postmodernism and the Interrogation of Masculinity” (2002) deals with this issue and argues that postmodern theories of shifting subjects, indeterminate identities and ascribing agency can be useful not only for rethinking existing values but also as a framework for seeking social change. In this sense, postmodernism “provides an extraordinary basis for interrogating the cultural scripts of normative masculinity.” 18 Accordingly, postmodernism becomes a useful tool for the search of the destabilisation of traditional gender norms. In the 1980s and 1990s, Gender Studies were influenced by postmodern thinking, and also dealt with the representation of gender in different postmodern contexts. The term “gender” itself becomes troublesome and unstable if we take into account its artificiality and concern with deconstruction. Postmodern feminists like Judith Butler or Judith Halberstam have sought to deconstruct binary systems by reconceptualising gender as unstable and performative. The awareness of this ideological discourse may be of use when lecturing on contemporary Hollywood masculinities in the sense that it may explain “unconventional” male images. If we concentrate on contemporary movies, the fluidity of gender suggested by postmodernism can be easily appreciated in bodies where sexual difference becomes problematised. Cyborg bodies and hybrid beings appearing in U.S. blockbusters can be said to epitomise the postmodern concern with gender blending. This collision of gender features is visible in the external appearance of many Hollywood protagonists. Thus, this mixture of physical traits contributes to the visual non-differentiation of the sexes. New visions of the hero are, at least apparently, quite different from the canonical concept of hero, a constructed image reflecting contemporary U.S. concerns. Specifically, this new type of hero finds a perfect place in the science fiction genre, a hybrid form which, at least apparently, allows for more challenging 18 David S. Gutterman: “Postmodernism and the Interrogation of Masculinity.” In Stephen M. Whitehead and Frank J. Barrett (eds.): The Masculinities Reader. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2001, p. 61. Rocío Carrasco 74 depictions of gender. 19 This genre allows, then, for a wide understanding of masculinity, and provides the ideal forum for our teaching purposes. Indeed, we get ambivalent characters in most science fiction films, like the ones embodied by Keanu Reeves in The Matrix, or Sam Worthington in Avatar, to give two remarkable examples. Moreover, actors traditionally performing indestructible roles have lessened their activity and adopted softer ones, as in the case of the Schwarzenegger character in the film Terminator 2. A gender closeness seems to be at work in that decade and, therefore, virilised heroines also start to appear in blockbusters, especially in adventure, action and science fiction. Their powerful physicality is present in many films of the 1990s, like Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2, Sigourney Weaver in Alien: Resurrection, or Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider, to give some outstanding examples. Precisely this dichotomy needs to be addressed when teaching masculinities through movies. From this, it can be inferred that the filmic genre is critically pertinent for the analysis of contemporary masculinity and, therefore, we need to pay attention to its conventions. 20 Genre becomes crucial when analysing masculinity since there exists a strong link between certain film types and the images we expect as spectators. For instance, violence and hardness are expected in epics, westerns, war films, action movies, gangster and cop films, although one can read these films from many different points of view. Moreover, it must be added that hero types also evolve with time and are adapted to socio-cultural popular visions of masculinity. The tough guy in the film noir of the 1940s is, logically, quite different from the hero at work in contemporary gangster thrillers, due to the changing definition of toughness throughout history. We need to bear in mind the strong link between culture and the normative definition of masculinity at each specific time. The significance of the blockbuster for the depiction of new versions of masculinity has already been noted, especially in the science fiction genre, a form that incorporates features from many filmic genres like westerns, war films, horror and action adventure films, among others. Yet, and due to the great variety of representations that the contemporary times offer, many different depictions of the male hero coexist from the 1990s up to the present in most blockbusters, being the softer type the prevalent one. As it has been 19 For more information about the depiction of the figure of new hero in U.S. science fiction film, see my study New Heroes on Screen. Prototypes of Masculinity in Contemporary Science Fiction Films. Huelva: Servicio de Publicaciones Universidad Huelva, 2006. 20 When defining “genre,” a French word meaning “type” or “kind,” Steve Neale points out that it has occupied an important place in the study of cinema for many years. Discussions of it have tended to focus on mainstream, commercial films in general and Hollywood films in particular. Sometimes “genre” has been exclusively identified with this kind of films (Steve Neale: Genre and Hollywood. London: Routledge, 2000, p. 9). Learning Masculinities through Mainstream Hollywood Cinema: The Blockbuster 75 suggested so far, many of the male protagonists appearing in films of the late 1990s break with conventional masculine traits as they do not show an extraordinary physical power, or superiority over women. Many tendencies collide, then, from the 1990s onwards, and we are presented, almost in every filmic genre, with new types of hero. As Barry Keith Grant argues, “contemporary American movies across a range of genres have come to an ideological crossroads, increasingly pressured to address, if not redress, the regressive implications of conventional representations of gender and race.” 21 In addition to these matters, a close textual analysis necessitates the reflection of certain film theories that take into account cinematic images of men and their influence on spectators. Crucial for the analysis of masculinity has been the notion of the gaze, since it has traditionally favoured the objectification of women on screen. For an effective analysis of Hollywood masculinities, it is necessary to take into account film theories that examine the implications of the male image on screen. The analysis of masculinity on screen emerged as a consequence of a series of feminist film critiques, which argued for the need to revise cinematic images of women. A number of debates involving masculinity on screen were raised in the early 1980s as a response to the relevant issues exposed by Laura Mulvey in her controversial article “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (1975). Her analysis considered the disadvantaged position of female spectators and the biased images of women in Hollywood cinema, though her project seemed to leave issues such as male representations on screen, or the male body as spectacle, unquestioned. It was up to male theoreticians, then, to analyse these images and to challenge existing preconceptions about the nature of gender and its representation on screen. So far, contemporary film theory, influenced by feminist thought and psychoanalysis, had equated masculinity with activity and the male gaze with visual pleasures such as voyeurism, sadism and fetishism. Male images on screen, when talked about, became a social construction, especially in U.S. culture. The pioneering articles which dealt with these issues were Steve Neale’s “Masculinity as Spectacle” (1983), which analysed how Mulveys’s tenets could be applied to both images of men and male spectators, and Richard Dyer’s “Don’t Look Now: The Male Pin-Up” (1982), which anticipated many forthcoming debates about masculinity on screen. Masculinity was to be studied from this moment onwards in relation to notions of spectacle, masochism, passivity, masquerade and the body as gender contender, issues that feminist film theory had always related to the feminine. 21 Barry Keith Grant: “Strange Days: Gender and Ideology in new Genre Film.” In: Murray Pomerance (ed.): Ladies and Genteleman, Boys and Girls. Gender in Film at the End of the Twentieth Century. New York: State University of New York Press, 2001, p. 185. Rocío Carrasco 76 Moreover, another important debate that was raised by this concern with the new representations of masculinity was that of homosexual desire, both as a source of identification and also in relation to issues of spectatorship. As a result, there is a considerable number of influential works dealing with different aspects of masculinity and representation within the world of cinema (Jeffords 1994; Cohan and Hark 1993; Krutnik 1991; Tasker 1993; Mitchell 1996; MacKinnon 2003; etc). When possible, the use of these theories is advisable for the teaching of contemporary masculinities. Moreover, when focusing on the construction of masculinity in U.S. cinema, one needs to be acquainted with the conventions of the Hollywood industry and its biased dictations about gender. As Watson (1990) puts it, various kinds of background knowledge is necessary to an understanding of popular contemporary film, and, a prerequisite for an educated response to film art is “an education in its tradition - significant periods, movements, conventions, styles, directors - its continuity with other narrative arts, and its presence in and impact on contemporary culture.” 22 The language of film is necessary for reflecting and expressing ideas and, as such, instructors are encouraged to value its importance. After all, “the languages of art and film have expressed the 20th century more widely, and perhaps more fully, than any other language of art.” 23 Through the study of different visual elements - position, point of view, camera movement, setting, props - students will be encouraged to recognise, read and appreciate the construction of masculinity in Hollywood cinema. In short, the above-mentioned critical tools are essential for the analysis of the representation of masculinity in Hollywood mainstream cinema. Hollywood masculinities become, due to their popularity and influence on spectators and vice versa, the starting point for any criticism on gender representation on screen. The analysis of masculinities on screen needs, therefore, to take into account such conventions that will ultimately help to understand the way manhood is depicted in contemporary Hollywood. 3 An Outline for Teaching Masculinities through Hollywood Cinema 3.1 Justification Although the use of film is becoming more and more popular in different educational contexts, its teaching in coalition with Gender Studies is still minimal. Film can be a valuable pedagogical tool, and also a resource for gender awareness. In this sense, its presence in higher education can provide 22 Robert Watson: Film and Television in Education. London: Routledge, 1990, p. 131. 23 Watson 1990, p. 149. Learning Masculinities through Mainstream Hollywood Cinema: The Blockbuster 77 an insight into gender - and cultural - issues of any time period. As a classroom tool, film can catalyse a critical discussion on contemporary depictions of gender. The study of masculinities as depicted in contemporary Hollywood cinema is justified on the grounds that it stands as a metaphor of gender concerns in the U.S.A at the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st one. It also provides a focus for the recognition of its cultural implications, which should be remarked in any teaching context, especially in higher education. The ideas presented here could form part of a larger unit that focuses on teaching gender and film at various levels. The unit would cover theatrical, literary and cinematic elements and the effect they may cause on gender depiction on screen. Thus, it is highly recommended that students have a general understanding of the internal rules hat govern a movie, that is, the most technical and narrative devices. However, this proposal can be adapted to students’ previous ideas on cinematography. 3.2 Objectives Having students think critically on the depiction of masculinity in a contemporary Hollywood film is the main objective of this proposal. In addition, students will: - Develop a critical view on gender, not assuming universal truths. - Identify the film’s treatment of masculinity. - Discuss gender roles. - Evaluate how media elements help the construction of masculinity. - Evaluate the use of symbols and motifs in creating gender. - Apply strategies to deconstruct traditional codes of masculinity. - Recognise contemporary gender politics. - Consider other contemporary films and elements of popular culture. 3.3 Contents Combined film and gender lessons are complex and should be planned a long time in advance, especially if we want to work on a specific topic. Moreover, these lessons are not to be taught in isolation but they must be considered within a formal educational programme. Hence, the classroom resources identified here should serve to guide instructors when planning and designing lessons for a programme that combines both film and gender studies. The content areas for each lesson should show the purpose of illustrating the problematics of gender, and, specifically, of contemporary masculinities. Hence, the selection criteria on the part of the instructor for the movie to be Rocío Carrasco 78 dealt with in class becomes essential for the success of the lesson. One should be careful with certain aspects since, as Watson argues, the seriousness of the subject does not guarantee the seriousness of the film and, equally, the triviality of the subject does not guarantee the triviality of the film. 24 Moreover, one needs to carefully select films that allow for a critical gender analysis. Film selection depends on what instructors intend to highlight. However, here are some suggestions which may be taken as examples for the design of a possible syllabus dealing with film and masculinity in contemporary times. For the issue of the emergence of the figure of the so-called New Father and its implications in contemporary U.S. society, one may use films like Traffic (2000) or, more recently, The War of the Worlds (2005). 25 Films like Falling Down (1992) or American Beauty (1999) express the problematic of the contemporary crisis of masculinity, addressing many key cultural concerns. Films like Brokeback Mountain (2005) or In and Out (1997) allow for the addressing of homosexuality. The impact of new media consumption and the latest technological developments on the construction of male identity can be worked on with science fiction films like The Matrix (1999), eXistenz (1999) or Inception (2010). Films that hint at the idealisation of traditional manhood are Armageddon (1998), Independence Day (1996) or Deep Impact (1998). Strange Days (1995) may serve to examine the disturbing effects of the male gaze. AIDS and homophobic prejudices can be addressed by using films like Philadelphia (1993). A clumsy and passive hero, or an intellectual and irrational character is presented in comedies like Notting Hill (1999) or Mighty Aphrodite (1995). Action films like One Good Cop (1991) may be used with the purpose of showing heroes that, contrary to genre expectations, are not so prominently powerful and invincible as they used to be, and show their feelings. Also, a horror movie like Sleepy Hollow (1999) can be taken as an example of a parody of men’s supposed lack of fearful sentiments. 24 Robert Watson: Film and Television in Education. London: Routledge, 1990, p. 138. 25 The image of the “New Father” threatens to obliterate traditional concepts of fatherhood. Representations of the father in Hollywood cinema since the 1990s are extremely varied, but most of them seem to displace the traditional paternal role model. This diversity accounts for the contemporary concern about masculinity in crisis (Stella Bruzzi: Bringing Up Daddy. Fatherhood and Masculinity in Post-War Hollywood. London: British Film Institute, 2005, p. 153). Learning Masculinities through Mainstream Hollywood Cinema: The Blockbuster 79 3.4 Methodology and Procedure 3.4.1 Pre-screening activities Before the screening, a justification of the selected movie is always required. Students need to be aware of the reason why they are to look at such and such text and, therefore, the benefits of it should be carefully clarified. A written brief summary of the movie and a cast and crew table are always advisable. Also, we need to encourage students to take notes while the screening. Next, instructors need to elaborate on the cultural panorama of the chosen movie, providing information about gender issues at the time when the movie was released, and, if different, at the time when the film is set, and establish parallelisms and/ or differences if necessary. Hence, the specific context of new masculinities needs to be cautiously clarified beforehand so that students think about the reality of gender. It is highly recommended for this pre-screening session to bring documents and records (advertisements, newspapers articles, pictures, movie posters), so that students understand the problematic of gender at the end of the millennium and establish parallels between different cultural products. The last stage in this pre-screening stage is to open a brief discussion asking students to predict the depiction of gender in the selected movie. This activity allows instructors to get to know students’ expectations about gender depiction and detect any possible misunderstanding or sexist assumption. 3.4.2 Activities during the screening of the movie By taking notes, students are encouraged to identify instances of new masculinities in the movie. For that purpose, it is recommended that they work on the description of the characters, and on their development throughout the whole movie. A handout with questions can be very useful at this stage. Questions will be determined by the issues one wishes to address, but in general terms one may use questions like: Do male characters develop here? How? Which is the relationship between them? And with women? How are they physically characterized? Which are their roles in the narrative? The questions provided should be open, and never impose an interpretation. Moreover, they are to include signifying elements that the students might not have noticed, had they not been asked. The resulting debate aims at getting students to reflect about the construction of masculinity in the overall narration. Next, one should proceed to the analysis of a specific sequence, with the aim of showing how cinematic elements construct new masculinities. The Rocío Carrasco 80 sequence should be significant enough as to highlight the specific topic that is intended to cover. Opening sequences are normally noteworthy since they introduce the characters and set them in time and space. Special attention will be paid to frame position, camera angles, gaze, and other aspects of the mise-en-scène that may help in the creation of meaning. If needed, the teacher may introduce students to the technical vocabulary (framing, shot, focus, camera, sound, movement lightning, editing). In any case, it is advisable that the lecturer provides students with a glossary of basic film terms, which they may apply to the selected sequence. This exercise is more efficient if accompanied by a handout showing numbered stills from the selected sequence, so that students can take notes and compare them with the rest of the students. Depending on the issue one intends to cover, there is the possibility to examine specific images of the male body and have a debate on the way props and certain elements of filmic language provide meaning. At that point, film theories that analyse the representation of the male body on screen or the power of the male gaze (Dyer; Neale; Tasker) become rich critical tools. This exercise needs to be always followed by a group discussion about the way these elements provide meaning to the sequence under analysis. Lastly, the lesson could culminate with working on the conventions of the filmic genre and its treatment of gender. Students are to think about the way genre has constructed masculinity throughout the history of Hollywood and consider whether the film follows or challenges these imposed conventions. Illustrating the postmodern concern with genre blending and how this may affect gender depiction is also a valid option at this stage. It is highly recommended to refer to other movies from other periods, so that students can establish parallelisms and differences among them. 3.4.3 Closing activity At this final learning stage, students are given their own opportunity to express their opinion - either orally or as part of an assignment - on such a controversial issue as the depiction on the New Man in contemporary Hollywood cinema. 4 Conclusion As it has been contended here, the use of film is a powerful and rich tool for the teaching of contemporary masculinities in higher educationl contexts. The Hollywood blockbuster is an influential cultural discourse, and popular movies of the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st offer stu- Learning Masculinities through Mainstream Hollywood Cinema: The Blockbuster 81 dents - and society in general - the opportunity to think about the reality of gender at this time period. The impact of these images on contemporary gender politics is too significant to be ignored. Simultaneously, the new meanings of masculinities grasped at the end of the millennium find relevant representations in recent Hollywood cinema. These changes in representation, observable in almost every filmic genre, should be carefully highlighted when teaching this subject matter. With this teaching unit, I have intended to offer ideas for the design of a course that combines gender and film. The proposed activities include the working on specific media elements. Yet, they are somehow subordinated to the emphasis given to the socio-cultural context of the movie. With these, suggestions I hope to inspire teachers and/ or lecturers in the creation of class materials that focus on the students’ critical reading of gender as depicted in contemporary Hollywood. Although these “new” images of men are sometimes subjugated to residual patriarchal impositions, they nevertheless open a path for challenging depictions of masculinity on screen. Precisely because of this, it is my hope that this type of study is soon to be included in formal programs at universities, and that educational institutions recognise the need to work on these pedagogical goals. Bibliography Robert Bly: Iron John: A Book about Men. Shaftsbury: Element Books, 1990. Stella Bruzzi: Bringing Up Daddy. Fatherhood and Masculinity in Post-War Hollywood. London: British Film Institute, 2005. Judith Butler: Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits on “Sex.” New York: Routledge, 1993. Rocío Carrasco Carrasco: New Heroes on Screen. Prototypes of Masculinity in Contemporary Science Fiction Cinema. Huelva: Servicio de Publicaciones Universidad Huelva, 2006. Steven and Ina Rae Hark Cohan (eds.): Screening the Male: Exploring Masculinities in Hollywood Cinema. London: Routledge, 1993. Teresa De Lauretis: Technologies on Gender: Essays on Theory. Film and Fiction. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987. Edisol Wayne Dotson: Behold the Man. The Hype and Selling of Male Beauty in Media and Culture. New York: The Haworth Press, 1999. Richard Dyer: “Don’t Look Now: The Male Pin-Up.” In: Mandy Merck (ed.): The Sexual Subject: A Screen Reader in Sexuality. London: Routledge, 1992, pp. 265-76. Barry Keith Grant: “Strange Days: Gender and Ideology in New Genre Film.” In: Murray Pomerance, ed.: Ladies and Genteleman, Boys and Girls. Gender in Film at the End of the Twentieth Century. New York: State University of New York Press, 2001, pp. 180-197. Rocío Carrasco 82 David S. Gutterman: “Postmodernism and The Interrogation of Masculinity.” In: Stephen M. Whitehead and Frank J. Barrett (eds.): The Masculinities Reader. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2001, pp. 56-72. Susan Jeffords: Hard Bodies. Hollywood Masculinity in the Reagan Era. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1994. Michael S. Kimmel: The Gendered Society. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Frank Krutnit: In a Lonely Street; Film Noir, Genre, Masculinity. London: Routledge, 1991. Kenneth MacKinnon: Representing Men. Maleness and Masculinity in the Media. London: Arnold, 2003. Brenton J. Malin: American Masculinity under Clinton. Popular Media and the Nineties “Crisis of Masculinity.” New York: Peter Lang, 2005. M.A. Messner: “Changing Men and Feminist Politics in the United States.” Theory and Society 22 (1993): 723-37. Lee Clark Mitchell: Westerns. Making the Man in Fiction and Film. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1996. George L. Mosse: The Image of Man. The Creation of Modern Masculinity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Laura Mulvey: “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” 1975. In: Mulvey: Visual and Other Pleasures. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989, pp. 14-28. Steve Neale: “The Same Old Story: Stereotypes and Difference.” In: Manuel Alvarado et alii (eds.): The Screen Education Reader. Cinema, Television, Culture. Houndmills: Macmillan, 1993, pp. 41-47. - . “Masculinity as Spectacle.” In: Mandy Merck (ed.): The Sexual Subject: A Screen Reader in Sexuality. London: Routledge, 1992, pp. 277-87. - . Genre and Hollywood. London: Routledge, 2000. Anthony E. Rotundo: American Manhood; Transformations in Masculinity from the Revolution to the Modern Era. New York: Basic Books, 1993. Julian Stringer, ed.: Movie Blockbusters. London: Routlegde, 2003. Yvonne Tasker: Spectacular Bodies: Gender, Genre and the Action Cinema. London: Routledge, 1993. Robert Watson: Film and Television in Education. London: Routledge, 1990. Stephen M. Whitehead: Men and Masculinities. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2002. Albrecht Classen Bestsellers in the European Middle Ages? An Examination of Some of the Most Popular Books in the Premodern Era. With Particular Reflections on Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival. 1 Bestsellers Today, Of Course, But Did They Exist Already in the Middle Ages? Everyone knows what bestsellers are. Books that are sold more than ten thousand times, for instance, easily fall into this category. Popularity is, of course, a very fickle matter, but it can tell us much about general culture, the mentality, and the dominant value system within a society. Bestsellers reflect major concerns which occupy the public, or they capture the fantasy of the masses because of the novelty of the ideas and images contained in them, such as science fiction novels. Holy books such as the Bible or the Koran have always been the absolute hits on the book markets throughout time, but this does not mean that they were truly appreciated and loved by a massive reading audience, irrespective of the reverence which they certainly must have enjoyed. By the same token, many hymns, prayer books, or other liturgical texts have appeared in huge numbers because they were used for specific purposes, were launched by an institution in order to serve in concrete teaching or church service functions. So we do not necessarily need to consider them in the same context of secular bestsellers, the focus of the present paper. Bestsellers are an interesting and useful genre for the critical analysis of popular or mass culture, although the term ‘popular’ cannot be easily defined, while ‘mass’ represents only a quantitative entity. There is much research today on modern bestsellers and hence also on popular culture, both of which are regarded as typical representatives of modern capitalist society. Popular books are not necessarily synonymous with trivial literature, although specific publication media, book formats, illustration programs, level Albrecht Classen 84 of language, and narrative patterns could be used to correlate both. 1 Bestsellers include not only novels, but also cookbooks, textbooks for the use in schools and colleges, guide books, and then also objects such as movies, songs and records, and maybe even food items. 2 But here I will focus on books only. Despite the common approach to bestsellers, identifying them as typically modern phenomena - the term was first used in 1889 in the Kansas Times & Star - there would not be a real problem with recognizing certain early book publications already since the fifteenth century as bestsellers. As we can read online, for instance, “Very short works such as Ars moriendi, the Biblia pauperum, and versions of the Apocalypse were published as cheap block-books in large numbers of different editions in several languages in the fifteenth century. These were probably affordable items for most of the minority of literate members of the population. In 16thand 17thcentury England Pilgrim’s Progress (1678) and abridged versions of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs were the most widely read books. Robinson Crusoe (1719) and The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748) were early eighteenth century short novels with very large publication numbers, as well as gaining international success.” 3 We need to probe this approach more carefully relying on a wider set of criteria for the critical assessment of a bestseller, and for this purpose I will take into consideration here what the term might have mean for the Middle Ages, if we may go so far back and still employ it for a specific phenomenon at that time. 2 Bestsellers as a Genre: Attempts at a Definition The term ‘bestseller’ refers to a book that is selling extraordinarily well during a whole season, or even for years, though publications that experience a long-term success on the market are then commonly termed ‘steadyseller.’ Bestsellers were commonly books of rather shallow or simplistic entertainment, but this is not necessarily the case all the time. There are also guide- 1 Albrecht Classen: Einleitung. In: Albrecht Classen and Eva Parra-Membrives (ed.): Literatur am Rand: Perspektiven der Trivialliteratur vom Mittelalter bis zum 21. Jahrhundert (Popular Fiction Studies 1). Tübingen: Narr Verlag, 2013, pp. 7-32. In my introduction to the present volume I engage much more with the historical and theoretical aspects. 2 Werner Faulstich: Bestseller. In: Klaus Weimar (ed.): Reallexikon der deutschen Literaturwissenschaft, vol. I: A-G. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1997, pp. 217-19. 3 Quoted from: http: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Bestseller (last accessed on Aug. 20, 2014). See also Werner Faulstich: Die Mediengeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts (Kulturgeschichte des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts 10). Munich: Fink, 2012. For more detailed studies, see id. and Ricarda Strobel: Bestseller als Marktphänomen: ein quantitativer Befund zur internationalen Literatur 1970 in allen Medien (Buchwissen-schaftliche Beiträge aus dem Deutschen Bucharchiv München 13). Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz, 1986. Bestsellers in the European Middle Ages? 85 books or instructive texts that can achieve the status of a bestseller in quantitative terms. It would be too naive to characterize all literary bestsellers as narratives of low quality. Sometimes a novel, being used as the basis for a successful film, unsuspectingly can gain the rank of a bestseller afterwards. J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Ring (1937-1949) and J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter (1997-2007) have been some of the greatest bestsellers of all times, but we cannot simply categorize them as lacking in literary quality, being purely entertainment-focused novels, even though there are many specific strategies employed repetitively to guarantee their success. Much depends on the critical approach, if any, by the readers and scholars. While a superficial reading can easily confirm the ‘negative’ epithet of ‘popular,’ i.e., trivial, a more thorough investigation might certainly reveal deeper levels of meaning that could lift both book series later to a higher level in light of literary scholarship. Karl May’s (1842-1912) huge number of novels, many of which take place in the Wild West of the New World, have achieved the equivalent status as German bestsellers; and as much as they have been regularly condemned as being nothing but ‘popular,’ there are many alternative approaches, especially depending on the individual novels from May’s pen. His name is the best known among all German-language authors until today, and his novels continue to be sold in massive numbers. 4 We could undoubtedly easily identify similar cases of highly popular writers in virtually every culture and language, 5 as modern scholarship has confirmed numerous times. 6 3 Medieval Bestsellers? Here I want to turn to an older period, the European Middle Ages, in order to probe what both terms might have meant then and whether they could be useful heuristic instruments under different technological and economic 4 Erich Heinemann: Eine Gesellschaft für Karl May: 25 Jahre literarische Forschung, 1969- 1994. Husum: Hansa, 1994; Helmut Schmiedt: Der Schriftsteller Karl May: Beiträge zu Werk und Wirkung, ed. Helga Arend. Husum: Hansa, 2000; see also the useful online article at: http: / / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Karl_May. 5 Hans-Hugo Steinhoff: Bestseller. In: Günther and Irmgard Schweikle (ed.): Metzler Literatur Lexikon: Begriffe und Definitionen. 2nd rev. ed. Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler, 1990, p. 47. 6 See, for instance, Sonja Marjasch: Der amerikanische Bestseller: Sein Wesen und seine Verbreitung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Schweiz (Schweizer Anglistische Arbeiten 17) Bern: A. Francke, 1946; Alice Payne Hacket: 70 Years of Best Sellers 1895-1965. New York and London: R. R. Bowker Company, 1967; Donald Ray Richards: The German Bestseller in the 20th Century: A Complete Bibliography and Analysis 1915-1940 (German Studies in America 2). Bern: Herbert Lang, 1968; Albert Zuckerman: Bestseller: Wie man einen Erfolgsroman schreibt. Internet: Bastei Entertainment, 2013. Albrecht Classen 86 conditions. 7 Even though the printing press was not invented before ca. 1450 by Johann Gutenberg, we can clearly recognize a massive production of specific texts already then, written by hand (manuscripts). Some medieval narratives were basically ignored by their own audiences and are recognized only today as highly intriguing and important texts. Other narratives, such as the Old French Roman de la rose by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun (thirteenth century), appealed to a very large audience, although it might be very difficult to resort to the term ‘popular culture’ in this context. But we also have to keep in mind that a large number of medieval manuscripts was simply lost in the course of time, due to fires, deliberate destruction, water damage, book worms, or because these codices, as they can also be called, were misused by early modern book binders who tended to cut them up for the binding of new, printed books. Moreover, a manuscript was mostly read out aloud to a variety of changing audiences, so oral culture has to be considered along the written culture. In other words, one manuscript could reflect a huge audience over time; minstrels and goliards lived of presenting literary works with musical accompaniment to ever changing groups of listeners. Despite the general notion of bestsellers being the product of the modern, capitalistic era, we can also examine major Middle High German and other European literary texts that attracted a vast readership for a variety of reasons. Subsequently I want to discuss first a group of true bestsellers being read throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, then I will examine specific examples from medieval German literature in light of what they might tell us about the audiences. All this will finally serve as a basis for theoretical reflections on the meaning of popular literature and the bestseller both then and today. One of the major justifications for such a study focused on the Middle Ages consists of the distance between the medieval texts and the modern readers. Hence we can investigate medieval literature and its performance as a kind of a laboratory case that allows us to gain solid hermeneutic insights into this phenomenon at large irrespective of any time constraints. Without going into further details, suffice here to mention only one of the astounding success stories, the Navigatio sancti Brendani abbatis, which emerged first in the tenth century, and was then translated into virtually all European languages, copied and adapted throughout time, and easily made the transition to the world of early book printing (first by Caxton in 1488). Even if each branch of this hugely popular narrative, which was mostly read as an adventure story, less than a text for religious instruction, has survived 7 Werner Faulstich: Medien und Öffentlichkeiten im Mittelalter, 800-1400 (Geschichte der Medien 2). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996. Bestsellers in the European Middle Ages? 87 only in a handful of manuscripts, the vast pan-European reception confirms easily that here we face a clear case of a medieval bestseller. 8 4 The Narrative that Never Became a Bestseller: The Master Verse Novella Mauritius von Craûn as a Failure? Nothing better to start an investigation of bestsellers in the Middle Ages but to study a case where everything seems to have failed and the very opposite was the case. The anonymous verse narrative, Mauritius von Craûn, was composed sometime around 1220 or later, but it was copied down, as far as we can tell, only once in the early sixteenth century. The Tyrolean toll keeper, Hans Ried, serving under Emperor Maximilian, was charged by the latter to compile a huge collection of literary works from the previous centuries, perhaps as a form of self-representation for the emperor. 9 One of the items included was also Mauritius von Craûn, which was recorded here for the first time and which is today regarded as one of the most intriguing representatives of this genre, considering the historical-philosophical reflections in the prologue, the intriguing love story, the implied criticism of the decline of courtly culture, and the discussion of why this love story fails so miserably. One could actually imagine why the contemporary audience neglected this narrative virtually completely because it contains so many negative comments and apparently undermines the values of courtly ideals so thoroughly that there seems to be no hope left for a recovery in the future. No other poet ever referred to this narrative, and there are not even faint allusions to the intricate motif anywhere in late medieval German literature. So, if we talk about ‘bestsellers’ in the Middle Ages, this was certainly not such a success story. 10 8 W. R. J. Barron and Glyn S. Burgess (ed.): The Voyage of Saint Brendan: Representative Versions of the Legend in English Translation with Indexes of Themes and Motifs from the Stories. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2005. This volume contains the following versions: Latin, Anglo-Norman, Dutch, German, Venetian, Occitan, Catalan, Norse, and English. 9 Jan-Dirk Müller: Gedechtnus: Literatur und Hofgesellschaft um Maximilian I (Forschungen zur Geschichte der älteren deutschen Literatur 2). Munich: Fink, 1982. 10 Hubertus Fischer: Ritter, Schiff und Dame: Mauritius von Craûn: Text und Kontext (Beiträge zur älteren Literaturgeschichte). Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2006; Moriz von Craûn. Mittelhochdeutsch / Neuhochdeutsch. Mittelhochdeutscher Text nach der Ausgabe von Ulrich Pretzel. Übersetzung, Kommentar und Nachwort von Albrecht Classen (Universal-Bibliothek 8796). Stuttgart: Reclam, 1992; for a diplomatic edition with an English translation, see Moriz von Craûn, ed. and trans. by Stephanie Cain Van D’Elden. (Garland Library of Medieval Literature, Series A, 69) New York and London: Garland, 1990. Both of these were followed by another edition with a German translation, but based on an alternative edition, Mauricius von Craûn. Mittelhochdeutsch / Neuhochdeutsch. Nach dem Text von Edward Schröder herausgegeben, übersetzt und Albrecht Classen 88 However, if we take a good look at the manuscript which contains this text, the Ambraser Heldenbuch, we observe a curious phenomenon. This anthology includes not only this short verse narrative, but many of the major Middle High German romances and heroic epics, such as Hartmann von Aue’s Iwein and his Klage, then also his Erec, then epics such as Dietrichs Flucht, Rabenschlacht, Nibelungenlied, the Klage, Wolfdietrich A, and shorter but still important texts such as Ulrich von Liechtenstein’s Frauenbuch, Wernher der Gartenære’s Helmbrecht, the Stricker’s Pfaffe Amîs, and Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Titurel fragments. 11 All of them are regarded as major contributions to medieval German literature, and most of them have survived in a number of manuscripts from previous centuries, especially the highly popular Nibelungenlied. Only Hartmann’s Klage and Ulrich’s Frauenbuch are, like Mauritius, known to us exclusively through this Ambraser Heldenbuch. But we cannot simply argue ex negativo. The quality of a literary text from the Middle Ages does not depend on the number of text witnesses. The same applies to modern literature, since being a bestseller does not say much at all about the relevance of the text. Nevertheless, Mauritius remains an oddity for which we do not have a good explanation. 5 True Medieval Bestsellers By contrast, we know of many texts that experienced a pan-European reception from late antiquity throughout the Middle Ages and then until the early modern age. Some of those deserve to be discussed here to gain a better concept of what ‘bestseller’ really might have meant in the Middle Ages. Quantitative criteria prove to be not as useful, or not in all cases since the rate of loss of manuscripts must have been very high. But if a narrative was popular for a very long time, as documented by new editions, translations, and adaptations, we can be certain that it appealed to large numbers of people. Mauritius von Craûn, to be sure, did not enjoy that success, although we cannot completely exclude the possibility that it was read here and there after all; otherwise it would seem very hard to imagine how it might have made it into the storehouse of Hans Ried when he copied down the text. 12 kommentiert von Dorothea Klein (Universal-Bibliothek 8796 [sic! ]). Stuttgart: Reclam, 1999. Today we mostly rely on Mauritius von Craûn, ed. Heimo Reinitzer (Altdeutsche Textbibliothek 113). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 2000. 11 For a detailed description of this manuscript, Vienna, Nationalbibliothek, Cod. Ser. nov. 2663, along with an extensive bibliography, see, for instance, Dietrichs Flucht: Textgeschichtliche Ausgabe, ed. Elisabeth Lienert and Gertrud Beck (Texte und Studien zur mittelhochdeutschen Heldenepik 1). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 2003, pp. XV- XVIII. 12 For a broad discussion of the world of medieval manuscripts, see Claudia Brinker-von der Heyde: Die literarische Welt des Mittelalters. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buch- Bestsellers in the European Middle Ages? 89 a Apollonius of Tyre One of the true ‘blockbusters’ in the entire Middle Ages was the Historia Apollonii, or Apollonius of Tyre, which was first created sometime in the second or third century in Greek and soon was translated into Latin. There are at least one hundred and fourteen Latin manuscripts created between the seventh and the seventeenth century in every corner of Europe. The anonymous romance survived the media revolution of the printing press and became a highly sought after item on the early modern book markets. 13 The text did not only survive independently, it was also integrated into other larger text anthologies, such as Godrey of Viterbo’s Pantheon (ca. 1187; extant in at least forty manuscripts), 14 and the Gesta Romanorum (end of the thirteenth century), the latter being probably the most popular collection of exempla texts of the entire Middle Ages. 15 What made Apollonius of Tyre to such a popular literary item throughout time in virtually all European cultures, until today? I still have to meet a student/ reader who would not like this text, and the reasons for this widespread appeal are very obvious because we encounter all those themes and motives that have always guaranteed great popularity: sea voyage with shipwreck, rise and fall of the hero, love and death, separation of lovers, reunification of the family, pirates, a pimp, riddles, seeming death at sea, miraculous recovery, murder attempts, and the like. In fact, it would be the best possible literary material for a movie script since the issues addressed here prove to be so archetypal, universal, and drastic, clearly separating the evil from the good individuals, challenging the protagonist who ultimately needs his daughter’s intellectual capabilities to snap out of his deep depression. As Elizabeth Archibald concludes regarding the reception history: “from the thirteenth century on every century offers both traditional and innovative versions, in an increasing number of vernaculars as well as Latin, gesellschaft, 2007. See also the contributions to Jean Glenisson (ed.): Le Livre au moyen âge. Turnhout: Brepols, 1988. 13 Elizabeth Archibald: Apollonius of Tyre: Medieval and Renaissance Themes and Variations: Including the text of the Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri with an English translation. Cambridge: Brewer, 1991; Bodo Gotzkowsky: “Volksbücher”: Prosaromane, Renaissancenovellen, Versdichtungen und Schwankbücher. Bibliographie der deutschen Drucke. Part I: Drucke des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts (Bibliotheca Bibliographica Aureliana CXXV). Baden-Baden: Valentin Koerner, 1991, pp. 184-91. 14 http: / / www.geschichtsquellen.de/ repOpus_02486.html 15 Brigitte Weiske: Gesta Romanorum, 2 vols. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 1992. Vol. 2 contains a list of the Latin, Middle High German, and Middle English manuscripts, pp. 121-44. Weiske admits herself (p. 121) that this register can only be regarded as preliminary since the true extent of this popular work cannot yet be fathomed. Nevertheless, there is virtually no major medieval library missing in this list, which underscores the amazing distribution of this work throughout the Middle Ages. Albrecht Classen 90 in prose and in verse, and allusions indicate that from an early date the story was read by some as exemplary, by others as courtly and entertaining.” 16 b Jacobus de Voragine’s Legenda aureum To be sure, in the Middle Ages religious texts regularly enjoyed a much higher degree of popularity than any others, especially when they were molded and adapted to appeal to the general public. This is impressively documented by Jacobus de Voragine’s The Golden Legend. The Dominican author Jacobus created this anthology of saints’ lives about 1260, and it quickly gained the status of a bestseller, as we would call it today. There are about one thousand manuscripts of this collection, created until ca. 1450, after which date the printing press at first slowly, but then rapidly conquered the book market. The Legenda aurea was soon printed as well both in Latin and in virtually every Western European language, reaching publication records just below the Bible. 17 Famous William Caxton printed an English translation in 1483, and Wynkyn de Worde followed with one in 1507 (? ), which was reprinted in 1521 and 1527, but this was not the end of the enormous success story of the Golden Legend in Latin and other European languages. 18 Countless writers, both scholars and poets, drew from this famous anthology and thus guaranteed its continuous success throughout the centuries. Insofar as saints mattered greatly in the premodern age (if not until today), and insofar as Jacobus succeeded in making them accessible through these narratives, depicting them in their humanity and also divine glory, he managed to appeal to a wide range of readers and listeners at many different stations of life. Let us 16 Archibald: Apollonius of Tyre, p. 51. 17 Jacobus de Voragine: The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints, trans. William Granger Ryan. 2 vols. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993. For a recent German translation, see Legenda aurea: die Heiligenlegenden des Mittelalters, trans. Matthias Hackemann. Cologne: Anaconda, 2008. For a French trans., see La légende dorée, trans. Alain Boureau [Paris]: Gallimard, 2004, etc. For the critical edition, see Jacopo da Voragine: Legenda aurea, ed. Giovanni Paolo Maggioni, with a trans. into Italian by Francesco Stella. 2 vols. Florence: Sismel/ Edizioni del Galazzo, 1988; Milan: Biblioteca Ambrosiana, 2007. 18 Barbara Fleith: Studien zur Überlieferungsgeschichte der lateinischen Legenda aurea (Subsidia hagiographica 72). Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1991; Barbara Fleith and Franco Morenzoni: De la sainteté a l'hagiographie: genèse et usage de la Légende dorée (Publications romanes et françaises 229). Geneva: Droz, 2001; see also the contributions to Brenda Dunn-Lardeau (ed.): Legenda aurea, sept siècles de diffusion: actes du colloque international sur la Legenda aurea, texte latin et branches vernaculaires à l'Université du Québec à Montréal, 11-12 mai 1983 (Cahiers d’études médiévales. Cahier spécial 2). Montréal: Bellarmin; Paris: J. Vrin, 1986. Bestsellers in the European Middle Ages? 91 examine briefly an example to get a good sense of the principles behind this enormous success on the late medieval and early modern book market. The legend of St. Lucy contains numerous elements that clearly highlight the essential reasons why these narratives were so popular and influential throughout time among virtually all people. Beginning with a reference to St. Agatha, already a saint, we hear of Lucy and her mother attending to the saint’s grave, especially because the young woman wants to help her mother heal her body which suffers from constant bleeding. During her prayers, Lucy falls asleep and has a visionary conversation with Agatha, who confirms immediately that Lucy’s faith has already cured the mother. Having woken up, she realizes that the miracle has happened, which then moves her to dedicate herself to God, breaking up her engagement, selling all of her goods, i.e., her dowry, and giving the money to the poor. The fiancé gets suspicious and inquires about all the selling, but he is deceived by the chambermaid who pretends that Lucy wants to sell in order to get a better bargain. The narrator calls him a “stupid fellow” (28) who falls for this trick and even assists in the transaction, until he finally realizes what the true intentions had been. Bitterly disappointed, he distances himself and turns Lucy over to the Roman Consul Paschasius, accusing her of being a Christian. The subsequent conversation between the man and the saintly women echoes much of early medieval hagiographical literature and can be traced in some way even back to Hrotsvit of Gandersheim. Lucy rejects all threats, insists that the Holy Spirit is in her and speaks through her, and rebuffs Paschasius’s attempts to intimidate her through the punishment of being gang-raped: “‘Invite a crowd to take their pleasure with this woman, and let them abuse her until she is dead’” (29). But God intervenes and helps Lucy to overcome all dangers since no one, not even thousand men or magicians can move her from that place. Fire and hot oil next poured onto her have no effect, until the consul’s friends stab her with their knives; nevertheless she continues speaking and praising her God. 19 In the meantime Roman officials have arrived and take Paschasius prisoner, since he has been found guilty of exploiting his province to the disadvantage of the people and Rome. He is subsequently decapitated, whereas Lucy only dies after she has received the Body of the Lord. Finally, she is buried and a church is built upon her grave. Her life and death thus contributed to the creation of her sainthood, and people throughout the Middle Ages obviously loved to hear her story. As most other examples in this genre, we recognize the highly effective relationship between concrete, appar- 19 Eva Parra Membrives: Mundos femeninos emancipados: Reconstrucciòn teóretico-empirica de una propuesta literaria femenina en la edad media alemana (Textos de Filología 5). Zaragoza: Anubar, 1998. Albrecht Classen 92 ently realistic elements in the narrative and spiritual matter. Lucy demonstrates how much a true faithful can count on God’s help, and that all threats even against a young virgin by a powerful male heathen governor can be defied. The basic recipe leading to the extraordinary success of this and the many other accounts in the Legenda aurea consists of a accumulation of simple narrative patterns that all confirm that the Christian God is the true and only one who can be relied on completely, even in the worst possible conditions. But from the point of view of narration, there are dialogues between mother and daughter, Lucy and the consul, threats of sexual depravation, attempts to torture her in the worst possible fashion, and the miraculous failure of fire and hot oil to hurt her body, which demonstrates the workings of God. Nevertheless, Lucy dies at the end, but the death of her body elevates her soul into heaven. The Christian readers are also reminded that the early history of their church dates back to late antiquity, but the miracles presented take place in the ordinary lives of people, hence they might be repeated if the right faith would be present. It is a miracle story, and until today this genre belongs to the most popular ones since people constantly suffer from some inexplicable disease or are subject to terrible subjugation in the public life and tend to look for miraculous help. Little wonder that this and countless other stories in the Legenda aurea made possible its huge success story on the medieval book market. 20 We hear of incurable sickness, absolute faith, miraculous healing, economic decisions in favor of a saintly life, disagreement between the fiancé and his betrothed, threats by the consul, punishment, torture, and again miracles. The reader was strongly encouraged to regain hope as long as s/ he embraced a strong faith. But the narrative also reflects a certain literary character, being structured by and composed of exciting accounts of astonishing events, dialogues, and movement of locations. Little wonder that the Legenda aurea hence became such an enormous success story already in the Middle Ages which continued well into the modern age. The catalogue for all books printed in Germany in the sixteenth century, the VD 16, still lists four printed versions from 1502, 1503, 1510, and 1516. But there were countless other copies circulating all over Europe in various languages far into the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. For instance, in 1688, Joannis Garcia Matriti published the Legenda aurea sanctorum, divini verbi concionatoribus perquam utilis, & uberrima once again, and we can be certain that the history of reception did not end there at all. Even though the full extent of the manuscript and print tradition for the Legenda 20 Sherry L. Reames: The Legenda Aurea: A Reexamination of Its Paradoxical History. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985. For an excellent close reading of the text, see now Jacques Le Goff, In Search of Sacred Time: Jacobus de Voragine and the Golden Legend. Orig. 2011; Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014. Bestsellers in the European Middle Ages? 93 aurea remains elusive, we know that this text anthology represented truly what we would call today a bestseller, and this for hundreds of years all over Europe. c The Old French Roman de la rose When Guillaume de Lorris created his part of the Roman de la rose ca. 1225/ 1230, he could not have foreseen the enormous success of his allegorical romance. It was vastly expanded and completed by Jean de Meun ca. 1267/ 1278 (? ). If we disregard Dante’s masterpiece, the Divina Commedia (at least 827 manuscripts at the latest count 21 ), then the Old French Roman de la rose can easily be identified as one of the most successful secular works in the Middle Ages. Heather Arden was aware of 247 manuscripts, 22 but the number of total manuscripts is certainly much larger. 23 The Roman also survived the media revolution of 1450 and was printed many times thereafter, such as in Paris by Jean Du Pré [ante 18 V 1493], again there by Jean Petit et Antoine Vérard [inter 30 IX 1497 et 8 V 1498], by Michel Noir in 1509, by Pierre Sergent in 1537, Pierre Vidoue in 1538, and also in Amsterdam in 1735, to mention just a few examples. 24 While Guillaume presents an erotic dream allegory with a lover who enters a mysterious garden and encounters many challenges in his quest to win a rose, Jean changed the outlook considerably and transformed the tender, psychologically very skillfully woven narrative fabric into an encyclopedic work of satirical, deft, and graphic nature with some pornographic elements at the conclusion. 25 It would not be meaningful here to summarize the text or to identify specific aspects that made this allegorical romance so popular. Suffice it to recognize how much Guillaume developed a poetic imagery representative of how young people tend to fall in love with each other and then pursue the goal of winning the hand of the beloved. Especially the concept of the garden, surrounded by a wall whereupon allegorical figures speak about basic human feelings, virtues, and vices, then the fountain in the garden, and above all, the concept of the rose which the lover wants to pluck, all repre- 21 http: / / www.danteonline.it/ english/ codici_indice.htm (last accessed on Aug. 20, 2014). 22 Heather Arden: The Romance of the Rose (Twayne’s World Authors Series 791). Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1987, p. 18. 23 http: / / romandelarose.org/ #corpus (last accessed on Aug. 20, 2014). 24 Data taken from the online catalogue of the Bibliothèque nationale français. See also Francis William Bourdillon: The Early Editions of the Roman de la Rose (Illustrated Monographs 14). London: Bibliographic Society, 1906. 25 My preferred English translation is The Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun. Trans. by Harry W. Robbins. Ed., and with an intro. by Charles W. Dunn. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1962, which stays closest to the original Old French. Albrecht Classen 94 senting the entire world of love in its spiritual and emotive dimensions, have appealed to countless readers/ listeners, not to forget detractors and critics such as Christine de Pizan (d. 1431). 26 While Guillaume emphasized, above all, the initial stages of love, the learning experience by the lover, and his pursuit of his beloved, Jean added a whole new dimension of learned discourse, filled with satire and irony, sarcasm and parody, which appealed to learned readers above all, and which then invited many poets throughout the subsequent centuries to respond to and to imitate, if not adapt and vary the Roman, especially in western Europe, while it does not seem to have enjoyed any noteworthy popularity in Germany or Scandinavia. 27 It would be hard, however, to identify the specific audiences since so many different poets, philosophers, and other intellectuals responded to the Roman. Both philosophy itself and nature, reason and sexuality, the conflict between art and nature, and the tensions between the genders matter greatly in this text, which might strike us as highly unusual today in light of the fact that we really would have to identify this tome as a medieval bestseller. As Sylvia Huot observes, “the open-ended quality of the text with its unfulfilled promises of glossing and exposition, its kaleidoscopic review of such themes as love, sexuality, and language, and its explicitly multiple authorship, invited the participation of subsequent poets in the continuing process of shaping and reshaping the poem.” 28 While Jean emerges as a highly witty, playful, and intellectual poet, writing in a most sophisticated fashion, drawing from the rich literary, theological, scholarly, and medical tradition of antiquity and the high Middle Ages, satirizing and undermining it at the same time, Guillaume proves to be something like a medieval psychologist, detailing in his literary account how the dreamer comes to the Garden of Mirth, meets his companions, is then pursued by the God of Love, falls in love with the rose, learns the commandments of love, learns the pains of love and so the remedies (Ovid), subsequently experiences fear and shyness, gains Franchise and Pity as friends, finally kisses the rose, but is then driven away again by Evil Tongue and Jealousy. In Jean’s part, which is much longer than Guillaume’s, Reason expounds on youth and old age, the properties of fortune, wealth and justice, then investigates various kinds of example from Roman antiquity, in 26 Sylvia Huot: The Romance of the Rose and Its Medieval Readers: Interpretation, Reception, Manuscript Transmission (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature 16). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, pp. 323-37. 27 Albrecht Classen: Hugo von Montfort - a Reader of the Roman de la Rose? . In: Monatshefte 83.4 (1991), pp. 414-32; Pierre-Yves Badel: Le Roman de la Rose au XIVe siècle: étude de la réception de l’oeuvre (Publications romanes et françaises 153). Geneva: Droz, 1980; see also the contributions to Kevin Brownlee and Sylvia Huot (ed.): Rethinking the Romance of the Rose: Text, Image, Reception (The Middle Ages Series). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992. 28 Hyot: The Romance of the Rose, 325. Bestsellers in the European Middle Ages? 95 order then to turn to all kinds of negative and positive aspects pertaining to love. Here we also learn the story of Abelard and Heloise, and we are confronted with forces such as jealousy, reason, deception, rumour, shame and fear, destiny and free will, gentility, among others. All that, however, only serves as a platform and a preparation for the final events in which the lover, or rather Venus, besieges the symbolic tower of ivory and at last conquers it, which is nothing but the graphic description of coitus. This is truly encyclopedic, though rather different than in the modern sense of the word. Simple literary entertainment is combined with a learned discourse, and all that is then almost deconstructed through the treatment of love as a matter of physical conquest. Altogether, we can easily realize why the Roman de la rose gained such notoriety and fame throughout the Middle Ages. 29 But we also recognize why it would be difficult to claim that it represents a ‘bestseller’ in the way how we would identify such works today. Despite the huge number of manuscripts and early modern prints, it seems highly unlikely that Guillaume or Jean truly appealed to the ordinary masses. Both parts are characterized by highly sophisticated approaches to the phenomenon of courtly love, and the reader/ listener is certainly asked to reflect on aspects borrowed from a profoundly learned tradition. Among the wide-ranging courtly audiences, however, the Roman certainly quickly gained the status of a ‘bestseller’ and exerted a tremendous influence on late medieval and early modern French literature, appealing even to Middle Dutch (Heinrik van Aken, ca. 1280), English (Geoffrey Chaucer, ca. 1380), and probably Italian authors (numerous manuscripts housed in Italian libraries; see also the Italian adaptation Il fiore, ca. 1280-1320), for instance. 30 We might call the Roman de la rose a bestseller among the European intellectuals far into the early modern age. 31 d Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival (ca. 1205) I would like to conclude with a particular case in medieval German literature to confirm that here we also come across major success stories that I would categorize as bestsellers, at least within their medieval contexts. We do not need to reintroduce Wolfram’s Parzival once again since it is regarded 29 See the contributions to Jean Dufournet (ed.): Études sur le roman de la rose de Guillaume de Lorris (Collection Unichamp 4). Paris: Champion, 2012; and to Florian Mehltretter (ed.): Allegorie und Wissensordnung: Volkssprachliche enzyklopädische Literatur des Trecento (Münchener Italienstudien 1). Munich: Herbert Utz, 2014. 30 Christopher Kleinhenz: Il Fiore. In: Gaetana Marrone (ed.): Encyclopedia of Italian Literary Studies. Vol.: A-J. New York and Oxon, UK: Routledge, 200, pp. 728-29. 31 Christine McWebb (ed.): Debating the “Roman de la rose”: A Critical Anthology. Intro. and trans. by Earl Jeffrey Richards (Routledge Medieval Texts). Orig. 2007; New York and London: Routledge, 2011. Albrecht Classen 96 as one of the most important ‘classics’ in the medieval German tongue. Parzival has survived in the astoundingly large number of 87 manuscripts (sixteen of them almost complete, the rest as fragment. 32 There is even an incunabulum print of this work from 1477, so there is no doubt that Wolfram enjoyed a huge success with his Grail romance throughout the following centuries (created around 1205). 33 But would that make his work to a bestseller? Any naive reader, even if only working with a modern translation, will immediately recognize a definite intellectual challenge since Wolfram introduces his romance with an almost enigmatic prologue in which he outlines the theoretical concept of his work. The number of figures who appear in the text is virtually overwhelming even for an audience deeply steeped in oral culture. Then Wolfram combined several narrative strands, especially the story of Gawân, which makes it further difficult to keep track of Parzival’s course through life. Altogether, this is a rather demanding and complicated romance, as the rich body of Wolfram scholarship has confirmed throughout the last two hundred years. 34 Already in the Middle Ages many poets referred to Wolfram and identified him as a true role model and poetic ideal. 35 Later generations went so far as to idealize him as one of their masters in the Meistersinger tradition. 36 Parzival was a bestseller, but more in the vein of the Roman de la rose than in the vein of The Lord of the Rings, notwithstanding some striking parallels in the structure and thematic orientation of both the modern and the medieval text, with the enigmatic Grail quest forming the central motif, similar as 32 Wolfram von Eschenbach: Parzival. Studienausgabe. Mittelhochdeutscher Text nach der sechsten Ausgabe von Karl Lachmann. Übersetzung von Peter Knecht. Mit Einführungen zum Text der Lachmannschen Ausgabe und in Probleme der ‘Parzival’- Interpretation von Bernd Schirok, 2. Auflage. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2003; for an excellent introduction, see Joachim Bumke: Wolfram von Eschenbach. 8th, newly rev. ed. (Sammlung Metzler 36). Stuttgart and Weimar: Verlag J. B. Metzler, 2004; cf. also Michael Dallapiazza: Wolfram von Eschenbach: Parzival (Klassiker-Lektüren 12). Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag, 2009. 33 Bernd Schirok: Die Handschriften und die Entwicklung des Textes. In: Joachim Heinzle (ed.): Wolfram von Eschenbach: Ein Handbuch. Vol. I: Autor, Werk, Wirkung. Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2011, pp. 308-34; cf. Volker Mertens: Die Wiederentdeckung Wolframs und die Anfänge der Forschung. In: ibid., pp. 705-741. See also the huge editorial project by Michael Stolz, University of Bern, at: http: / / www.parzival.unibe.ch/ hsverz.html (last accessed on Aug. 20, 2014). 34 Albrecht Classen: Wolfram von Eschenbach. In: Oxford Bibliographies, online 2014 (an extensive commented bibliography on this poet). 35 Günther Schweikle (ed.): Dichter über Dichter in mittelhochdeutscher Literatur (Deutsche Texte 22). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 1970, pp. 7, 9, 10, 14, et passim. 36 Horst Brunner: Die alten Meister: Studien zu Überlieferung und Rezeption der mittelhochdeutschen Sangspruchdichter im Spätmittelalter und in der frühen Neuzeit. (Münchener Texte und Untersuchungen zur deutschen Literatur des Mittelalters, 54) Munich: Beck, 1975. Bestsellers in the European Middle Ages? 97 Frodo’s desperate attempt to destroy the dangerous ring and to avert the triumph of evil in this world. Trying to find utopia in this world represents one of the universal themes throughout world literature and has been one of the essential ingredients to transform a text into a bestseller. 37 Not surprisingly, Parzival has even been translated into modern listening material for very young readers today (audio book), 38 and it has also made its way onto the modern stage, again for young audiences. 39 In other words, it has withstood the test of time and continues to appeal to audiences in the postmodern world, although it often proves to be very difficult to understand both in terms of the language (Middle High German) and content. The range of themes, motifs, topics, and problems raised in this romance proves to be astounding. We come across protests against knighthood as a social institution, a mother’s futile attempt to protect her son from the dangers of the outside world, internecine strife at the court of King Arthur, religious conflicts, rejection of the Christian faith, personal contacts between people of white and black races, being bonded even by love, the quest for God after all, rape, death, marriage, happiness, crime, battle, and, ultimately, the reconstitution of the Grail through Parzival. Many audiences found whatever literary material they were looking for in that famous romance. Wolfram’s Parzival has not survived in as many manuscripts as Dante’s Divina Commedia, Guillaume’s and Jean’s Roman de la rose, or Jacobus de Voragine’s Legenda aurea. However, if we compare its success story with that of other major medieval German texts, we can clearly recognize how much it must have appealed to a vast number of audiences far into the late Middle Ages. Relying on the Handschriftencensus: Eine Bestandsaufnahme der handschriftlichen Überlieferung deutschsprachiger Texte des Mittelalters, we can gain a good idea what the great success of Wolfram’s Parzival really meant. 40 Most texts from the German Middle Ages have survived in not more than 5 to 10, sometimes more manuscripts. Those that are extent in greater numbers normally fall into the category of religious or didactic/ scientific texts, such as the Aderlaßregeln (16 manuscripts) or Albrecht von Eyb’s Ehebüchlein (9 manuscripts). By contrast, narratives of a pan-European signif- 37 Regina Unger: Wolfram-Rezeption und Utopie: Studien zum spätmittelalterlichen bayerischen “Lohengrin”-Epos (Göppinger Arbeiten zur Germanistik 544). Göppingen: Kümmerle, 1990; see also the contributions to Heiko Hartmann and Werner Röcke (ed.): Utopie im Mittelalter: Begriff - Formen - Funktionen (Das Mittelalter 18.2) [2013]). Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2013. 38 Karlheinz Koinegg: Die unglaublichen Abenteuer des Ritters Parzival: für Kinder ab 5 Jahren. Sprecher: Christoph Eichhorn. Munich: Der Hörverlag, 2002. 39 Katrin Lange: Unterm hohen Himmel: Parzival: ein Stück für Kinder und Leute, nach Motiven des Romans von Wolfram von Eschenbach. Regie: André Rößler. Parzival: Jan Krauter; Herzleide, seine Mutter, Königin: Gabriele Hintermaier; Gawan, Ritter: Boris Koneczny (Staatstheater Stuttgart 59). Stuttgart: Staatstheater, [2009]. 40 http: / / www.handschriftencensus.de/ werke (last accessed Aug. 20, 2014). Albrecht Classen 98 icance, such as Barlaam und Josaphat (3 manuscripts), are extent only in very few copies in the German-speaking areas. The Beichtspiegel, by contrast, exists in 38 manuscripts, certainly because it was in such high demand by priests everywhere. German Bible translations were already very common well before Martin Luther’s work, as the 91 manuscripts document. David von Augsburg’s Spiegel der Tugenden has survived in 10 manuscripts - again, a very didactic text. The mystico-philosophical reflections by Meister Eckart, Reden der Unterscheidung, have been preserved in 27 manuscripts, and his sermons even in 74 manuscripts The Elsässische Trojabuch with 15 manuscripts represents already an exception, and so does the verse narrative Die fromme (selige) Müllerin with 17 manuscripts. The interest in historical accounts is documented by the 21 manuscripts containing the Gmünder Chronik, but this is already an unusual case, whereas the Augsburger Stadtchroniken des 15. Jahrhunderts have survived in only 4 manuscripts. Law books also were of great significance, as documented by the Wiener Stadtrechtsbuch with 12 manuscripts. The real success stories were, however, the following texts: Nibelungenlied with 37 manuscripts, Gottfried von Straßburg’s Tristan with 30 manuscripts, Hartmann von Aue’s Gregorius with 13 manuscripts, Hartmann’s Iwein with 33 manuscripts (his Erec has been preserved only in 4 manuscripts), the St. Georgener Predigten with 97 manuscripts, Heinrich Seuse’s Exemplar with 15 manuscripts, the pilgrimage account Stationes ecclesiarum urbis Romae in German with 21 manuscripts, the Stricker’s Karl der Große with 42 manuscripts, and his Reimpaardichtungen with 39 manuscripts, not to forget his Pfaffe Amîs with 13 manuscripts. Neidhart’s poems have survived in 28 manuscripts, and those by Walther von der Vogelweide in 19 manuscripts. Even the Wappenbuch is still extant in 14 manuscripts. Wirnt von Grafenberg’s Wigalois exists in 37 manuscripts. All those items pale, however, in comparison with Wolfram von Eschenbach’s enormous success. To repeat, his Parzival has survived in 87 manuscripts, and his Willehalm in 79 manuscripts. This is striking in many different ways because both narratives continue to be regarded as masterpieces of medieval literature and yet are not easy to digest. Medieval audiences must have had similar problems with the text, and Gottfried von Straßburg even seems to have criticized Wolfram for his opaque and inaccessible narrative style. 41 But since he does not mention this name and formulates his criticism in general terms, we gain a clear sense of how much Gottfried was struggling specifically against Wolfram’s enormous success. The Parzival can thus be counted among the medieval ‘bestsellers,’ although this also requires further analysis regarding the meaning this term in the historical context. 41 Tomas Tomasek: Gottfried von Straßburg. Stuttgart: Philipp Reclam, 2007, pp. 145-47. Bestsellers in the European Middle Ages? 99 6 Final Reflections and Conclusion Even though it would be difficult to judge the success-rate of a medieval text by the number of surviving manuscripts that contain it, the comparison between Wolfram’s Parzival and all other medieval German texts clearly documents that here we can identify a medieval ‘bestseller.’ This is the more astounding considering how complex and difficult this romance proves to be and how much it demands from its audience. But Wolfram, having adopted the core topic from Chrétien de Troyes (Perceval), obviously knew exactly how to achieve the literary triumph by addressing the right mix of critical issues relevant for his society and also subsequent generations. This hence requires from us to redefine and adapt the concept of ‘bestseller’ somewhat. The number of 87 manuscript copies of his text known today seems nothing compared to the millions of sold copies of Tolkien’s Lord of the Ring, for instance. Nevertheless, a medieval manuscript meant considerably more than a printed book today, since it was a highly valuable bibliophile item and also served as a basis for many different oral readings or performances. Altogether, throughout the Middle Ages, numerous literary and theological, didactic and historical texts certainly achieved the status of a ‘bestseller,’ although this normally must have meant that it appealed to the intellectuals and learned, to the aristocratic and later also the urban elites. Mass distribution was not possible before the invention of the printing press, and yet, the individual texts discussed here definitely achieved a global reputation and were handed down throughout the centuries. They were both ‘bestsellers’ and ‘steadysellers.’ Admittedly, the dominance of the oral culture casts the entire issue examined here in a different light compared to the modern situation, but we can be certain that, after all, some texts achieved truly universal fame. A bestseller does not have to be a book/ manuscript that was in everyone’s hands. Manuscripts circulated widely, and the oral transmission was extensive. Even though Wolfram’s Parzival did not enjoy the same popularity as Jacobus de Voragine’s Legenda aurea, both can be grouped together as outstanding examples of medieval bestsellers, as anachronistic as this term might sound for the Middle Ages. If we consider, for instance, that in 1443 the Vatican Library held just 350 volumes, that in 1456 the library of the Medicis held 158 volumes (manuscripts), and the library of the University of Salamanca held only 201 books in 1471, 42 then the enormous distribution of manuscript copies of Wolfram’s Grail romance, similar to the distribution of the Roman de la rose, strikes us as firm evidence that we are dealing here, mutatis mutandis, with a very similar 42 Anne Marie Wolf: Juan de Segovia and the Fight for Peace: Christians and Muslims in the Fifteenth Century (History, Languages, and Cultures of the Spanish and Portuguese Worlds). Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2014, p. 227. Albrecht Classen 100 phenomenon already in the Middle Ages, the bestseller, as in the modern world. Bibliography Elizabeth Archibald: Apollonius of Tyre: Medieval and Renaissance Themes and Variations: Including the text of the Historia Apollonii Regis Tyri with an English translation. 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Jacobus de Voragine: La légende dorée, trans. Alain Boureau [Paris]: Gallimard, 2004. Jacobus de Voragine: The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints, trans. William Granger Ryan. 2 vols. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993. Jacopo da Voragine: Legenda aurea, ed. Giovanni Paolo Maggioni, with a trans. into Italian by Francesco Stella. 2 vols. Florence: Sismel/ Edizioni del Galazzo, 1988; Milan: Biblioteca Ambrosiana, 2007. Christopher Kleinhenz: “Il Fiore.” In: Gaetana Marrone (ed.): Encyclopedia of Italian Literary Studies. Vol.: A-J. New York and Oxon, UK: Routledge, 200, pp. 728-29. Karlheinz Koinegg: Die unglaublichen Abenteuer des Ritters Parzival: für Kinder ab 5 Jahren. Sprecher: Christoph Eichhorn. Munich: Der Hörverlag, 2002. Katrin Lange: Unterm hohen Himmel: Parzival: ein Stück für Kinder und Leute, nach Motiven des Romans von Wolfram von Eschenbach. Regie: André Rößler. Parzival: Jan Krauter; Herzleide, seine Mutter, Königin: Gabriele Hintermaier; Gawan, Ritter: Boris Koneczny (Staatstheater Stuttgart 59). Stuttgart: Staatstheater, [2009]. Jacques Le Goff, In Search of Sacred Time: Jacobus de Voragine and the Golden Legend. Orig. 2011; Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014. Albrecht Classen 102 Sonja Marjasch: Der amerikanische Bestseller: Sein Wesen und seine Verbreitung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Schweiz (Schweizer Anglistische Arbeiten 17) Bern: A. Francke, 1946. Mauricius von Craûn. Mittelhochdeutsch / Neuhochdeutsch. Nach dem Text von Edward Schröder herausgegeben, übersetzt und kommentiert von Dorothea Klein (Universal-Bibliothek 8796 [sic! ]). Stuttgart: Reclam, 1999. Mauritius von Craûn, ed. Heimo Reinitzer (Altdeutsche Textbibliothek 113). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 2000. Christine McWebb (ed.): Debating the “Roman de la rose”: A Critical Anthology. Intro. and trans. by Earl Jeffrey Richards (Routledge Medieval Texts). Orig. 2007; New York and London: Routledge, 2011. Florian Mehltretter (ed.): Allegorie und Wissensordnung: Volkssprachliche enzyklopädische Literatur des Trecento (Münchener Italienstudien 1). Munich: Herbert Utz, 2014. Volker Mertens: „Die Wiederentdeckung Wolframs und die Anfänge der Forschung.“ In: . Joachim Heinzle (ed.): Wolfram von Eschenbach: Ein Handbuch. Vol. I: Autor, Werk, Wirkung. Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2011, pp. 705-741. Moriz von Craûn. Mittelhochdeutsch / Neuhochdeutsch. Mittelhochdeutscher Text nach der Ausgabe von Ulrich Pretzel. Übersetzung, Kommentar und Nachwort von Albrecht Classen (Universal-Bibliothek 8796). Stuttgart: Reclam, 1992 Moriz von Craûn, ed. and trans. by Stephanie Cain Van D’Elden (Garland Library of Medieval Literature, Series A, 69). New York and London: Garland, 1990. Jan-Dirk Müller: Gedechtnus: Literatur und Hofgesellschaft um Maximilian I. (Forschungen zur Geschichte der älteren deutschen Literatur 2). Munich: Fink, 1982. Eva Parra Membrives: Mundos femeninos emancipados: Reconstrucciòn teóretico-empirica de una propuesta literaria femenina en la edad media alemana (Textos de Filología 5). Zaragoza: Anubar, 1998. Sherry L. Reames: The Legenda Aurea: A Reexamination of Its Paradoxical History. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985. Donald Ray Richards: The German Bestseller in the 20th Century: A Complete Bibliography and Analysis 1915-1940 (German Studies in America 2). Bern: Herbert Lang, 1968. Bernd Schirok: „Die Handschriften und die Entwicklung des Textes.“ In: Joachim Heinzle (ed.): Wolfram von Eschenbach: Ein Handbuch. Vol. I: Autor, Werk, Wirkung. Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2011, pp. 308-34. Helmut Schmiedt: Der Schriftsteller Karl May: Beiträge zu Werk und Wirkung, ed. Helga Arend. Husum: Hansa, 2000. Günther Schweikle (ed.): Dichter über Dichter in mittelhochdeutscher Literatur (Deutsche Texte 22). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 1970. Hans-Hugo Steinhoff: „Bestseller.“ In: Günther and Irmgard Schweikle (ed.): Metzler Literatur Lexikon: Begriffe und Definitionen. 2nd rev. ed. Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler, 1990, p. 47. The Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun. Trans. by Harry W. Robbins. Ed., and with an intro. by Charles W. Dunn. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1962. Tomas Tomasek: Gottfried von Straßburg. Stuttgart: Philipp Reclam, 2007. Regina Unger: Wolfram-Rezeption und Utopie: Studien zum spätmittelalterlichen bayerischen “Lohengrin”-Epos (Göppinger Arbeiten zur Germanistik 544). Göppingen: Kümmerle, 1990. Bestsellers in the European Middle Ages? 103 Brigitte Weiske: Gesta Romanorum, 2 vols. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 1992. Anne Marie Wolf: Juan de Segovia and the Fight for Peace: Christians and Muslims in the Fifteenth Century (History, Languages, and Cultures of the Spanish and Portuguese Worlds). Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2014. Wolfram von Eschenbach: Parzival. Studienausgabe. Mittelhochdeutscher Text nach der sechsten Ausgabe von Karl Lachmann. Übersetzung von Peter Knecht. Mit Einführungen zum Text der Lachmannschen Ausgabe und in Probleme der ‘Parzival’-Interpretation von Bernd Schirok, 2. Auflage. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2003. Albert Zuckerman: Bestseller: Wie man einen Erfolgsroman schreibt. Internet: Bastei Entertainment, 2013. Luis J. Conejero-Magro The Spanish Reception of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas via Víctor Úbeda’s Translation It goes without saying just how complex and difficult it is to render into a foreign language the linguistically marked speech of the valleymen in David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas (2004), especially the artificially primitive lexicon that they use. The shortcomings of the Spanish translation of this novel by Víctor Vicente Úbeda Fernández 1 add evidence of this, for while some of the problems of his translation regarding this complex vocabulary are insurmountable, his rendering of another important part of this artificially constructed lexicon is far from satisfactory. Nor is Úbeda very successful in his translation of the constructed language of the “fabricants” - the name given to the characters in the story ‘An Orison of Sonmi-451’ - that Mitchell puts into Sonmi-451’s mouth, in spite of the fact that, in the novel, this kind of discourse is quite close to a scientific and technical English. Actually, it is a slightly deformed and often hyperbolic version of this specific register, the vocabulary of which is similar in many a language. The importance of the Spanish reception of Mitchell’s work 2 obviously helps us to the understanding Mitchell’s central themes - and therefore his concerns with the 21st century. Dillon comments on the topics in Mitchell’s oeuvre in her “Introducing David Mitchell’s Universe: A Twenty-First Century House of Fiction” as follows: “the most significant of these is predacity and its associated concerns of colonialism, abusive exploitation, slavery and rampant consumerism” 3 : This is especially pertinent when referring to Cloud Atlas. Because Cloud Atlas is not only Mitchell’s most popular bestseller, but also a globally acclaimed film - based on the bestselling novel - directed by Lana Wachowski, 1 Cloud Atlas (2004). El Atlas de las Nubes. Trad. Víctor Vicente Úbeda Fernández. Barcelona: Duomo Ediciones, 2012. 2 Apart from the references quoted here, published critical work on David Mitchell’s writing includes: Philip Griffiths’s “‘On the Fringe of Becoming’- David Mitchell’s Ghostwritten” (2004); chapter 3 of Berthold Schoene’s The Cosmopolitan Novel, “The World Begins its Turn with You or How David Mitchell’s Novels Think” (2009); Sarah Dillon’s “Chaotic Narrative: Complexity, Causality, Time and Autopoiesis.” In: Critique 52.2 (2001), pp. 135-162, and the resulting work fostered during the first international conference on Mitchell’s writing, David Mitchell: Critical Essays, ed. by Sarah Dillon. Canterbury: Gylphi, 2011. 3 Dillon, Sarah (ed.): David Mitchell: Critical Essays, 2011, p. 10. The Spanish Reception of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas 105 Tom Tykwer and Andy Wachowski. 4 People are familiar 5 with the ambiance that Mitchell offers in his narrative. Machinal masterfully summarizes the plot of this novel, paying special attention to the two stories considered here: Mitchell invites the reader to reflect on the possible future of humanity. To do so, he inserts two narratives at the core of his novel - ‘An Orison of Sonmi-451’ and ‘Sloosha’s Crossin’ an’ Ev’rythin’ After’- which, respectively, picture an Orwellian dystopia and a post-cataclysm primitive society. Hence, Cloud Atlas takes us through a temporal journey beginning during the century in which philosophical reflection on the individual emerges and ending in future worlds, one in which human beings and clones cohabit. This progression enables a reflection on the possible political, social and ontological consequences of the third industrial revolution, that of biotechnology. Mitchell invites his readers to mentally project themselves into a posthuman world that details what the human could become in a future society characterized by the annihilation of human identity, a subjection of the human through technology, and a reduction of human beings to mere commodities. Through his elaboration of the social, political and environmental facets of this posthuman world Mitchell asserts the necessity of pondering the future of humanity and explores what it means to be human. 6 Indeed, the importance of the function of these two kinds of discourse (the valleymen’s in “Sloosha’s Crossin’ an’ Ev’rythin’ After” and the register of the fabricants in “An Orison of Sonmi-451”), and that of the contrast they generate 7 , is such that any imbalance in the target text would impede a full understanding and appreciation of the diegetic thread of Mitchell’s narrative. For, as is the case in 1984 8 with ‘Newspeak’, or with ‘Nadsat’ in A 4 The film was released in 2012 and among its stellar international cast one should highlight Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Wishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant. 5 The popularity of this dystopian, and thus post-apocalyptical, novel not only among readers but also among contemporary writers may be because “the post-holocaust theme … has had a strong attraction for mainstream writers, perhaps because it offers such a powerful metaphor for exploring Man’s relation with his social structures” (John Clute and Peter Nicholls (eds.): The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, 2nd ed, London: Orbit, 1999, p. 582.). 6 “Cloud Atlas: From Postmodernity to the Posthuman.” In: David Mitchell: Critical Essays, ed. Sarah Dillon. Canterbury: Gylphi, 2011, p. 10. 7 Peter Stockwell’s explanation on the resulting effect of dystopia sheds light on the relation between the two stories: “the end of dystopia is ultimately apocalyptic, either in a personal sense (the death of the character or their sublimation into a collective, or the termination of the role of ‘reader’ in finishing a novel) or in a communal sense (the whole society being destroyed)” (The Poetics of Science Fiction. Harlow: Longman, 2000, p. 215). 8 Cf. Ramón López Ortega and José Luis Oncins Martínez: “El texto de Politics and the English Language y el contexto de Newspeak: A propósito de una crítica de las ideas Luis J. Conejero-Magro 106 Clockwork Orange, or in Riddley Walker for that matter, the constructed languages that Mitchell puts into the mouth of the nuclear holocaust survivors and the fabricants are the most telling and vivid metaphor for this dystopia. Thus, the speech of the valleymen is, in fact, an essential constituent of the style of the novel. It is a component of utmost importance, since the very construction or composition of the most significant phrases and words of this language paradoxically expresses the state of total destruction and decomposition brought about by the nuclear cataclysm. That is, not only in the composition of the lexicon, but also in the construction and even in the rhythm of the entire oral discourse of the survivors 9 , strong vestiges of the outcome of that catastrophe can be plainly felt. An equally frightening and dystopian metaphor for Cloud Atlas cataclysm is provided by the fabricants’ specific language, the sinister quality of which is highly connotative of a totalitarian state and a wholly dehumanised technocracy. As far as the valleymen’s speech is concerned, nobody would deny that such a degree of textual virtuosity where signified and signifier are confounded, could only have been achieved by a linguist of the calibre of David Mitchell. There is little doubt that this author must have been quite familiar with the diachrony of English and, in all likelihood, even with the reconstruction of Indo-European. It is obvious that this solid knowledge of the history of English allows Mitchell both to endow the language of the valleymen with some of the salient features that characterize Old or Early Middle English and even, on certain occasions, to mirror the ‘aspect’, if not the very shape, of the Indo-European proto-language. It is definitely here where the translator of this novel has inevitably to face the main challenges and the toughest obstacles, for the kind of linguistic “entropy” 10 has to be faithfully recreated in a translation of any worth. Consequently, the Spanish translator must be similarly able to trace the evolution of Spanish in order to reconstruct a discourse with parallel resonances. The target text also requires an artificially primitive language, which has to be plain and common without ever falling into the unpleasant, let alone the vulgar. In order to resemble the original, the Spanish text also demands a speech articulated with a simple yet anomalous kind of syntax, more abundant in apheresis, syncope and apocope, with more and more lingüísticas de George Orwell.” In: Anuario de Estudios Filológicos XX (1997), pp. 221- 229. 9 The fictional recreation in written form of the spoken language of the characters of this story, the valleymen, is one of the features analysed in this essay. 10 This is a term used by Sandrine Sorlin to refer to the planned language of the valleymen. (Sandrine Sorlin: “A Linguistic Approach to David Mitchell’s Science-Fiction Stories in Cloud Atlas.” In: Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies, 37 (2014), p. 76. The Spanish Reception of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas 107 daring grammatical conversion and with a more frequent use of levelled verb forms and the combination of the flective and periphrastic paradigms in the gradation of adjectives. Only a highly colloquial and even anomalous speech with this texture can be in harmony with the fabricants’ marked language programmed and imposed by the government officials of Nea So Copros, former Korea. Despite Úbeda’s partial success in the recreation of a few of these difficult elements, he does not manage to render all of this, thus hindering the Spanish reception of Mitchell’s dystopia properly. In his translation, the speech of the valleymen is still far from the seemingly chaotic, fragmented and even asyntactic aspect it has in Mitchell’s novel. Thus there is still room for textual improvement in this regard, too. For instance, it could improve if it did not rely so heavily on excessively crass terms that do not exist in the original or, conversely, on words and phrases so elaborated that they sharply deviate from the basic and restricted lexicon of the source text. It would also benefit from a more agrammatical appearance of Zachry’s narrative discourse. The word ‘appearance’ should perhaps be stressed since, in the source text, in spite of its seemingly asyntactic aspect, Zachry’s speech is never that language “liberated (…) from the grammatical shackles” 11 that Sorlin insists on seeing. In short, Zachry’s conversational discourse in the Spanish translation is not quite the choppy, broken off and even anacoluthic language of the original. A few samples will suffice to illustrate the limited success of Úbeda’s work. By translating “true true” (Cloud Atlas, 287) as “lo verdadero de verdad” (El Atlas de las Nubes, 329) 12 , “hushly-hushly” (250) as “chiticallando” (288) or “micking us mocksome” (263) as “nos estaba tomando el pelo” (303), Úbeda opts for rather articulated Spanish expressions thus losing not only the repetition or the bipartite structure but also the resonances provided by the addition of the adjectival suffix ‘-some’. 13 Nonetheless, the disappearance in the target text of the mentioned repetition and the isosemantic units is not the only factor which contributes to drowning the voice of the past. 11 Sorlin goes a little too far when she describes the language from this chapter of the novel. In fact, no matter how chaotic and even fragmented its aspect may seem, the valleymen’s speech is never asyntactic. It may look very primitive, and it might even be reminiscent of paleo-languages but it is never agrammatical (Op. cit., p. 72). 12 All the references to the source and the target texts are indicated with the number of the pages between parentheses. See the bibliography for full references of these works. 13 Likewise, the employment of linguistic resources proper of Old English (‘-some’), which are no longer productive in Present-Day English, is inevitably reminiscent of the English language in its earliest phases. On its journey into the Spanish lan-guage, the term “friendsome” (249) suffers the same fate, since the adjective “pacífico” (287) is far from sounding archaic or primitive; and because ‘friendsome’ is not a term used today, while ‘pacífico’ is. Luis J. Conejero-Magro 108 In actuality, Úbeda also fails in the rendering of another kind of iteration that contributes to creating an epic and primeval flavour in Mitchell’s novel. It is the rhyming pattern found in short phrases like “lookin’ down for a runty’n’weedy soul” (252) (“en busca de un alma mirrimucia e indefensa” [290-91]); “[p]rescients spoke in a strange way, not lazy’n’spotty like the Hilo” (259) (“[l]os Clarividentes hablaban raro, no arrastrado y trompicoso como los Hilo” [298]); “Ma was flappin’n’anxin’ like a one-wing gander” (261) (“me encontré a Madre chillando y hacienda aspavientos como una oca manca” [300]); “[d]awn fogged waxy’n’silty” (312) (“[e]l día amaneció envuelto en niebla blancuzca y peguntosa” [355-56]); and “[p]a was still lyin’n’bobbin in the salt shallows when I sneaked back after night’d fallen” (251) (“[p]adre seguía flotando en el agua cuando anocheció y salí del escondrijo” [289]). As can be seen, in the source text these phrases are formed by two related and coordinated words marked by the repetition of the same or similar final sound. 14 Yet, while Úbeda’s translation of the basic terms of these phrases may be acceptable, he fails to imbue them with the binary rhythm 15 of the original. The deviations entailing a substantial impoverishment of the original are found alongside a few quite imaginative and creative solutions in the Spanish translation. The translator’s creativity is obvious in the choice of a certain amount of words and phrases and, at times, in coinages of his own. However, they do not make up for the mentioned shortcomings. Among the outstanding examples of this creativity are: “[m]e se alechuzó la vista” (314) (“[m]y eyes’d got owlier” [274]); “más solitriste que un pájaro dentro de una jaula en el fondo de un pozo” (329) (“lornsomer’n a bird in a box in a well” [288]); “allí estaba el Viejo Georgie … con una mueca zorrastrona en sus ojos hambrientos” (288) (“there was Old Georgie […], a slywise grinnin’ in his hungry eyes” [249]); “los cuentos dan más gusto con cuchizampa” (288) (“a yarnin’ is more delish with broke-de-mouth grinds” [250]); “estaba hecho un desconchinfle” (330) (“was busted’n’roded diresome” [288]); and “Ma looked spikers at me” (263) (“Madre me echó una mirada asesina” [302]), though in this case, the idiomatic phrase ‘me clavó los ojos’ would have been closer to the original. On other occasions, Úbeda exhibits a similar or perhaps greater amount of skill and originality by transforming words expressed in the original in accordance to the standard norm into blends and non-standard forms. In this case, Úbeda’s separation from the ‘letter’ of the source text brings his translation closer to its ‘spirit’. For segments such as “el veneno de la 14 These pairs are formed by two disyllabic words. The rhymes are normally realised by the employment of the last sound (y), which is / i/ . 15 ‘Binary rhythm’ is the felicitous term used by Sorlin (ibid. p. 86) to refer to these phrases. The Spanish Reception of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas 109 escorpina era fulmirápido y potente” (320) (“but scorpionfish poison was quick’n’thick” [278]); “[pues] que [el Viejo Georgie] se esfumó en un santiplás” (288) (“[he] dis’peared in a blurry flurryin’” [250]); “[h]abían truquivaches que ya nadie recordaba en Ha-Guai” (331) (“[g]ear there was what we ain’t mem’ried on Ha-Why” [290]); and “Zachry, el Chaopalante” (288) (“Zachry the Brave” [249]) perfectly match the texture and tone of Mitchell’s work. There are other phrases, like “ya estaba todo culicanguis” (288) (“[quakin’] inside I was” [249]); “el muy demoño se había ido a por víztimas más caguetas que yo” (288) (“he’d gon off huntin’ cowardier vic’tries’n me” [250]); and “Zachry, el Cagueta” (288) (“Zachry the Cowardy”[249]), that, while also being in harmony with the texture, do not quite share the tenor of the lexicon used by the valleymen. They cannot be considered unconventional words nor do they cross the line as regards taste, but they are too far from the innocence stemming from the naïve simplicity or innocence of the surviving tribes of the story. As has already being stated, the specialised English of Sonmi-451 is much easier to construe in, and hence to translate into, another language since it is almost a slightly deformed version of a register that exists in many alanguage. Indeed, Latin and Greek form the major basis of the scientific and technological terminology of at least the languages of the main developed countries. This specific kind of discourse shares with several other languages not only numerous classical Latin or ancient Greek base words but also combining stems or affixes from these classical languages. 16 It is surprising, therefore, to encounter a frequent lack of correspondence, and even equivalence, between Mitchell’s original text and its Spanish translation. In effect, although in some cases Úbeda offers valuable solutions, he frequently commits unpardonable errors. A case in point is his translation of “digit” as “yema,” in Sonmi-451’s phrase “sprayed cutane over the digit” (335) (“aplicó cutanina en la yema” [379]). It goes without saying that “yema” lacks the range of associations that “digit” - and its Spanish equivalent “dígito”- have with moderntechnologies and mathematics, for example. Another example is provided by his translating of “they are genomed out” (204) as “nos los suprimen en la fase genómica” (237), in reference to the manipulation that the fabricants’s genomes were subjected to operations in order to remove their birthmarks.Úbeda, rather than opting for the denotative value of the anomalous verbalisation of ‘genome’ (“nos los suprimen en la fase genómica” [237]), should have tried the equally anomalous denominal verb ‘(des)genominar’. 16 McArthur refers to these neologisms or new lexemes as “translinguistic” forms. He explains that they operate “in many languages that serve as mediums for education, culture, science, and technology” (Tom McArthur: “Asian Lexicography: Past, Present, and Prospective.” In: Lexicography in Asia. Password Publishers Limited, 1998, p. 16). Luis J. Conejero-Magro 110 A sentence like ‘nos los desgenomizan’ would be formally equivalent and, more importantly, would generate the same sense of unease that the source text produces in the discriminating ear: the unease that frequent and facile nominalisation and verbalisation in scientific and technological discourse often causes. A few more examples might be sufficient to see the type of shortcomings that would have to be overcome, should this translation seek to be considered valid. To begin with, Úbeda does not seem to see that the words “verify,” “generate” and even “luster” have semantic and even etymological equivalents in Spanish. Consequently, by rendering “she verified that Yoona was addressing her” (192), “to generate a show-trial” (264) and “lackluster career” (195) as “se cercioró de que Yoona de veras se dirigía a ella” (223), “para dar pie a un juicio espectáculo” (413) and “mediocre carrera” (231), respectively, the target text loses the source connotations. Other shortcomings that stand out in Úbeda’s translation when compared to the original are the paucity of cut spelling 17 and the substitution of some ordinal numbers for cardinal ones. As regards the frequency of cut spelling (“fritened” [195] or “nite” [206]), one must not forget that this linguistic device adds a taste of excessive economy and regularity that should not be missed in the Spanish text. Yet, though it would have been quite easy to do something similar with the Spanish text, the suppression of redundant letters is very rare (“asustó” [227] or “noche” [240]). Likewise, Úbeda’s systematic replacement of the cardinal number in phrases like “[m]onth Eight” (192) and “hour eleven” (344) by an ordinal one (“[o]ctavo mes” [223] and “hora undécima” [390]) makes his text lose the original tone of martial discipline and rigidity imposed by the totalitarian Nea So Copros. These last examples may be seen to contribute very little to the scientific and technological texture and tenor of the fabricants’ discourse. Nevertheless, it is the sum total of tiny instances like these that creates the unique picture of this de-humanised technocracy. Obviously the translator’s failure in recreating a corresponding and convincing language for the valleymen (in “Sloosha’s Crossin’ an’ Ev’rythin’ After”) and an equivalent register for the fabricants (in “An Orison of Sonmi-451”) endangers a thorough reception of Mitchell’s text into Spanish. In other words, the understandable oscillations in Úbeda’s recreation of the speech of the valleymen, together with his less understandable flaws in the translation of the fabricants’ discourse, makes it necessary to improve the Spanish translation of Cloud Atlas. As previously stated, not all is bad in Úbeda’s translation, neither is this listing of shortcomings a comprehensive 17 The process of ‘cut spelling’ removes “redundant” letters and tries to mirror the writtern word and the spoken word by making words shorter. It is a linguistic process that attempts to eliminate silent letters. The Spanish Reception of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas 111 one. However, they are enough to recommend a thorough revision of this translation in order to eliminate the unevenness described in this chapter which impair the Spanish reception of Mitchell’s dystopia. Bibliography Arjun Appadurai: Modernity At Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalisation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1996. Hannah Arendt: The Origins of Totalitarianism. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1958. Richard Bradford: The Novel Now: Contemporary British Fiction. Oxford: Blackwell, 2007. Susan Buck-Morss: Dreamworld and Catastrophe: The Passing of Mass Utopia in East and West. Cambridge (MA): The MIT Press, 2002. Jerome Bruner: “Life as Narrative.” In: Social Research Nr. 71.3 (2006), pp. 691-710. Gilles Deleuze and Féiz Guattari: A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. London: Athlone, 1988. Sarah Dillon: “Chaotic Narrative: Complexity, Causality, Time and Autopoiesis.” In: Critique 52.2 (2001), pp. 135-162. Sarah Dillon (ed.): David Mitchell: Critical Essays. Canterbury: Gylphi, 2011. Thomas Docherty: “Postmodern Characterization: The Ethics of Alterity.” In: Postmodernism and Contemporary Fiction. London: Batsfors, 1991, pp. 169-188. Caroline Edwards: “Microtopias: The Post-Apocalyptic Communities of Jim Grace’s The Pesthouse.” In: Textual Practice Nr. 23.5 (2009), pp. 763-786. Gerard Genette: Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method. New York: Cornell University Press, 1980. Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri: Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000. N. Katherine Hayles: How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1999. Fredric Jameson: “The Politics of Utopia.” In: New Left Review Nr. 25 (2004), pp. 33-54. David Lodge: The Modes of Modern Writing: Metaphor, Metonymy, and the Typology of Modern Literature. Ithaca, NY, and New York: Cornell University Press, 1977. - : The Practice of Writing. Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1996. Brian McHale: Postmodernist Fiction. New York and London: Routledge, 1987. David Mitchell: Ghostwritten: A Novel in Nine Parts. London: Sceptre, 1999. Janet Murray: Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. New York, Simon and Schuster, 1997. David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas. London, Sceptre, 2004. - : El Atlas de las Nubes. Trad. Víctor Vicente Úbeda Fernández. Barcelona: Duomo Ediciones, 2012. Galen Strawson: “Against Narrativity.” In: Ratio Nr. 17 (2004), pp. 428-452. Jerome Urquhart: “You May Say He’s a Dreamer.” In: Independent, Features Nr. 24, 2001, p. 11. - : El Atlas de las Nubes. Trad. Víctor Vicente Úbeda Fernández. Barcelona: Duomo Ediciones, 2012. Galen Strawson: „Against Narrativity.” In: Ratio Nr. 17 (2004), S. 428-452. Luis J. Conejero-Magro 112 Jerome Urquhart: “You May Say He’s a Dreamer.” In: Independent, Features Nr. 24 (2001), S. 11. Francisco Manuel Mariño Intentionaler Realismus in Goethes Werther als Voraussetzung seiner Popularisierung 1 Einleitung Den ungeheuren Erfolg, der Goethes erstem Roman beschieden war, könnte man sich - zumindest unter einem rein thematischen Gesichtspunkt - mit den berühmten Worten erklären, die Goethes Sekretär Eckermann am 2. Januar 1824 festhält: Die vielbesprochene Wertherzeit gehört, wenn man es näher betrachtet, freilich nicht dem Gange der Weltkultur an, sondern dem Lebensgange jedes einzelnen, der mit angeborenem freiem Natursinn sich in die beschränkenden Formen einer veralteten Welt finden und schicken lernen soll. Gehindertes Glück, gehemmte Tätigkeit, unbefriedigte Wünsche sind nicht Gebrechen einer besonderen Zeit, sondern jedes einzelnen Menschen, und es müßte schlimm sein, wenn nicht jeder einmal in seinem Leben eine Epoche haben sollte, wo ihm der ›Werther‹ käme, als wäre er bloß für ihn geschrieben. 1 Es würde sich demnach um eine universelle Thematik handeln, die alle Menschen betrifft und mit der sich jeder einmal während eines bestimmten Lebensabschnitts identifizieren kann. Bekanntlich brach mit der Veröffentlichung dieses Briefromans das sog. Wertherfieber aus, und seitdem gilt der Roman als der erste Bestseller der deutschen Literatur, 2 der eine Unzahl von Bearbeitungen und Persiflagen erzeugte, und dies sowohl im deutschsprachigen Bereich selbst (Friedrich Nicolai, Thomas Mann, Ulrich Plenzdorf), als auch im Ausland (W. M. Thackeray, Ugo Foscolo); des weiteren Transkodifizierungen im musikalischen (Jules Massenet, Arnold Mendelssohn) oder kinematographischen Bereich (Max Ophüls, Egon Günther). Unabhängig von Aspekten des Sujets besitzt der Text jedoch andere Charakteristika, die im diskursiven Bereich liegen und die meines Erachtens entscheidend für den immensen Erfolg des Werkes gewesen sind. Es geht konkret um die im Text beobachtbare realistische Darstellung des Sujets, die seine besondere Rezeption bedingt und erst jene große Popularität möglich machte, die kein anderes Werk jener Epoche erlangte. 1 Johann Peter Eckermann: Gespräche mit Goethe in den letzten Jahren seines Lebens. München: C. H. Beck, 1984, S. 469. 2 Vgl. Werner Fuld: Das Buch der verbotenen Bücher. Berlin: Galiani, 2012, S. 149. Francisco Manuel Mariño 114 2 Realismus Goethe, und zwar den nichtklassischen, mit irgendeiner Art Realismus, sei es mit dem literarischer oder sonstwie gearteten, in Verbindung zu bringen, wie dies im Titel dieses Beitrags geschieht, könnte widersprüchlich, ja anachronistisch erscheinen, zumindest dann, wenn man unter Realismus jene literarische Strömung versteht, die Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts vor allem in Frankreich entstand und indirekt mit der Romantik in Verbindung gebracht wird, insofern als sie eine Gegenbewegung zu dieser darstellt, sowohl unter ideologisch-doktrinärem Aspekt als natürlich auch in der literarischen Praxis. Dazu bemerkt Carlos Reis sehr richtig: Colocandose, como se disse, nos antípodas do idealismo romântico, o Realismo privilegia uma vis-o materialista das coisas e dos fenómenos: desse ponto de vista, conferese proeminência à realidade material e empíricamente verificável, como elemento que debe colher primordial e constante atenç-o de um observador que se pretende neutro, desapaixonado e tanto quanto possível objectivo. 3 Die Tatsache, dass Goethe zum Zeitpunkts des Erscheinens des Werther als der herausragendste Exponent des Sturm und Drang galt, scheint auf den ersten Blick nicht vereinbar mit Konzepten wie Realismus und Materialismus, mit denen Reis hier den literarischen Realismus charakterisiert, zumindest scheinen diese wenig adäquat für das Verständnis und sei es auch nur eines Teils des Goethe’schen Werks und schon gar nicht, wenn man den Realismus als ein Phänomen des 19. Jahrhunderts definiert. Allerdings ist ein Teil des erzählerischen Werks von E. T. A. Hoffmann, einem Zeitgenossen Goethes, als dem "symbolischen Realismus” zugehörend klassifiziert worden, und auch Die Wahlverschandtschaften und der letzte Teil des Wilhelm Meister wurden schon als realistisch bezeichnet. 4 Eine eher triviale Auffassung des Realismus besagt, dass hinter dem Werk eine Realität sichtbar ist, die in der effektiven Wirklichkeit identi- 3 "Der Realismus, indem er, wie man so schön sagt, die Antipoden des romantischen Idealismus darstellt, bevorzugt eine materialistische Vision der Dinge und der Phänomene: unter diesem Gesichtspunkt gibt er der materiellen und empirisch verifizierbaren Realität den Vorrang als einem Element, das vor allen anderen beständig die Aufmerksamkeit des Beobachters auf sich ziehen soll, welcher als neutral, nicht leidenschaftlich und möglichst objektiv verstanden wird“ (Carlos Reis: O conhecemento da literatura. Coimbra: Livraria Almedina, 1995, S. 437). 4 So schreibt beispielsweise Georg Lukács: "Auf die Romane des großen bürgerlichen Realismus in der ersten Häfte des 19. Jahrhunderts ‒ einschließlich Goethes späterer Romane "Die Wahlverwandtschaften” und "Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre” ‒ trifft also diese bestimmung Hegels über den Ausgang des Kampfes zwischen Poesie und Prosa, zwischen Ideal und Wirklichkeit vollständig zu” (Georg Lukács: “Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre.” In: id.: Goethe und Seine Zeit. Berlin: Aufbau, 1953, S. 57‒75, hier 68). Intentionaler Realismus in Goethes Werther 115 fizierbar ist: hinter der fiktionalen Realität ist die empirische Welt sichtbar. Danach wäre Realismus also einfach eine Frage der Thematik und der Referenz, die Gottlob Frege als „das, wovon man sprechen will“ versteht: "Wenn man in der gewöhnlichen Weise Worte gebraucht, so ist das, wovon man sprechen will, deren Bedeutung.” 5 Der höchste Grad des Realismus wäre dann erreicht, wenn diese Theorie der Widerspiegelung in absoluter Weise erfüllt ist, da sie besagt, dass Literatur die Widerspiegelung der umgebenden Realität ist. 6 Hier muss jedoch daran erinnert werden, dass Literatur autoreferentiell ist. Jean-Michel Adam weist sehr richtig darauf hin, dass der literarische Text keinen Referenten hat, da die Welt, die er kreiert, eine erschaffene, fiktionale Welt ist und als solche nicht außerhalb des Textes existiert. 7 Frege selbst weist auf die Möglichkeit hin, dass die normale Verbindung zwischen Zeichen, Bedeutung und Referenz sich auch ändern kann: "Es kann aber auch vorkommen, daß man von den Worten selbst oder von ihrem Sinne reden will.“ 8 Auf diese Weise spricht die Literatur also von sich selbst, selbst dann, wenn sie auf ein System der „Interkomprehension,” also der unmittelbaren und gegenseitigen Verständnisfähigkeit, verweist, welches auf einer Ideologie basiert, die vom empirischen Leser verstanden und geteilt werden kann. 9 Genau hier befände sich der Berührungspunkt zwischen der fiktionalen und der realen Welt. Wir können in diesem Zusammenhang auch den von Hilary Putnam so genannten “metaphysischen Realismus” anführen, das ist: la constatación de que no existe ninguna forma de establecer una correspondencia fiable entre nuestras representaciones y las supuestas propiedades objetivas del mundo independiente de nosotros. A partir de aquí la conclusión más radical es que no podemos saber ni decir nada con sentido acerca de la realidad, todos nuestros discursos son pura palabrería. 10 5 Gottlob Frege: “Über Sinn und Bedeutung.” In: Zeitschrift für Philosophie und philosophische Kritik, NF 100 (1892), S. 25-50, hier S. 28. 6 "Die Grundlage einer jeden richtigen Erkenntnis der Wirklichkeit, gleichviel ob es sich um Natur oder Gesellschaft handle, ist die Anerkennung der Objektivität der Außenwelt, d. h. ihrer Existenz unabhängig vom menschlichen Bewußtsein. Jede Auffassung der Außenwelt ist nichts anderes als eine Widerspiegelung der unabhängig vom Bewußtsein existierenden Welt durch das menschliche Bewußtsein. Diese grundlegende Tatsache der Beziehung des Bewußtseins zum Sein gilt selbstverständlich auch für die künstlerische Widerspiegelung der Wirklichkeit.” So beginnt Georg Lukács seinen Essay “Kunst und objektive Wahrheit.” In: Kunst und objektive Wahrheit. Essays zur Literaturtheorie und -geschichte. Leipzig: Reclam, 1977, S. 63-112, hier S. 63. 7 Vgl. Jean-Michel Adam: Linguistique et discours littéraire. Paris: Larousse, 1976. 8 Gottlob Frege: ibidem. 9 Vgl. Angelo Marchese und Joaquín Forradellas: Diccionario de retórica, crítica y terminología literaria. Barcelona: Ariel, 1986, S. 344. 10 "die Feststellung, dass es keine Möglichkeit gibt, eine sichere Übereinstimmung zwischen unseren Repräsentationen und den angeblich objektiven Eigenschaften der au- Francisco Manuel Mariño 116 Um dieser epistemologischen Unmöglichkeit entgegenzuwirken, die uns zu einem radikalen Skeptizismus verdammen würde, führt Putnam die Theorie des internen Realismus ein: El resultado es que el realismo (el realismo pragmático de nuestra experiencia cotidiana) va indisolublemente unido a un cierto relativismo conceptual: la realidad es la realidad tal como es concebida, lo real es siempre relativo al aparato conceptual que utilizamos para hablar o representar el mundo real. Según Putnam este relativismo conceptual del realismo interno o pragmático no tiene por qué conducir a conclusiones escépticas radicales: aunque los hechos sean relativos a los esquemas conceptuales que utilizamos para describirlos, ello no quiere decir que no podamos distinguir, dentro de un determinado esquema conceptual, entre hechos reales y no reales, o paralelamente, entre enunciados verdaderos y falsos acerca de los hechos. Incluso es posible discutir sobre el valor de diferentes esquemas conceptuales en relación con determinados criterios (de carácter metodológico, moral, etc.) que compartan todos ellos. 11 Kommen wir zurück auf den Bereich des literarischen Realismus, so ist die vorherrschende, zum Standard erhobene Auffassung diejenige des antiken Prinzips der Mimesis, das Darío Villanueva "genetic realism” nennt 12 : ßerhalb von uns bestehenden Welt zu finden. Von dieser Annahme ausgehend ist die radikalste Schlussfolgerung, dass wir es nicht vermögen, etwas über die Realität zu wissen oder zu sagen, all unsere Diskurse sind nichts als Geschwätz“ (Miguel Ángel Quintanilla: “Introducción. El realismo necesario.” In: Hilary Putnam: Las mil caras del realismo. Übers. von M. Vázquez Campos y A. M. Liz Gutiérrez. Barcelona und Buenos Aires und México: Paidós und I.C.E. de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, 1994, S. 17-35, hier S. 22). 11 "Das Resultat ist, dass der Realismus (der pragmatische Realismus unserer alltäglichen Erfahrung) untrennbar mit einem gewissen konzeptuellen Relativismus verbunden ist: die Realität ist die Realität, so wie sie konzipiert wird, das Reale ist immer abhängig von dem konzeptuellen Apparat, den wir verwenden, um über die reale Welt zu sprechen oder sie zu repräsentieren. Laut Putnam muss dieser konzeptuelle Relativismus des internen oder pragmatischen Realismus nicht unbedingt zu radikalen skeptizistischen Schlussfolgerungen führen: auch wenn die Tatsachen von den konzeptuellen Schemata abhängen, die wir zu ihrer Beschreibung verwenden, so bedeutet dies nicht, dass wir nicht innerhalb eines bestimmten konzeptuellen Schemas zwischen realen und nicht realen Tatsachen unterscheiden könnten, oder, parallel dazu, zwischen falschen und wahren Aussagen über diese Tatsachen. Es ist sogar möglich, über den Wert verschiedener konzeptueller Schemata zu diskutieren im Zusammenhang mit bestimmten Kriterien (methodischer, moralischer Art, usw.), an denen all diese Konzepte teilhaben“ (Miguel Ángel Quintanilla: “Introducción. El realismo necesario.” Op cit., S. 25). 12 Vgl. Piero Raffa: Vanguardia y realismo. Übers. von R. de la Iglesia. Barcelona: Ediciones de Cultura Popular, 1968, S. 280‒281. Intentionaler Realismus in Goethes Werther 117 Because in the end it represents the continuation of that perennial literary constant by which the art of discourse has never ceased to relate to human and physical reality, albeit in a rather complex and subtle manner, engendering numerous theoretical puzzles. 13 Gegenüber dieser traditionellen Strömung geht der sog. "formale“ oder „immanente Realismus,” wie es Hans-Georg Gadamer formuliert, davon aus, dass die Literatur die Wirklichkeit nicht imitiert, sondern sie erschafft. Darío Villanueva führt dazu aus: The concept of formal realism in literature avoids the perils of genetic mechanicism, interpreting the work in terms of specifically artistic parameters more proper to its essential nature than any external ones, but it carries inside it a germ of total dissociation between the created world and reality itself. 14 Von Darío Villanueva selbst wird hingegen der Begriff des "intentional realism” vertreten, der der Phänomenologie und der Pragmatik entspringt und die Überwindung der Schwachstellen der genetischen und immanenten Auffassung bedeutet: „Realism in effect means conferring a realistic meaning on a text from the referential horizon provided by each reader’s experience of the world.” 15 Es sind demnach die Leser, die im Akt der Aneignung des künstlerischen Objekts dieses aktualisieren und ihm einen mehr oder weniger hohen Grad an Realismus zusprechen, je nach ihrem jeweiligen referentiellen Horizont, wobei jedoch immer der Fiktionspakt eingehalten wird 16 "the willing suspension of disbelief,” in den Worten von S. T. Coleridge 17 ), der darin besteht, dass zeitweilig das Nicht-Glauben des im fiktionalen Text Dargestellten deaktiviert wird. Folglich gibt es eine Interaktion zwischen Werk und Leser, die zugleich eine Interaktion zwischen immanentem und genetischem Realismus ist und als Resultat den intentionalen Realismus zeitigt: das Werk selbst ist Träger thematisch-diskursiver Mechanismen (immanenter Realismus), die der Leser in mehr oder weniger hohem Maße in seine referentielle Welt integriert (genetischer Realismus) und dadurch 13 Darío Villanueva: Theories of Literary Realism. Translated by M. I. Spariosu and S. García-Castañón. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997, S. 5. 14 Darío Villanueva: Theories of Literary Realism, cit., S. 44. 15 Darío Villanueva: Theories of Literary Realism, cit., S. 108. 16 Siehe Darío Villanueva: “Historia, realidad y ficción en el discurso narrativo.” In: El polen de ideas. Teoría, crítica, historia y literatura comparada. Barcelona: PPU, 1991, S. 115- 130, hier S. 122-123. 17 Der Satz stammt aus dem Kapitel XIV seiner Biographia Literaria (1817) und bezieht sich auf die notwendige Gutgläubigkeit des Lesers, die dieser benötigt, um die Lyrical Ballads (1798) zu entschlüsseln, die Coleridge zusammen mit seinem Freund William Wordsworth schrieb. Francisco Manuel Mariño 118 den realistischen Sinn aktiviert, den der Leser selbst dem Werk zuspricht (intentionaler Realismus). 18 3 Realismus im Werther Die (genetische und immanente) realistische Repräsentation, welche den intentionalen Realismus beim Leser hervorruft, erscheint im Text des Werther bereits durch seinen paratextuellen Rahmen gegeben, der nicht nur an dem individualisierenden Titel festgemacht werden kann, welcher die Befindlich-keiten einer konkreten, in der Erzählung präsenten Person vereinzelt, sondern auch an der berühmten "Anmerkung des Herausgebers,” die den Briefen Werthers vorgeschaltet ist: Was ich von der Geschichte des armen Werther nur habe auffinden können, habe ich mit Fleiß gesammelt und lege es euch hier vor, und weiß, dass ihr mir’s danken werdet. Ihr könnt seinem Geist und seinem Charakter eure Bewunderung und Liebe, seinem Schicksale eure Tränen nicht versagen. Und du gute Seele, die du eben den Drang fühlst wie er, schöpfe Trost aus seinem Leiden, und lass das Büchlein deinen Freund sein, wenn du aus Geschick oder eigener Schuld keinen näheren finden kannst. 19 Diese Anmerkung, die in der ersten Person Singular formuliert ist und sich explizit an den Leser richtet, konditioniert in gewissem Grade die Lektüre („Ihr könnt seinem Geiste und seinem Charakter eure Bewunderung und Liebe, seinem Schicksale Eure Tränen nicht versagen“). Wir haben es also mit einer Instanz zu tun, die von jener, die zu Anfang des ersten Briefes „wie froh bin ich, dass ich weg bin! “ ausruft, völlig verschieden ist. Es scheint klar, dass es sich um einen Sammler und Herausgeber handelt "[…] habe ich mit Fleiß gesammelt und lege es euch hier vor […]“), der auf diese Weise den dann folgenden Text rechtfertigt. 20 Dadurch wird der Leser in die Lage versetzt, den Diskurs zu dekodieren, in dem er seine "willing suspension of disbelief” in Gang setzt und akzeptiert, dass er es mit einer wahren Geschichte zu tun hat. Daneben sind noch weitere formale Elemente zu nen- 18 In diesem Sinne auch Wolfgang Iser: “Das aber heißt, wir reagieren im Lesen auf das, was wir selbst hervorgebracht haben, und dieser Reaktionsmodus erst macht es plausibel, weshalb wir den Text wie ein reales Geschehen zu erfahren vermögen. Wir fassen ihn nicht auf wie ein gegebenes Objekt, wir begreifen ihn auch nicht als einen Sachverhalt, der durch prädikative Urteile bestimmt wird; vielmehr ist er uns durch unsere Reaktionen gegenwärtig. Der Sinn des Werks gewinnt damit selbst den Charakter des Geschehens, und da wir dieses als Bewußtseinskorrelat des Textes erzeugen, erfahren wir dessen Sinn als Wirklichkeit.“ (Der Akt des Lesens. München: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1994, S. 210). 19 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Die Leiden des jungen Werther. Frankfurt a. M.: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 2005, S. 5. 20 Vgl. Francisco Manuel Mariño: La unidad de la novelística de Goethe. Valladolid: Secretariado de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Valladolid, 1993, S. 33-34. Intentionaler Realismus in Goethes Werther 119 nen, die der Erzählung Realismus verleihen. Ich beziehe mich hierbei auf den Begriff der sog. réalèmes, der von Itamar Even-Zohar 21 eingeführt wurde als "un répertoire, c’est-à-dire d’un ensemble d’éléments gouvernés par des relations (de nature systémique), lequel constitue l’unique voie par laquelle une culture peut transmettre de l’information sur le réel.” 22 Im Werther können wir, unter vielen anderen, folgende Realeme anführen: - Eine narrative Instanz, die sich als Sammler und Herausgeber der Briefe Werthers vorstellt, also eine Art Chronist, der im ersten Buch durch Fußnoten präsent ist und sich im zweiten zu Wort meldet und darüber informiert, dass er mit verschiedenen Mitteln weitere Information über Werther zusammengetragen hat: "Ich habe mir angelegen sein lassen, genaue Nachrichten aus dem Munde derer zu sammeln, die von seiner Geschichte wohl unterrichtet sein konnten […]” (S. 157). - Zeitliche Präzision hinsichtlich der Datierung der Briefe; Zusammenfall zwischen der Zeit des Schreibens und der Zeit der Handlung bzw. des "Abenteuers,” 23 was der Erzählung für die damaligen ersten Leser eine unglaubliche Zeitgenossenschaft verleiht; und - ebenfalls auf der Zeitebene - eine minutiöse Berichterstattung über die Ereignisse, z. B. diejenigen am 21. Dezember, die E. A. Blackall wie folgt zusammenfasst: - Werther starts writing his letter very early; he calls his servant at 10 to tell him he is going away, he eats (presumably soon after), visits the Magistrate, is back at 5, goes to Lotte at 6: 30, leaves as the maid is laying dinner, walks out through the town gate and returns home without his hat around 11. 24 - Partielles Verbergen der Namen einiger Personen: "Ich habe den Grafen C. kennen lernen” (S. 99), "Ich lernte neulich auf dem Spaziergange ein Fräulein von B. kennen” (S. 102). Dies gibt der Erzählung Plausibilität (lat. verosimilitudo), da damit suggeriert wird, dass die Anonymität realer Personen gewahrt werden soll, die, wenn sie vom Leser identifiziert würden, sich auf irgendeine Weise kompromittiert sähen. Das Gleiche geschieht mit den Ortsangaben: - Der Leser wird sich keine Mühe geben, die hier genannten Orte zu suchen, man hat sich genöthigt gesehen, die im Originale befindlichen wahren Namen zu verändern. (S. 20) 21 Itamar Even-Zohar: “Les règles d’insertion des ‘réalèmes’ dans la narration,” Littérature, 57 (1985), S. 109-118, hier S. 111. 22 Darío Villanueva: Theories of Literary Realism, cit., S. 121. 23 "La première dimension temporelle à frapper un lecteur de roman est celle de l’histoire. A quelle époque se situe l’aventure racontée? ” (Roland Bourneuf und Réal Ouellet: L’univers du roman. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1975, S. 129). 24 Eric Albert Blackall: Goethe and the Novel. Ithaca, NY, und London: Cornell University Press, 1983, S. 47-48. Francisco Manuel Mariño 120 - Der Erzähler und Herausgeber in einer Person verweist auf konkrete Informationsquellen, um bestimmte subjektive Einschätzungen zu rechtfertigen: - Die Beängstigung seines Herzens zehrte die übrigen Kräfte seines Geistes, seine Lebhaftigkeit, seinen Scharfsinn auf, er ward ein trauriger Gesellschafter, immer unglücklicher, und immer ungerechter, je unglücklicher er ward. Wenigstens sagen dies Alberts Freunde […] (S. 158) - Werther hatte, wie wir aus seinen Briefen wissen, nie ein Geheimnis daraus gemacht, dass er sich diese Welt zu verlassen sehnte. (S. 198) - Der Erzähler und Herausgeber wird zum Komplizen des Lesers, indem er sich direkt an ihn wendet, z. B. um ihm Mühe zu ersparen: "Der Leser wird sich keine Mühe geben, die hier genannten Orte zu suchen” (S. 20), oder aber, um ihn mit Erklärungen zu versorgen (siehe den Abschnitt „Der Herausgeber an den Leser“ [S. 155ff.]) - Referenzen auf die empirische Realität: Anspielungen auf tatsächliche Personen der Zeit, vor allem aus dem kulturellen Bereich (Lavater, S. 51, 135; Winckelmann, S. 17; Lessing, S. 206); literarische Werke (Homer in der Übersetzung von Wetstein und Ernesti, S. 85; Ossian, S. 180-191); gängige Münzen der Zeit (Kreuzer [S. 24, 25, 138], Gulden [S. 58], Taler [S. 61); oder die damalige Mode, um nur einige zu nennen: - Es hat schwer gehalten, bis ich mich entschloß, meinen blauen einfachen Frack, in dem ich mit Lotten zum erstenmale tanzte, abzulegen, er ward aber zuletzt gar unscheinbar. Auch habe ich mir einen machen lassen ganz wie den vorigen, Kragen und Aufschlag, und auch wieder so gelbe Weste und Beinkleider dazu. (S. 132) - Besonderen Realismus verleihen der Erzählung solche Passagen - wie z. B. im Brief vom 12. Mai - , die der Regel folgen: "la description doit être sentie par le lecteur comme tributaire de l’œil du personnage qui la prend en charge (d’un pouvoir voir) et non du savoir du romancier.” 25 - Ich weiß nicht, ob täuschende Geister um diese Gegend schweben, oder ob die warme, himmlische Phantasie in meinem Herzen ist, die mir alles rings umher so paradiesisch macht. Das ist gleich vor dem Orte ein Brunnen, ein Brunnen, an den ich gebannt bin wie Melusine mit ihren Schwestern. - Du gehst einen kleinen Hügel hinunter und findest dich vor einem Gewölbe, da wohl zwanzig Stufen hinabgehen, wo unten das klarste Wasser aus Marmorfelsen quillt. Die kleine Mauer, die oben umher die Einfassung macht, die hohen Bäume, die den Platz rings umher bedecken, die Kühle des Orts; das hat alles so was Anzügliches, was Schauerliches. Es vergeht kein Tag, dass ich nicht eine Stunde da sitze. Da kommen dann die Mädchen aus der Stadt, und holen Wasser, das harmloseste Geschäft und das nötigste, das ehemals die Töchter der Könige selbst verrichteten. Wenn ich da sitze, so lebt die patriarchalische Idee so lebhaft 25 Philippe Hamon: “Qu’est-ce qu’une description? ” In : Poétique, 12 (1972), S. 465-487, hier S. 467. Intentionaler Realismus in Goethes Werther 121 um mich, wie sie, alle die Altväter, am Brunnen Bekanntschaft machen und freien, und wie um die Brunnen und Quellen wohltätige Geister schweben. O der muss nie nach einer schweren Sommertagswanderung sich an des Brunnens Kühle gelabt haben, der das nicht mitempfinden kann. (S. 13) Der intentionale Realismus basiert auf all diesen genannten und weiteren ihn erzeugenden genetischen und immanenten Realemen. Mit den Worten von Marshall Brown: "Works are not intrinsically realistic; rather, they are realistic insofar as we concentrate in those silhouetting that create the effect of reality.” 26 Ausgehend von diesem Effekt nimmt der Leser eine intentional realistische Lektüre vor, denn, wie Villanueva treffend bemerkt: "el realismo literario es un fenómeno fundamentalmente pragmático, que resulta de la proyección sobre un mundo intensional que el texto sugiere de una visión del mundo externo que el lector - cada lector - aporta.” 27 4 Schluss: Von der fiktionalen Realität zur empirischen Wahrheit Trotz der Bedenken, die François Rastier 28 anmeldet, muss hier auf Hans Robert Jauß verwiesen werden, der dafür eintritt, "gegen die Reduktion des Kunstwerks auf eine nur abbildende Funktion nunmehr die lange unterdrückte Einsicht in den wirklichkeits-bildenden Charakter der Kunst ins Recht zu setzen.” 29 Tatsächlich ist es so, dass durch die von Goethe erzählte Geschichte - die rein literarisch zu verstehen ist, unabhängig davon, ob sie eine historische Entsprechung hat 30 oder nicht, wie dies schon mehrmals betont wurde - die 26 Marshall Brown: “The Logic of Realism: A Hegelian Approach,” PMLA, 96 (1981), S. 232, zit. in: Darío Villanueva: Theories of Literary Realism. Op. cit., S. 146. 27 „[D]er literarische Realismus ist in erster Linie ein pragmatisches Phänomen, das aus der Projektion einer Vision der äußeren Welt auf eine intensionale Welt entsteht, eine Vision, die der Leser - jeder Leser - beiträgt“ (Darío Villanueva: “Fenomenología y pragmática del realismo literario.” In: Darío Villanueva (Hrsg.): Avances en Teoría de la Literatura. Santiago de Compostela: Servicio de Publicaciones e Intercambio Científico de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 1994, S. 165-185, hier S. 178). 28 Vgl. Realismo semántico y realismo estético (= Eutopías, 80). Valencia: Centro de Semiótica y Teoría del Espectáculo de la Universidad de Valencia & Asociación Vasca de Semiótica, 1995, S. 15. 29 Hans Robert Jauß: “Literaturgeschichte als Provokation.” In: Literaturgeschichte als Provokation. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1970, S. 144-207, hier S. 157. 30 In den Worten von Hermann Hettner: “Bis in das einzelste ist jetzt bekannt, inwieweit die unglückliche Liebe Goethes für Charlotte Buff, die verlobte Braut seines Freundes Kestner, und das tragische Schicksal des jungen Jerusalem, der eine gleiche Herzensirrung mit seinem Untergang büßte, als äußerer Anlass und stoffliche Unterlage diente. Aber nur umso mehr müssen wir die unvergleichliche Kraft und Kunst des Dichters Francisco Manuel Mariño 122 reale Idee, die der Autor mitteilen will, im Leser projiziert wird (wie H. Putnam meint, "the very notion of ‘projection’ presupposes intentionality” 31 ), und zwar in einer Art metaphorischem (und auch metonymischem) Prozess. 32 Diese vom Autor intendierte Idee ist genau diejenige, die G. Lukács so resümiert: Werthers Konflikt, Werthers Tragödie ist bereits die Tragödie des bürgerlichen Humanismus, zeigt bereits den unlösbaren Konflikt der freien und allseitigen Entwicklung der Persönlichkeit mit der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft selbst. 33 Es handelt sich also um eine Problematik, die mit der besonderen empirischen Realität des Deutschland des 18. Jahrhundert verbunden ist, so, wie Goethe sie erlebte (genetischer Realismus), welche wiederum gefiltert wird durch die "literarische Realität”(immanenter Realismus) und im Leser schließlich (hier manifestiert sich der intentionale Realismus) den anagogischen Effekt einer universalen Wahrheit bewirkt, die der Leser selbst projizieren muss, damit er sie begreifen kann. Abschließend soll an dieser Stelle daran erinnert werden, dass - wie es auch für Schillers historisches Drama gilt - nicht das historische Verständnis angestrebt wird, sondern vielmehr das moralische Urteil. 34 Von einem ethischen Standpunkt aus ist die Funktion des realistischen Autors (man könnte auch sagen: des naiven Autors im Schiller’schen Sinn) die Naturalisierung der menschlichen Handlung, 35 aber dies hängt nicht allein vom Wollen ab, auch nicht von der konkreten Anekdote, wie dies in unserer Erzählung zu sein scheint, sondern von der Tatsache, dass diese Anekdote Teil eines na- bewundern, mit welcher er diese Ereignisse zum tief ergreifenden echt dichterischen, im höchsten Sinn monumentalen Ausdruck jener grübelnden wühlenden Stimmung zu machen wusste, die damals in dem gesamten jungen Geschlecht unheilvoll umging und an dessen innerstem Lebensmark zehrte” (Geschichte der deutschen Literatur in achtzehnten Jahrhundert. Berlin und Weimar: Aufbau Verlag, 1979, Bd. II, S. 122). 31 Hilary Putnam: The Many Faces of Realism. Peru, Illinois: Open Court Publishing Company, 1995, S. 15. 32 Auch wenn, wie R. Jakobson argumentiert: “The primacy of the metaphoric process in the literary schools of romanticism and symbolism has been repeatedly acknowledged, but it is still insufficiently realized that it is the predominance of metonymy which underlies and actually predetermines the so-called ‘realistic’ trend, which belongs to an intermediary stage between the decline of romanticism and the rise of symbolism and is opposed to both” (Roman Jakobson: “Two aspects of language and two types of aphasic disturbances.” In: Roman Jakobson und Morris Halle: Fundamentals of Language. The Hague und Paris: Mouton, 1971 S. 67-96, hier S. 91-92). 33 Georg Lukács: “Die Leiden des jungen Werther.” In: Goethe und seine Zeit. Op. cit., S. 41-56, hier S. 52. 34 Vgl. José Luis Villacañas Berlanga: Tragedia y teodicea de la historia. El destino de los ideales en Lessing y Schiller. Madrid: Visor, 1993, S. 231. 35 Vgl. José Luis Villacañas Berlanga: Tragedia y teodicea de la historia…, Op. cit., S. 289. Intentionaler Realismus in Goethes Werther 123 türlichen Ganzen ist, verstanden als ein „conjunto significativo en sí mismo y por lo tanto factible de racionalización.” 36 Mit Hilfe der Strategien, die die Erzählung selbst ihm an die Hand gibt, gelangt der Leser der Leiden des jungen Werther zu eben dieser "Naturalisierung der menschlichen Handlung,” mithin zu einer Wahrheit, die über der Realität steht und dem Diskurs dieser exemplarischen Geschichte zugrunde liegt. Dies erklärt in nicht unbeträchtlichem Maße die starke Bindung der Leser an das Werk - eine Grundvoraussetzung für den immensen Erfolg des Werther beim zeitgenössischen Publikum. Bibliographie Jean-Michel Adam: Linguistique et discours littéraire. Paris: Larousse, 1976. Eric Albert Blackall: Goethe and the Novel. Ithaca, NY, and London: Cornell University Press, 1983. Roland Bourneuf und Réal Ouellet: L’univers du roman. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1975. Itamar Even-Zohar: “Les règles d’insertion des ‘réalèmes’ dans la narration.” In: Littérature, 57 (1985), S. 109-118. Werner Fuld: Das Buch der verbotenen Bücher. Berlin: Galiani, 2012. Johann Peter Eckermann: Gespräche mit Goethe in den letzten Jahren seines Lebens. München: C. H. Beck, 1984. Philippe Hamon: “Qu’est-ce qu’une description? ” In: Poétique 12 (1972), S. 465-487. Hermann Hettner, Geschichte der deutschen Literatur in achtzehnten Jahrhundert. Berlin und Weimar: Aufbau, 1979, Bd. II. Wolfgang Iser: Der Akt des Lesens. München: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1994. Hans Robert Jauß: “Literaturgeschichte als Provokation.” In: Literaturgeschichte als Provokation. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1970, S. 144-207. Georg Lukács: “Die Leiden des jungen Werther.” In: Goethe und seine Zeit. Berlin: Aufbau, 1953, S. 41-56. Georg Lukács: “Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre.” In: Goethe und Seine Zeit, cit., S. 57-75. Georg Lukács: “Kunst und objektive Wahrheit.” In: Kunst und objektive Wahrheit. Essays zur Literaturtheorie und -geschichte. Leipzig: Reclam, 1977, S. 63-112. Angelo Marchese und Joaquín Forradellas: Diccionario de retórica, crítica y terminología literaria. Barcelona: Ariel, 1986. Francisco Manuel Mariño: La unidad de la novelística de Goethe. Valladolid: Secretariado de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Valladolid, 1993. Hilary Putnam: The Many Faces of Realism. Peru, Illinois: Open Court Publishing Company, 1995. Miguel Ángel Quintanilla: “Introducción. El realismo necesario.” In: Hilary Putnam: Las mil caras del realismo. Trad. de M. Vázquez Campos y A. M. Liz Gutiérrez, Barcelona und Buenos Aires und México: Paidós und I.C.E. de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, 1994, S. 17-35. 36 „Ein in sich bedeutungstragendes Ganzes, das aus diesem Grund eine Rationalisierung erlaubt“(José Luis Villacañas Berlanga: Tragedia y teodicea de la historia… Op. cit., S. 290). Francisco Manuel Mariño 124 Piero Raffa: Vanguardia y realismo. Trad. de R. de la Iglesia, Barcelona: Ediciones de Cultura Popular, 1968. François Rastier: Realismo semántico y realismo estético (= Eutopías, 80).Valencia: Centro de Semiótica y Teoría del Espectáculo de la Universidad de Valencia & Asociación Vasca de Semiótica, 1995. Carlos Reis: O conhecemento da literatura. Coimbra: Livraria Almedina, 1995. José Luis Villacañas Berlanga: Tragedia y teodicea de la historia. El destino de los ideales en Lessing y Schiller. Madrid: Visor, 1993. Darío Villanueva: Historia, realidad y ficción en el discurso narrativo. In: El polen de ideas. Teoría, crítica, historia y literatura comparada. Barcelona: PPU, 1991, S. 115-130. Darío Villanueva: “Fenomenología y pragmática del realismo literario.” In: D. Villanueva (comp.): Avances en Teoría de la Literatura. Santiago de Compostela: Servicio de Publicaciones e Intercambio Científico de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 1994, S. 165-185. Darío Villanueva: Theories of Literary Realism. Translated by M. I. Spariosu and S. García-Castañón. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997. M. Cinta Mesa González A Latino Conversation from the Borderland 1 Opening up the conversation: Latino Literatures on the literary borderland between Latin American and North American Literatures Over the last few decades, a growing interest in Latino literature is contributing to shape its critical perception as well as its popular reception not only inside but also outside North America and Latin America. In fact, Latino literature is placed in-between these two geographical, cultural and economic discourses that try to constrain it under many homogenizing labels, such as “Hispanic literature” or “assimilated literature.” Latino and Latina writers tell their stories from this literary borderland, breaking with the established boundaries and threatening any label that narrows their possibilities to get a place on the international literary marketplace. In so doing, they open up a big new conversation, which, as we will see, is made up of many different conversations, between their transnational communities and the growing non-Latino readers whom they are reaching increasingly. Having all of these aspects in mind, this article addresses how the different Latino literary productions (like the Dominican-American or the Chicano ones), which are part of a larger project called Latino literature, are attracting non-Latino readers’ attention, opening up new possibilities of cultural negotiation outside the Latino community in Latin-America, the U.S.A. and Europe. Using their common and different features as a starting point, I will analyze Sandra Cisneros’s and Junot Díaz’s Latino conversations as examples of in-between books. The purpose in this last part is to see if it is possible to talk about a Latino bestseller. The fact that Latino literary productions are often caught in-between the Latin American and the North American literatures provides a specific insight into these transnational writings, and places them outside the limits of these two mainstream literatures. According to Quintana, despite the fact that Latina writing is not new, its transnational focus on dual identity has often diminished its value in university settings, which in the best circumstances relegate it to the margins of both the mainstream American and Latin American literary canons. 1 1 Alvina E. Quintana: “Introduction.” In: Quintana, Alvina E. (ed.): Reading U.S. Latina Writers. Remapping American Literature. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, pp. 2-3 M. Cinta Mesa González 126 Focusing on the North American culture, Gunew argues that cultural homogeneity is denying the access of differences, that is, of different communities and literatures, to the mainstream culture 2 : “The term ‘multicultural writer’ is flanked by others, such as ‘migrant writer’ and ‘ethnic writer’. These often indicate simply that they are ‘other’, that is, not part of the mainstream.” 3 Because of nationalist interests in defining literatures, then, these labels try to homogenize the heterogeneous literary productions, such as African-American. In her essay “So Much Depends,” Dominican-American writer Julia Alvarez states that being forced by the totalizing discourse to describe herself either as Dominican or American 4 ; she understood that “the best way to define myself is through the stories and poems that do not limit me to a simple label.” 5 The Latino literary conversations thus become the best way of deconstructing the homogenizing labels that are placing the so-called “Hispanic narratives” outside the margins of mainstream literary traditions. Apart from the novels, short stories, poems, plays and essays, these specific literary conversations are translated into children literature and novels for young readers - such as Julia Alvarez’s Before We were Free - as well as into collections of poetry, stories, essays and criticism edited or co-edited by Latino and Latina authors - such as Women Writing Resistance: Essays on Latin America and the Caribbean. They have thus contributed to increasing the farreaching impact of Latino literatures on non-Latino reading communities. Still, if we concentrate on contemporary Latino productions and their reception by Latin American and Latino literary criticism, it is possible to find two opposite arguments regarding their writing and reading strategies. Both of them focus on two main points that define Latino literature: their relationship with the mainstream audience, and their political and social commitment to the Latino community at large. The most conservative Latino authors criticize this supposed contemporary trend in Latino literature, namely, their interest in attracting non-Latino reader’s interest and the fact that they have moved away from political and social concerns. Cuban- American critic Perez-Firmat claims that contemporary Latino authors write for a non-Latino readers: “A principal reason for this is that, by and large, Latino writers do not write for a Latino audience” 6 ; instead they continue to 2 Sneja Gunew: “Feminism and the Politics of irreducible differences: Multiculturalism/ ethnicity/ race.” In: Gunew, Sneja and Yeatman, Anna, (eds.): Feminism and the Politics of Difference. Boulder, CO, and San Francisco: Westview, 1993, p 5. 3 Gunew 1993, p. 3. 4 Julia Alvarez: Something to Declare. New York: Plume, 1999, p. 167. 5 Alvarez 1999, p. 169. 6 Gustavo Pérez Firmat: Tongue Ties. Logo-Eroticism in Anglo-Hispanic Literature. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, p. 139. A Latino Conversation from the Borderland 127 focus on topics and characters that maintain Latino stereotypes 7 because of “personal, cultural, and commercial circumstances.” 8 Similarly, Puerto Rican descendant critic Juan Flores accuses contemporary Latino literature of being “assimilationist toward American society and its culture.” 9 Focusing on Chicana literature, Cherrie Moraga laments the fact that “on occasion New York publishes our work, as it perceives a growing market for the material, allowing Chicanos access to national distribution on a scale that small independent presses could never accomplish.” 10 The move to a worldwide publishing press is causing, according to Moraga, that Chicano writers are moving away from community and national political concerns, 11 which was the source of their writing, “to the Northeast for recognition.” 12 Against these writers’ attempts to create an intra-Latino literature based on common origins and political concerns, for Dalleo and Machado “latino/ a literature imagines creative ways to rethink the relationship between a politics of social justice and market popularity.” 13 Thus, acknowledging their condition of borderland literature, new possibilities to engage with the mainstream literature are opened up and Latino books begin to take part in a multi-literary process that frames their literary conversations. The cultural market, according to García Canclini, is a space regulated by sociocultural interaction. 14 When applied to Latino literatures, the sociocultural interactions are only possible when the fiction of the so-called outsider writers adopts the same means used by the homogeneous discourses, subverting the official fictional narrative of the outsider. Appadurai defines “Mediascape” as this set of narratives and images that are controlled by nationalist interests and distributed to a national or an international audience. 15 Once Latino narratives interact with these mainstream ones, they can deconstruct hegemonic discourses, and, from this position, they can offer the 7 Perez-Firmat 2003, 140. 8 Perez-Firmat 2003, p. 141. 9 Juan Flores: From Bomba to Hip-Hop: Puerto Rican Culture and Latino Identity. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000, p. 170. 10 Cherríe Moraga: “Art in America con Acento.” In: Browdy de Hernandez, Jennifer ed. Women Writing Resistance. Essays on Latin America and the Caribbean. Cambridge, Massachusetts: South End Press: 2003, pp. 107. 11 Moraga 2003, p. 105. 12 Moraga 2003, p. 107. 13 Raphael Dalleo and Elena Machado Sáez: “Introduction. Sellouts? Politics and the Market in Post-Sixties Latino/ a Literature.” In: Raphael Dalleo and Elena Machado Sáez: The Latino/ a Canon and the Emergence of Post-Sixties Literature. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, p 3. 14 Néstor García Canclini and George Yúdice (trans.): Consumers and Citizens: Globalization and Multicultural Conflicts. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2001, pp. 46-47. 15 Arjun Appadurai: Modernity at large. Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis: Public Works, vol.1. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1996, p. 35. M. Cinta Mesa González 128 readers alternative representations of their literary experiences. That is Dominican-American writer Julia Alvarez’s main writing and reading strategy: we want to write good books that touch and move all our readers, not just those of our particular ethnic background. We want our work to become part of the great body of all that has been thought and felt and written by writers of different cultures, languages, experiences, classes, races. 16 Once the literary boundaries are broken, then the non-Latino readers become part of the conversation that is going on inside her community. 17 2 Keeping the conversation alive: From Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street to Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao The publication of Sandra Cisneros’s The House on the Mango Street by the big press, six years after it was first published in 1984, immersed the international audience into the world of this transnational literature. In 2008, less than thirty years after this publication, Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007) won the Pulitzer Prize, much contributing to putting Latino literatures on a multi-literary map. With this fact in mind, the reasons for choosing these two writers for my analysis are based on their success, the critical attention that their literary communities receive, their publishing perspectives, their interaction with the readers, and their writing and reading strategies. Sandra Cisneros was the first Chicana writer who got published by the big press at a time when Chicana writers were far from enjoying any publishing privileges, 18 even though they belong to the Latino community which receives much critical attention. Dominican-born writer Junot Díaz was awarded with an U.S. mainstream prize, the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, in 2008, although the Dominican-American community receives much less critical attention. 19 Sandra Cisneros expresses in an interview how, even though she thinks about an international audience, “the readers who are going to like my sto- 16 Alvarez 1999, p. 169. 17 Torres-Saillant affirms that “with the rise to global visibility of the texts of Alvarez, Kincaid, Phillips, Smith, and the like, writing, as they do, from the center of the West, and published, as they are, by corporate firms . . . the representation of the Antillean experience may be said to have finally attained the international centrality it deserves” Silvio Torres-Saillant: Intellectual History of the Caribbean. Gordonsville, VA: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, p. 250. 18 Francisco A. Lomelí: “Chicanca Novelists in the process of creating fictive voices.” In: María Herrera-Sobek (ed.): Beyond Stereotypes. The Critical Análisis of Chicana Literature. New York: Bilingual Press / Editorial Bilingüe, 1985, p. 29. 19 Torres-Saillant 2002, p. 439. A Latino Conversation from the Borderland 129 ries the best and catch all the subtexts and all the subtleties that even my editor can’t catch, are Chicanas.” 20 Thus her books establish negotiations between the Chicano community, its country of origin, its histories, the country of destiny and the reading community. In The House on the Mango Street, her first collection of interlocked stories, the Chicana author writes the stories of the different Latinas who feel confined to a Latino “barrio.” Analyzing those accounts from the perspective of the reading and writing strategies previously mentioned, the Latino neighborhood is a metaphor of the Latino writing, constrained by the Latin American and North American literatures. Esperanza, the main character, realizes that the only way to break with the literary oppression is by telling the world her Grandmother’s and other Latinas’ silenced stories. This same Chicano conversation can also be observed in Caramelo. Or Puro Cuento (2002), which is both an autobiography about her Mexican and Chicano family and a fictional account of Mexican and U.S. history. As the narrator herself expresses throughout the book, her origins and her family’s experiences in the U.S. influence her own life and personal history: “All parts from Mexico, Assembled in the U.S.A. or I am born.” 21 She even expresses the importance of her origins for her writing process in this dialogue between the main character, Celaya, and her grandmother: “Your story? I thought you were telling my story? Your story is my story.” 22 This story is also a sociocultural interaction with the readers, reinforced by the constant historical and cultural explanations aimed at them: “Tú, reader, she is asking you.” 23 Likewise, this book, as the previous one, engages with the Latin American literary tradition of writing and consuming telenovelas, adapting it to her transnational circumstances, and subverting it from a new narrative, linguistic and gender perspective. Sandra Cisneros writes in the last cultural explanation of Caramelo. Or Puro Cuento how in her opinion, “it’s not the storytelling in telenovelas that’s so bad, but the insufferable acting” 24 because “the telenovela has emulated Mexican life.” 25 In fact, although the treatment of her female characters and the final outcome of Sandra Cisneros’s books are quite different, the author models her storytelling after many Mexican, and even Latino, histories and many typical narrative features in telenovelas, such as the interlocking stories about families and suffering women within a specific community. Thanks to Sandra Cisneros’s hybrid literary production, the author finds her place in 20 Martha Satz: “Returning to one’s house.” In: Southwest Review, 82. 2. (1992), p. 290. 21 Sandra Cisneros: Caramelo. Or Puro Cuento. London: Bloomsbury, 2003, p. 231. This is a literal quotation. It is the author’s grammatical and writing style. 22 Cisneros 2003, p. 172. 23 Cisneros 2003, p. 195. 24 Cisneros 2003, p. 409. 25 Cisneros 2003, p. 409. M. Cinta Mesa González 130 the mass literature, much contributing to placing the Chicana woman at the core of important contemporary studies that help to understand “her social, political, economic and cultural situation.” 26 Moreover, unlike in the eighties, the move from a so-called ethnic literature to the mainstream one suggests that this Chicana writer’s books are finally earning their places among the best contemporary narratives. 27 Likewise, Junot Díaz’s books have become a small but significant part inside the large Dominican-American conversation, and the even larger Latino one. Díaz’s thought about the sociocultural interaction with his reading audience, though, is a much more humble one than Cisneros’s: “books don’t conquer worlds, books conquer like one space on a shelf, maybe.” 28 Thus, the Dominican-born writer defends that, whereas a book can open up a conversation with the community where the book is set in, a variety of books is needed to keep the conversation alive. 29 It is for that reason that, instead of changing his writing strategies to reach a vague mainstream audience, he keeps on writing about a Latino culture-specific topic that helps him attract a specific audience. In fact, when he published his novel, “the only bestseller list where this book showed up for more than one week was in San Francisco.” 30 This specific reading group kept his book alive long enough for the mainstream to catch up and for the novel to win the Pulitzer Prize, granting the book a national and international success in a short period of time. Culturally and politically committed, the many stories in Drown, his previous book, tell Yunior’s experiences as a Dominican boy living both in the Dominican Republic and in and out of a Latino neighborhood in the U.S. However, as in Cisneros’s The House on the Mango Street, these stories can be interpreted as a criticism of the Latino and North-American literatures that limit the Latino writers’ chances to gain success. 31 Junot Díaz, then, uses his literary text as a means to move freely in and out of the insider’s and the outsider’s literatures. In fact, this movement contributed to the great success achieved by Drown and Junot Díaz’s novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007), a Dominican American conversation in a diasporic context. Although this novel shares many common characteristics with Sandra Cisnero’s novel, as Bautista points out, 26 M. Aishih Wehbe Herrera: “Y qué ha pasado con los hombres? : Chicano Men and the Construction of Masculinity(ies).” In: José Antonio Gurpegui and M. Gómez Calisteo (eds.): Interpreting the New Milenio. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholar Press, 2008, p. 80. 27 For a more complete analysis of Caramelo. Or Puro Cuento, see my study Geografía de Experiencias. La Recuperación del Pasado en los Espacios Textuales de dos Autoras Latinoamericanas (2010). 28 Cafecito TV 4: 01-4: 05 29 Chicago Humanities 6: 55-7: 48. 30 Dave Eggers: “Song of Salomon Transformed my Life.” http: / / www.bostonreview.net/ eggers-diaz.php. December 30 2010 31 See Dalleo and Machado 2007, p. 78. A Latino Conversation from the Borderland 131 critics largely agree that Diaz’s writing is different from that of other Latino or ethnic writers and that this potentially makes him more of an assimilated ‘American’ writer than not. 32 The main character, Oscar, is an atypical Dominican-American boy who loves sci-fi and comic books. His conversation with the Latino communities thus becomes more difficult as Díaz’s interaction with the American culture becomes more threatening. Díaz compares the history of the Caribbean Islands with sci-fi, still regarded as a mainly North American literary genre: It might have been a consequence of being Antillean (who more sci-fi than us? [sic]) or if living in the DR for the first couple of years of his life and then abruptly wrenchingly relocating to New Jersey. 33 The case of the Dominican Republic is quite particular since its geographical location and its historical instability 34 make necessary the continuous conversation between races, countries and differences. Besides, Oscar’s feeling of in-betweeness reinforces this conversation: “You really want to know what being an X-Man feels like? Just be a smart bookish boy of color in a contemporary U.S. ghetto.” 35 Thus Junot Díaz’s specific Caribbean-American fiction gets closer to sci-fi, showing that, although different, the literatures of the Americas can share a place in the contemporary literature, 36 and Junot Díaz can conquer a space in the body of literature without labels and borders. 3 The future Latino conversation As we have seen, the Latino conversation is the sum of the many conversations that are going on inside the different Latino communities, as in Esperanza’s “barrio,” defying, like Yunior, the boundaries in literature. These past and present conversations from the Borderland, and the conversations that are still to come, are subverting the hegemonic discourse that characterizes the so-called mainstream literature, as Oscar’s story does. Thanks to the specificity of their topics and their ability to write in-between their literary traditions and the new literary circumstances, their stories, like 32 Bautista 2009, p. 83 33 Díaz 2008, p. 21 34 Benitez-Rojo 2006, p. 85 35 Díaz 2008, p. 22. 36 In “The Dialectics of our America” we read that “only when we begin to look at the history of the Americas as a hemisphere, and we begin to analyze the real and the rhetorical, often hostile, battles between the United States and what Martí called “Nuestra América”-“Our America” - we can begin to perceive what the literatures of the Americas have in common.” Saldívar 1990, p. 64.) M. Cinta Mesa González 132 Celaya’s ones, are traveling from the Borderland between the Latin American, North-American and Latino literatures to the non-Latino reading communities. This sociocultural interaction with the mainstream literature acquires great importance for the multicultural process experienced by Latino communities, much contributing to establish different economic, political, geographical and historical negotiations. From my point of view, although it is not possible to talk about a Latino bestseller in general, we need to take into view books in particular that are gaining their places on the mainstream reading lists, like Sandra Cisneros’s Caramelo. Or Puro Cuento and Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Yet, as we have seen above, these books are just a small part of a large conversation that will continue as long as these transnational writings are labeled as “Hispanic literature” and as long as they have to deconstruct any borders. 37 Bibliography Julia Álvarez: Before We were Free. New York: Knopf for Young Readers, 2002. - . Something to Declare. New York: Plume, 1999. Arjun Appadurai: Modernity at large. Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis: Public Works, vol. 1. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1996. Daniel Bautista: “In and out of the mainstream: Dominican-American identity in Junot Díaz’s How to date a Browngirl, blackgirl, whitegirl, or halfie.” In: Romance Notes, 49. 1. 2009, pp. 81-89. Antonio Benitez-Rojo: The Repeating Island. Durham, NC, and London: Duke University Press, 2006. Cafecito TV. http: / / www.youtube.com/ watch? v=FAR_BvSoLzM Chicago Humanities Festival. “Masculinity, immigrant, nerd, art.” http: / / www.youtube.com/ watch? v=TA8X6TUA83k Sandra Cisneros: Caramelo. Or Puro Cuento. London: Bloomsbury, 2003. - . The House on Mango Street. New York: Vintage Books, 1984. Raphael Dalleo and Elena Machado Sáez: “Introduction. Sellouts? Politics and the Market in Post-Sixties Latino/ a Literature.” In: Raphael Dalleo and Elena Machado Sáez. The Latino/ a Canon and the Emergence of Post-Sixties Literature. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, pp. 1-15. Junot Díaz: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. London: Faber and Faber Limited, 2008. - . Drown. New York: Riverhead Books, 1996. Dave Eggers: “Song of Salomon Transformed my Life.” http: / / www.bostonreview.net/ eggers-diaz.php. December 30 2010. 37 The author wants to acknowledge the funding provided by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) (Research Project “Bodies in Transit” FFI2013-47789-C2-1-P) and the European Regional Development Fund for the researching and writing of this essay. A Latino Conversation from the Borderland 133 Juan Flores: From Bomba to Hip-Hop: Puerto Rican Culture and Latino Identity. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000. Néstor García Canclini and George Yúdice (trans.): Consumers and Citizens: Globalization and Multicultural Conflicts. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2001. Sneja Gunew: “Feminism and the Politics of irreducible differences: Multiculturalism/ ethnicity/ race.” In: Sneja Gunew and Anna Yeatman (eds.): Feminism and the Politics of Difference. Boulder and San Francisco: Westview, 1993, pp. 1-19. Francisco A. Lomelí: “Chicanca Novelists in the process of creating fictive voices.” In: Herrera-Sobek, María ed. Beyond Stereotypes. The Critical Análisis of Chicana Literature. New York: Bilingual Press / Editorial Bilingüe, 1985, pp. 29-46. Cinta Mesa González: Geografía de Experiencias. La Recuperación del Pasado en los Espacios Textuales de dos Autoras Latinoamericanas. Sevilla: Ediciones Alfar, 2010. Cherríe Moraga: “Art in America con Acento.” In: Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez (ed.): Women Writing Resistance. Essays on Latin America and the Caribbean. Cambridge, MA: South End Press: 2003, pp. 101-108. Gustavo Pérez Firmat: Tongue Ties. Logo-Eroticism in Anglo-Hispanic Literature. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Alvina E. Quintana: “Introduction.” In: Alvina E. Quintana (ed.): Reading U.S. Latina Writers. Remapping American Literature. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, pp. 1-6. José David Saldívar: “The dialectics of our America.” In: Gustavo Pérez Firmat (ed.): Do the Americas have a Common Literature? Durham, NC, and London: Duke University Press, 1990, pp. 62-83. Martha Satz: “Returning to one’s house.” In: Southwest Review, 82. 2. (1992), pp. 287- 306. Silvio Torres-Saillant: Intellectual History of the Caribbean. Gordonsville, VA: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. - . “Epilogue: Problematic Paradigms. Racial diversity and corporate identity in the Latino community.” In: Marcelo Suárez-Orozco and Mariela M. Páez (eds.): Latinos: Remaking America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002, pp. 435- 455. M. Aishih Wehbe Herrera: “Y qué ha pasado con los hombres? : Chicano Men and the Construction of Masculinity(ies).” In: José Antonio Gurpegui and M. Gómez Calisteo, M. (eds.): Interpreting the New “Milenio”. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholar Press, 2008, p. 81-86. Reinhold Münster Abenteuer erleben auf dem Camino de Santiago: Das Sachbuch als Bestseller 1 Vom Wesen des Pilgerns und der spätmittelalterlichen Pilgerfahrt nach Santiago Alle großen Religionen, aber auch viele kleine Denominationen und Sekten üben die Praxis der Pilgerreise und der Wallfahrt. So entwickelte sich eine spezielle Leserschicht für Bücher über die Erfahrungen der Pilgerfahrten, doch dies allein reicht nicht aus zur Erklärung, warum aus einigen der Bücher Bestseller wurden. Wann und warum es zur Herausbildung von Bestsellern zur spirituellen Reise auf dem Weg nach Santiago kam, soll - in Umrissen - nun untersucht werden. Aufschlussreich sind schon die Worte: Der „Pilger“ leitete sich aus dem kirchenlateinischen „peregrinus“ (Wanderer, Fremder, Ausländer) ab, die „Wallfahrt“ hatte bei Martin Luther die Bedeutung von „sich drehen,” „wenden,” „herumschweifen“ angenommen. 1 Schon in der antiken Welt versprach die Pilgerfahrt Abenteuer und Unterhaltung, aber auch Antworten auf die Sinnfragen des Lebens. Im antiken Dodona, dem Heiligtum des Zeus, wurde auf einem Bleitäfelchen aus der Zeit 500 v. Chr. die spannende Frage gestellt, welche Frau zu heiraten sei. 2 Es entwickelte sich ein spezifischer Tourismus in der Alten Welt hin zu den Orakelstätten und Heilorten der Götter: Eleusis, Epidauros, Pergamon, Therapion, Aigai. In der Tradition des antiken Heroenkultes kamen die christlichen Stätten (Jerusalem, Rom, Santiago) hinzu, noch später im Islam die Aufforderung Mohammeds, einmal im Leben Medina und Mekka aufzusuchen. Entscheidend war, dass die Reise in die Ferne ging und somit eine große Distanz überwunden werden musste. Man verließ die Sicherheit der Familie, die vertraute Umgebung, man wurde heimatlos, ein Fremder. Doch die Pilgerfahrt war immer ein Rundwanderweg, da man in die Heimat zurückkehrte und ausführlich berichten konnte, vor allem von den Gefahren und Begebenheiten des Reisens. Da waren reale Gefahren: ungesundes und krankmachendes Essen, Durst und Hunger, eine hohe Kriminalität auf dem 1 Jakob und Wilhelm Grimm: Deutsches Wörterbuch, Digitale Ausgabe, Frankfurt: Zweitausendeins, 2004. 2 Marie Francois Baslez: „Den Göttern nahe kommen. In: Welt und Umwelt der Bibel 3 (2014), S. 22‒27, S. 25. Abenteuer erleben auf dem Camino de Santiago 135 Weg, die Versuchungen durch die ortsfesten und vagierenden Prostituierten, die verlausten Unterkünfte und habgierige Wirte, fehlende Spiritualität und dergleichen mehr. Gerade über diese Punkte klagten die Reisenden auf dem Weg nach Santiago im Spätmittelalter. Arnold von Harff, der auch Jerusalem, Kairo und Rom aufgesucht hatte, beschwerte sich 1498 massiv über die kriminellen Spanier; das frühe Liber Sancti Jacobi, vor 1150 geschrieben, klagte über die Hurerei auf dem Weg; Künig von Vach (1495) kämpfte als Mönch mit den Tücken des Alltags. Von Compostela nahmen wir den Weg zurück, den wir dorthin gezogen waren bis nach Burgos durch León, wo uns großer Frevel von den Spaniern widerfuhr, da sie zwei unserer Pilger zu Tode schlugen und meinen Diener und andere unter Stößen und Schlägen ergriffen; doch Gott half mir und einem Begleiter, zu Fuß zu entkommen, und so liefen wir Tag und Nacht bis nach Burgos. […] Darum ist diese Pilgerreise wie geschaffen für jenes Gesindel, das bei uns zu Lande gestohlen, Totschlag verübt, seine Herrn ruiniert oder verraten hat. 3 Ebenso treffe der Bann die Wirtsmägde, die sich aus Hurerei und Geldgier auf teuflisches Geheiß nachts den Pilgerbetten zu nähern pflegen. Die Dirnen, die aus diesem Grund zwischen der Miño-Brücke und Pals del Rey an waldreichen Orten den Pilgern häufig entgegentreten, müssen nicht nur exkommuniziert, sondern von allen geplündert und durch Abschneiden der Nase öffentlich geächtet werden. Einzeln pflegen sie sich immer einem einzelnen darzubieten. 4 dannach musst du fünf Meilen Weges gehen Auf dem Wege findest du weder zu Trinken noch zu Essen Deine Flasche und Sack sollst du nicht vergessen Und sollst dich mit Wein und Brot wohl beladen Für wahr es bringt dir keinen Schaden Du findest wohl zwei oder drei Tavernen Sie geben aber den armen Brüdern nicht gern du findest bisweilen grausame Heiden. 5 „Sex and Crime“ interessierten schon damals die Leser der Reiseberichte. Zugleich lieferten diese als Itinerarien zahlreiche Informationen zum Weg, zu Unterkünften, zu Gasthöfen und der Sicherheit des Weges. Künig von 3 Arnold von Harff: Rom, Jerusalem, Santiago. Das Pilgertagebuch des Ritters Arnold von Harff (1496-1498), hrsg. Helmut Brall-Tuchel und Folker Reichert. Köln: Böhlau, 2008. S. 248. 4 Der Jakobsweg. Mit einem mittelalterlichen Pilgerführer unterwegs nach Santiago de Compostela, hrsg. Klaus Herbers. Tübingen: Narr, 1986, S. 73. 5 Hermann Künig von Vach: Die walfahrt und Straß zu sant Jacob, Pilgerführer nach Santiago de Compostela (1495), hrsg. Ludwig Hengstmann. Solingen: Nink, 1998, S. 24. Reinhold Münster 136 Vach soll hier nochmals als Beispiel genügen, auch wenn seine Meilenangaben ziemlich phantasievoller Natur waren. Danach hast du 7 Meilen nach Bern danach 3 Meilen in einer Stadt ist Fryburg genannt die ist gelegen in Uchtelant Die aber liegt abenteuerlich und hat einen Turm & ist schön danach hast du 7 Meilen nach Merdon. 6 Neben den Sensationen erotischer und aufregender Abenteuer gab es zwei weitere Gründe für die Wallfahrt. Normalerweise gelten Gottheiten als ubiquitär, doch sie „erschienen“ ortsgebunden. In der Antike reiste man nach Kourion und Paphos, um der an dieser Stelle schaumgeborenen Aphrodite Verehrung und Weihegaben zu bringen und die dortigen Fruchtbarkeitskulte auszuüben. Homer berichtete, dass Odysseus nach Dodona reiste, um aus Kronions Eiche dessen Willen zu vernehmen. 7 Zugleich entstanden Kultstätten, an welchen Reliquien, die als wundertätig angesehen wurden, verehrt wurden. Santiago de Compostela war ein solcher Ort, wie Arnold von Harff recht skeptisch anmerkte. Man sagt, dass der Leichnam des Apostels St. Jakobus des Älteren in dem Hochaltar sein oder liegen sollte. Viele streiten das offen ab, da er zu Toulouse im Languedoc liegt, wovon ich zuvor geschrieben habe. Doch ich verlangte mit einem erheblichen Betrag, dass man mir den heiligen Körper zeigen möge. Man gab mir zur Antwort, wer nicht wirklich glaube, dass der heilige Körper St. Jakobs des älteren Apostels in dem Hochaltar liege und daran zweifele, dass der Körper dort sein werde, der müsse von Stund an verrückt werden wie ein tollwütiger Hund. Damit hatte ich Auskunft genug […]. 8 Orte dieser Art werden heute als Erinnerungsorte bezeichnet, wobei die Erinnerungen durch die konkret verehrten Reliquien bis in die Gegenwart hineinreichen. Ein Vergleich zwischen dem Liber Sancti Jacobi und dem Reisebericht von Hape Kerkeling aus postmoderner Feder erklärt das Phänomen genauer. Mit übermäßiger Freude bewundert man die große Schar der Pilger, die beim ehrwürdigen Altar des hl. Jakobus Nachtwache hält: Die Deutschen weilen auf der einen Seite, die Franken auf der anderen, die Italer schließlich auf der dritten; sie halten Kerzen in den Händen, so dass die ganze Kirche wie durch die Sonne an einem hellen Tag erstrahlt. Nur mit seinen Landsleuten vollzieht jeder die Nachtwache. Manche spielen Leier, Lyra, Pauke, Quer- und 6 Vach 1998, S. 15. 7 Homer, Odyssee, 14. Gesang. 8 Harff 2008, S. 247. Abenteuer erleben auf dem Camino de Santiago 137 Blockflöte, Posaune, Harfe, Fiedel, brittische oder gallische Rotta; manche singen während der Nachtwache von Psalterien oder anderen Musikinstrumenten begleitet; manche bedauern ihre Sünden, lesen Psalmen oder geben den Blinden Almosen. Man hört dort die verschiedensten Sprachen, verschiedene Stimmen in fremden Sprachen, Gespräche und Lieder der Deutschen, Engländer, Griechen und der anderen Stämme und Völker auf dem gesamten Erdkreis. Es gibt weder Worte noch Sprachen, in denen ihre Stimme nicht erschallt. Die Vigil des Jakobsfestes wird dort nachdrücklich gefeiert, manche kommen, manche gehen und opfern verschiedene Gaben. Wer traurig herkommt, zieht froh zurück. Dort werden die Feierlichkeiten stets eifrig begonnen, das Fest vorbereitet, die berühmten Riten Tag und Nacht vollzogen; Lob, Jubel, Freude und Preis gemeinsam gesungen. Alle Tage und Nächte gleichen einem ununterbrochenen Fest in steter Freude zur Ehre des Herrn und des Apostels. Die Türen dieser Basilika bleiben Tag und Nacht unverriegelt, und die Dunkelheit kehrt doch niemals ein, weil sie durch das helle Licht der Kerzen und Fackeln wie am Mittag leuchtet. Dorthin begeben sich Arme, Reiche, Räuber, Reiter, Fußgänger, Fürsten, Blinde, Gelähmte, Wohlhabende, Adlige, Herren, Vornehme, Bischöfe, Äbte, manche barfuß, manche mittellos, andere aus Gründen der Buße mit Eisen beladen. 9 Während der gloriosen Messe werden von einer Nonne an die hundert Neuankömmlinge begrüßt: …und wir heißen willkommen eine Neuseeländerin aus Wellington, eine Engländerin aus Liverpool und einen Deutschen aus Düsseldorf. Alle drei sind von Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in Frankreich hierher gelaufen und haben heute ihre Pilgerreise beendet! ‘ Wir kommen uns vor wie im Jenseits und wohnen gewissermaßen unserer eigenen festlichen Bestattung bei. Mit heißroten Backen und den schweren Rücksäcken stehen wir freudig erschöpft da. 10 Hier könnte von dem Phänomen der A-Chronie gesprochen werden und von einer Überlagerung von Raum und Zeit. Im christlichen Sinn: Wenn Jesus verkündete, dass das Reich Gottes auf Erden schon angebrochen sei, dann sollte es Orte geben, an welchen genau das erfahrbar und erlebbar wäre. Dann wären Himmel und Erde in Berührung miteinander. Das Grab des Apostels Jakobus erwies sich für die beiden Pilger, den Mönch des Liber und Kerkeling, über die Zeit von 500 Jahren hinweg, als ein Ort eines ewigen Gottesdienstes, als ein Vorschein auf das Himmlische Jerusalem, das die biblische Apokalypse versprochen hatte. Darin lag der literarische und mentalitätsgeschichtliche Mehrwert der Wallfahrt im Vergleich zu einer normalen 9 Liber 1986, S. 61. 10 Hape Kerkeling: Ich bin dann mal weg. Meine Reise auf dem Jakobsweg. München: Malik, 2006, S. 340 Reinhold Münster 138 Reise und Reisebeschreibung: Man erlebte am Ende - hoffentlich - eine neue Gemeinschaft von Menschen, die das bisherige Leben aufgab und zumindest zeitweise während der Wanderung ein anderes, spirituelles Leben führte. Zum Kennzeichen des anderen Status trug man Pilgergewänder und entsprechende Symbole (Jakobsmuschel). Am Ende erhoffte man sich Heilung, körperlich und geistig, innere Ruhe, Selbstfindung, die Klärung der Frage nach dem Sinn und der Zukunft des Lebens. Der Pilger wurde zum Außenseiter der Gesellschaft und blieb ihr doch verbunden. Das bot die Gelegenheit zur Gesellschafts- und Zivilisationskritik. 2 Die Bedeutung des Kultes um den Heiligen Jakobus Die Reisebücher unterstrichen die Bedeutung des Kultes von Santiago. In der katholischen Christenheit zählte Santiago de Compostela neben Jerusalem und Rom zu den bedeutendsten Wallfahrtsorten. Im Jahr 637 eroberten die Araber Jerusalem und erzeugten einen Jahrhunderte andauernden Kampf um den Zugang zur Stadt, die bis dahin als der heiligste Ort der Christenheit angesehen wurde und nun nur unter größeren Gefahren erreichbar war. Das Heiligtum in Santiago erlebte eine erste Blüte im 9. Jahrhundert. 11 Karl der Große habe im Traum den Auftrag erhalten, das Grab des Apostels zu verehren. Dies geschah im Kontext der Kämpfe gegen muslimische Truppen, die auch Nordspanien verwüsteten und plünderten. Immer wieder kam es zu Aufständen der christlichen Bevölkerung, immer wieder kam es zu Raub- und Vergeltungszügen durch die muslimische Herrschaft, besonders während der Regierung von Al-Mansur, der unter anderem Santiago plündern ließ (997). Er raubte die Kirchenglocken und verkaufte die Bürger der Stadt in die Sklaverei. Im Gegenzug entstand eine lange währende Reconquista, die erfolgreich mit der Eroberung von Valencia (1238) und 1492 mit der Vertreibung der Muslime aus Spanien beendet wurde. Spätestens nach der Schlacht von Clavijo (844) wurde Sankt Jakob zum Helfer der christlichen Ritter erhoben und erhielt den Beinamen des „Santiago Matamoros“ (Maurenschlächters). Im Jahr 1164 gründete Papst Alexander III. den „Orden von Santiago,” um die Kämpfer zu stärken und die Pilger zu betreuen. Das Petrusgrab in Rom trat in den Hintergrund der Wallfahrten, während Santiago zwischen dem 12. und 15. Jahrhundert eine Hochblüte erlebte. In dieser Zeit, vor allem in der Phase vor der Reformation in Europa, entstanden zahlreiche Reiseberichte von Pilgern, die von ihren Erfahrungen und Erlebnissen, aber auch sachlich von den Umständen der Wallfahrt erzählten und die zu Bestsellern in einem besonderen Sinn wur- 11 Eine kleine Einführung in die Geschichte der Pilgerfahrt nach Santiago bietet Klaus Herbers 1986: S. 7-52.. Abenteuer erleben auf dem Camino de Santiago 139 den. Es waren nicht die Abschriften und Kompilationen, die den Bestseller bestimmten, sondern die Vielzahl von unterschiedlichen Berichten, die verbreitet wurden und gemeinsam das Thema „Santiago“ popularisierten. 12 Der Herbst des Mittelalters und der Frühling der Renaissance veränderten das Verhältnis zur Heiligenverehrung. Die politischen, sozialen, mentalen und wissenschaftlichen Umwälzungen in Europa und die Entdeckung Amerikas verringerten das Ansehen der traditionellen Pilgerorte. Die Fahrt nach Santiago verlor massiv an Bedeutung. Martin Luther machte sich darüber lustig in seiner Schrift Discrimen veri ac falsi. Über den Apostel Jakobus und seine wundersame Reise nach Santiago sagte er: Wie er in Hispaniam kommen ist gen Compostel, da die groß walfahrt hin ist, da haben wir nu nichts gewiss von dem: etlich sagen, er lieg in Frankreich zu Thalosa [Toulouse], aber sy seind jrer sach auch nit gewiss. Darumb lass man sy ligen und lauff nit dahin, dann man waisst nit ob sant Jacob oder ain todter hund oder ein todts ross da liegt […] lass raisen wer da will, bleib du dahaim. 13 Selbst die offizielle katholische Kirche problematisierte nun die Pilgerfahrten. Und der Hauptgrund für die Heiligenverehrung in Spanien, die Reconquista, fiel weg, da sich das Land nun nach Südamerika orientierte und dort im Rahmen seiner Eroberungen einen neuen Kulturkampf begann. Erst im Rahmen der Gegenreformation gewann Santiago ein wenig an Bedeutung zurück, da das Konzil von Trient (1562) die Wallfahrt in ihrer Echtheit bestätigte. Mentalitäten ändern sich - so auch in diesem Fall: An die Stelle des kämpferischen Apostels trat in Spanien und Europa die kämpferische, vermittelnde und liebende Jungfrau Maria in ihren vielen Gestalten und Erscheinungen. Doch mit der Zahl der Pilger sank auch die Zahl derjenigen, die über ihre Pilgerfahrt schrieben. 12 Schon das Liber Sancti Jacobi war am Ende eine Kompilation unterschiedlicher Fassungen und Texte vor allem französischer Herkunft. Zu Künig von Vach ließen sich für die Forschung zwischen 1495 und 1521 immerhin fünf verschiedene Drucke nachweisen; von Arnold von Harff gab es nur wenige Abschriften in dieser Zeit. Weitere Berichte von: Peter Reiter (1428/ 1432 in Santiago), Sebastian Ilsung (1446), Ludwig von Diesbach (1447/ 52), Niklas Lankmann von Falkenstein (1451/ 52), Georg von Ehingen (1454/ 59), Sebald Rieter d. Ä. (1462), Heinrich Dunkelgud (1479), Nikolaus von Popplau (1483/ 86), Hieronymos Münzer (1494/ 95), Gerdt Helmich (Anf. 16. Jh.), Herzog Heinrich der Fromme von Sachsen (1506), Peter Rindfleisch (1506/ 07), Sebald Örtel (1521/ 22), Heinrich Schönbrunner (1531) und aus Böhmen Leo von Rozmital (1465/ 67). Bibliographie hierzu: Werner Paravivini: Europäische Reiseberichte des späten Mittelalters. Eine analytische Bibliographie. Vol. 1. Deutsche Reiseberichte, Christian Halm (bearb.), Frankfurt a. M.: Peter Lang, 2001. Einige Texte stellten vor: Klaus Herbers und Robert Plötz: Nach Santiago zogen sie. Berichte von Pilgerfahrten ans ‚Ende der Welt‘. München: dtv, 1996. 13 Zitiert nach Herbers 1986, S. 11. Reinhold Münster 140 Während des Spanischen Bürgerkrieges erklärte General Francisco Franco 1937 den 25. Juli (Schlacht von Brunete) zum nationalen Feiertag und erhob Jakobus Major zum Nationalheiligen Spaniens, um die Verbindung von Kirche und Diktatur zu festigen. Das spanische Tourismusministerium bewarb von nun an mit geringem Erfolg die Pilgerfahrt. Erst um die Wende zum 21. Jahrhundert nahm das Interesse an den Pilgertouren nach Santiago wieder Fahrt auf. Ältere Pilgerführer und Reisebeschreibungen wurden neu aufgelegt oder ediert, Sammel- und Bildbände überschwemmten die europäischen Buchhandlungen, ernsthafte Reisebeschreibung und Kunstführer begleiteten die Pilger auf dem Camino de Santiago. Der Weg wurde in allen Schattierungen erkundet: der Camino primitivo (ab Ovieto) als „Urweg”, der klassische Camino francés, der Weg durch die Bretagne, der Weg am Rhein oder in Süddeutschland, der Weg in Österreich und Slowenien, der Weg in Südtirol, der Weg aus Südspanien, aus Portugal etc. Die wissenschaftliche Forschung griff ebenfalls die Thematik auf. 14 Es waren vier Bücher, die den Weg auf die aktuelle Agenda für Pilger und Sinnsucher setzten: Paulo Coelho mit Auf dem Jakobsweg. Tagebuch einer Pilgerreise nach Santiago de Compostela/ O Diario De Um Mago von 1987, Shirley MacLaine mit Der Jakobsweg. eine spirituelle Reise/ The Camino - A Journey of the Spirit von 2001, Cees Nooteboom mit Der Umweg nach Santiago/ De omweg naar Santiago von 1992 und für den deutschsprachigen Raum Hape Kerkeling mit Ich bin dann mal weg. Meine Reise auf dem Jakobsweg von 2006. Alle vier Bücher erzielen bis heute noch sehr hohe Auflagen im Bereich von mehreren Millionen verkauften Exemplaren, wurden in zahlreiche Sprachen übersetzt und anderweitig vermarktet (CD, Film). Das führte zu einem Boom auf dem Camino de Santiago, im Jahr 2007 machten sich 14.000 Pilger allein aus dem deutschsprachigen Raum auf den Weg. Im Jahr 1987 betrug die Zahl aller Pilger, die in Santiago ankamen, 3000; im Jahr 2007 lag sie bei 114.000. 15 Die offizielle Politik reagierte auf das Bedürfnis der Wanderer: 1987 ernannte der Europarat den Weg zur „Europäischen Kulturstraße“; die UNESCO erklärte 1993 den Weg zum Weltkulturerbe und nahm 1998 den Camino francés darin auf. 3 Transformierte Spiritualität in der Postmoderne Paulo Coelho hielt sich für längere Zeit in Spanien auf und verfasste Romane, die eine Mischung aus Mittelalter, Okkultismus (Lehren vom Bösen, die 14 Hier wären die Arbeiten von Klaus Herbers zu nennen, aber auch Norbert Ohler: Pilgerleben im Mittelalter, Zwischen Andacht und Abenteuer. Freiburg: Herder, 1994. 15 Isabel Gutiérrez Köster: „Die neuen Reisenden.” Berta Raposo, Isabel Gutiérrez (eds.), Bis an den Rand Europas. Frankfurt: Vervuert, 2011, S. 347-397, S. 374. Abenteuer erleben auf dem Camino de Santiago 141 nur clandestin weitergegeben werden können) und Elementen des literarischen Kitsches darstellten. Er soll 1986 eine Wanderung auf dem Camino francés unternommen haben, die in Tagebuchform als „Pilgerführer“ vermarktet wurde. Die erzählte Geschichte mischte den Abenteuerroman (Schauerroman) mit einer phantastischen Erzählung okkulter Vorstellungen. Ein Meister des Ordens R.A.M. sollte dem Helden ein magisches Schwert für seine zukünftige Aufgabe als Führungspersönlichkeit verleihen. 16 Doch während der Zeremonie verweigerte der Ordensleiter seinem Adepten die neue Würde. Dies begründete die Notwendigkeit einer neuen „Quest,” einer Suche nach dem wahren Schwert. Coelho wurde auf den Weg nach Santiago verwiesen, um sich auf diesem zu vervollkommnen. Der Weg changierte zwischen zwei Welten, die auf ein gnostisches Grundmodell verwiesen: Der Weg heute in seiner industriellen Scheußlichkeit und menschlichen Indifferenz und der okkulte Weg, auf dem das Selbst sich reinigte und die dunklen Mächte der Erde und der Überwelt siegreich bekämpfte. Hilfreich stand Coelho der von R.A.M. gesandte Seelenführer Petrus zur Seite, der ihm die Entdeckung der eigenen Kräfte und die Selbsterkenntnis ermöglichte; als Versucher fand sich eine große Zahl an Dämonen, die ihn vom Weg abbringen und unterwerfen wollten. Durch verschiedene Exerzitien und magische Praktiken gelangte der Held der Wanderung am Ende an sein Ziel und erlangte das magische Schwert, um damit erneut auf weitere Wege der Vervollkommnung und Selbstfindung aufzubrechen. Ein esoterisch-„mittelalterlicher“ Katholizismus, die Lehren der Gnosis und des europäischen Okkultismus der 1880er Jahre sowie das Vorbild des Don Juan des Carlos Castañeda verwoben sich und tauchten den Weg nach Santiago in ein magisches Licht. Der Reisebericht von Cees Nooteboom legte die Erfahrungen des Aufenthaltes in Spanien zwischen 1981 (Ankunft in Barcelona) bis 1992 (Ankunft in Santiago) zugrunde. Auch sein Weg nach Santiago sollte eine Suche sein. 17 Spanien wurde zur Metapher der eigenen Seele, zur Landkarte des inneren Geschehens des Reisenden, die diesem als Labyrinth erschien. Er entschied sich für Umwege, da er den Ausgang aus dem Irrgarten der eigenen Gedanken und Empfindungen nicht finden konnte. Der Weg nach Santiago sollte so eine reale Reise sein, eigentlich aber eine Reise in die Innenwelt, sollte die Antwort auf die Frage nach dem Sinn des eigenen Daseins und die Begegnung mit dem Transzendenten ermöglichen. Vergangenheit und Gegenwart verschmolzen zu einem Strom des Bewusstseins im Autor, der sich in die historische Vergangenheit und das Leben schon lange verstorbener Menschen versenkte, um „das Ganze“ zu umfassen und die 16 Paulo Coelho: Auf dem Jakobsweg. Tagebuch einer Pilgerreise nach Santiago de Compostela. Zürich: Diogenes, 1999, S. 13-17. 17 Cees Nooteboom: Der Umweg nach Santiago. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1992, S. 8. Reinhold Münster 142 Sehnsucht nach Totalität zu befriedigen. Das Selbst oszillierte zwischen Kunst und realem Leben, zwischen den Zeugen der Vergangenheit und einer Gegenwart, die einer deutlichen Kulturkritik unterzogen wurde. Der Weg nach Santiago wirkte als seelischer Katalysator für diesen Selbstfindungsprozess und zugleich als Spiegel einer komplexen, unüberschaubaren Realität. Shirley MacLaine klagte auf dem Weg über die ständige Anwesenheit von zudringlichen Paparazzi, die sie beständig an die Realität der Gegenwart erinnerten und eine totale Versenkung in die magische Welt des Weges nach Santiago verhinderten. Ihr ging es um die Suche nach dem „Geist,” dem eigenen und dem der höheren Wirklichkeiten, wobei sie Elemente der unterschiedlichsten Esoterik der Zeit seit 1880 bis heute einfließen ließ. 18 Sie huldigte der Theorie der „Kette der Wesen,” wobei selbst die Steine noch Anteile des Geistigen in sich tragen sollten, sah die Erde als großen Elektromagneten an, durch welchen spirituelle Energien gebündelt werden sollten, nahm Anleihen bei gnostischen Lehren und einem kruden Neuplatonismus, schwor auf die Ley-Linien der Geomantik, wurde in das Land „Lemuria“ (Atlantis) entrückt, traf auf dem Pilgerweg auf Trolle und Feen, und vermeinte, dass der Camino de Santiago schon in keltischer Zeit nach Finisterre (Ende der Welt) geführt habe, wo eine magische Quelle des Verstehens der Welt und ihr Ursprung liegen müsse. Dies alles vermischte sie mit erotischen Phantasien und Erlebnissen, mit einer oberflächlichen Kritik an der gegenwärtigen Zivilisation und Kultur. Als Heldin ihrer eigenen Suche schwankte sie zwischen dem Luxushotel mit edlen Weinen, der Armut im Pilgerhospiz und dem Dreck auf den Feldwegen, an welchen sie ebenfalls nächtigte, um der Macht der Medien zu entkommen. Während der Wanderung versank sie nach und nach in den Parallelwelten der Vergangenheit und der Gegenwart, in den Erinnerungen an historische Zeiten, die sie in anderen Körpern durchlebt habe. Die Realität wurde allumfassend wahrgenommen. Ihre Botschaft klang dabei recht simpel: Friede, Freude, nicht jedoch Eierkuchen für alle. Nach dieser Harmonie strebten nach ihrer Ansicht alle Menschen, doch diese sei nur in der Aufhebung von Raum und Zeit, in der Rückkehr zum Ursprung zu finden. Der Camino de Santiago überlagerte sich beständig mit den esoterischen Phantastereien der Wanderin, die auf der Suche nach ihrem multidimensionalen Selbst war. Der Band von MacLaine regte Hape Kerkeling an, ebenfalls den Weg zu gehen. Auch für diesen Autor spielte der Heilige in Santiago keine Rolle, er betrachtete den Weg als Ziel. Sein Pilgerweg sollte als Parabel seines Lebensweges gedeutet werden. 19 Der Weg der Selbstfindung und Selbstbesin- 18 Shirley MacLaine: Der Jakobsweg. Eine spirituelle Reise. München: Goldmann, 2001, S. 7. 19 Kerkeling 2006, S. 342. Erstauflage. Der Druck von 2008 war schon die 65. Auflage. Abenteuer erleben auf dem Camino de Santiago 143 nung - nach einer erlittenen Krankheit - sollte beschritten werden. Die Suche ereignete sich außerhalb des gewohnten, modernen Großstadtlebens. Wünsche nach Exotik, nach Leben in der Wildnis und Verwilderung deuteten sich an, zugleich blieb der Pilger der modernen Welt (Hotelunterbringung und Wanderausrüstung) verpflichtet. Schnell setzten Prozesse der Desillusion ein: Das Bild im Wanderführer, den Kerkeling zur Information mitgenommen hatte, entsprach nicht der Wirklichkeit des Weges. Statt einer grandiosen Gebirgslandschaft, die eine große Magie versprechen sollte, traf der Wanderer auf Nebel, Regen und eine alle Knochen durchdringende Kälte. Die Pilgerhospize erschreckten ob ihrer Primitivität. Immer wieder machte sich der Humor des TV-Komikers bemerkbar, der die Fähigkeit mitbrachte, sich selbst ironisch über die Schulter zu blicken. Das ermöglichte einen anderen Blick - den aus einer gewissen Distanz, der die Fallhöhe menschlicher Schwächen, der eigenen und derjenigen der anderen, bilanzieren konnte. Daraus entstand ein verschmitztes Lachen. Tragödien - Kerkeling wurde von einer Horde Jugendlicher als Mordopfer auserkoren - verwandelten sich in Komödien. Fein unterschied Kerkeling zwischen der vorhandenen Kultur auf dem Weg und der fehlenden Zivilisation der Einwohner der Dörfer und Städtchen sowie der Pilger. Öde Industriegebiete, dreckige Restaurants und Bars, die Attentate der ETA, die Niveaulosigkeit der TV-Sendungen in Spanien, die egomanen, geschwätzigen und nachts schnarchenden Pilger, die heuchlerisch ihre „Sünden“ büßten, die Horde der Bekloppten, die sich den Pilgerweg zur Selbstverwirklichung ausgesucht hatte, all dies machte den Weg zu einer abschreckenden Herausforderung. Zugleich jedoch bot die Entfremdung vom Alltag und dieser abstoßenden Umgebung Einsichten in das Selbst, ermöglichte die Verbundenheit mit frommen Pilgern der Vergangenheit, die persönliche Veränderung und am Ende gar die Suche nach dem Göttlichen. Der Prozess der Selbstfindung öffnete einen neuen Weg - den zur Freundschaft. Der Weg der Paradoxien der Moderne endete mit der Entdeckung essentieller Elemente menschlichen Daseins. In der Kathedrale von Santiago blitzte die Möglichkeit einer Versöhnung der Welten auf: Hier hoben sich für einen Moment Raum und Zeit auf während der Erfahrung der „Gemeinschaft der Heiligen.” Kerkeling kehrte als veränderter Mensch in die Welt der Moderne zurück; seine Auszeit (time out) hatte ihm „Heilung“ und die Beantwortung nach der Frage des persönlichen Lebenssinns gewährt. 4 Das Reisebuch als Sachbuch Als Sachbücher gelten Publikationen, die neue Fakten aus unterschiedlichen Bereichen der Gesellschaft aufgreifen und für interessierte Leser - meist Reinhold Münster 144 leicht verständlich - darstellen. 20 Das Sachbuch differenzierte sich nicht nur in kleine Gattungen, sondern auch hinsichtlich der Art der Darstellung und der Intentionen der Autoren. 21 Für die literaturwissenschaftliche Forschung begann die Geschichte des Sachbuchs mit dem Band des Kaffeerösters H. E. Jacobs, Sage und Siegeszug des Kaffees (1934); die Erforschung setzte zögerlich um 1960 ein. Doch könnte auch die These vertreten werden, dass das Sachbuch schon in der Alten Welt seinen Platz in der Gesellschaft gefunden hatte. 22 Es wäre auf Vergils Dichtung Georgica oder den Agricola des Tacitus zu verweisen. Spätestens ab der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts gelangten Sachbücher in den Rang von Bestsellern. (Von Thomas B. Macaulays Geschichte Englands, wurden am Erscheinungstag des ersten Bandes (1849) 40.000 Stück, am Erscheinungstag des dritten Bandes (1855) 25.000 Exemplare verkauft und 11.000 vorbestellt. 23 ) Das Reisebuch wurde im deutschen Verlagswesen erst ab 1960 als Sachbuch eingestuft. 24 Hohen Zuspruch fanden in der Antike die Texte von Herodot (Historien), Pausanias (Beschreibung Griechenlands) oder von Tacitus (Germania). Den Siegeszug in Europa begann die Reisebeschreibung in der Zeit der Aufklärung. Ein Höhepunkt war der Band von Georg Forster (Reise um die Welt, 1778), ihm folgte Alexander von Humboldts Essayband Ansichten der Natur, 1808. Berühmt waren auch: Sven Hedin (Tibet, 1904; Von Pol zu Pol, 1911), Egon E. Kisch mit seinen zahlreichen Bänden vom Rasenden Reporter (ab 1925) oder John Reed mit 10 Tage, die die Welt veränderten (1919) und Thor Heyerdahl mit Kon-Tiki (1951). Für die Entwicklung und den Erfolg auf dem Buchmarkt wichtig dürften auch Reiseromane (Karl May und andere Autoren bis heute) gewesen sein. Der Pilgerführer und der dazu gehörende Reisebericht sollten als kleinere Gattung innerhalb der Gruppe der Sachbücher angesehen werden. Deren Wirkung wurde gesteigert durch die Möglichkeiten der Illustration und der Fotographie. 25 Manche von ihnen wurden 20 Otto Bantel: „Sachbuch,” Günter und Irmgard Schweikle (Hrsgg).: Metzler Literatur Lexikon. Bergriffe und Definitionen. Stuttgart: Metzler 1990, S. 403-404 . 21 Stephan Porombka: „Sachbücher und -texte,” Thomas Anz (Hrsg.): Handbuch Literaturwissenschaft, Bd. 2. Methoden und Theorien. Stuttgart: Metzler, 2007, S. 155‒160. 22 Bantel 1990, S. 404. 23 S. H. Steinberg: Die schwarze Kunst. München: Prestel, 1988, S. 428. 24 Zur Diskussion und Geschichte allgemein: Ulf Dietrichs: Annäherungen an das Sachbuch. Zur Geschichte und Definintion eines umstrittenen Begriffs. Berlin 2010 (www.sachbuch forschung-uni.mainz.de, Nr. 18); Michael Schikowski: Immer schön sachlich. Kleine Geschichte des Sachbuchs, 1870-1918 (www.sachbuchforschung-uni.mainz.de, Nr.23); David Oels: Was ein Sachbuch eigentlich ist… (www.sachbuchforschung-uni.mainz.de, Nr. 20). 25 Martyn Lyons: Das Buch. Eine illustrierte Geschichte. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg, 2012; Martin Parr and Gerry Badger: The Photobook. A History. 2 Vols. London: Phaidon, 2004, 2006; Michael Scholz-Hänsel (Hrsg.): Spanien im Fotobuch. Leipzig: Plöttner, 2007; Reinhold Münster: „Vision und Wirklichkeit. Deutsche Spanienreisende von der Jahrhundertwende bis zum Dritten Reich.” In: Raposo 2011, S. 275‒314 . Abenteuer erleben auf dem Camino de Santiago 145 nicht nur Bestseller, sondern auch Longseller/ Steadyseller oder gar Kultbücher. 26 5 Mögliche Gründe für den publizistischen Erfolg Das komparative Verfahren ergibt folgende Punkte der Gemeinsamkeit der beiden vorgestellten Epochen und Werke: In beiden Epochen dienten die Reiseberichte der Kritik an den gesellschaftlichen Zuständen der jeweiligen Gegenwart. Die Menschen suchten Alternativen, die ihnen die Auszeit der Pilgerfahrt anbot. Gerade die Erfahrung des „Anderen“ (A-Chronie als Beispiel, Identität von Raum und Zeit), die Begegnung mit dem Göttlichen und dem Transzendenten, die gesucht wurde, das Erleben von Abenteuern und anderen Sozialformen, zu welchen auch ein verändertes Liebesleben und die aufregende Begegnung mit sozialer Devianz gehörten, die Differenz zur Normalität, auch räumlich-zeitlich gesehen, den erkennenden Blick auf das eigene Leben, all dies teilten beide Literaturen. Diesen Faktoren dürfte auch ein hoher Prozentsatz für die Bestsellerwirkung zuzuschreiben sein. Auch die Tatsache, dass in dieser Form des Schreibens und Publizierens die Subjektivität eine wichtige Rolle spielte, gehört in dieses Set an Faktoren. Meist handelte es sich um eine Form der Autobiographie. Die Mehrheit der Reiseberichte definierte sich hierbei als Genus Mixtum, als Vereinigung von subjektiven und objektiven Elementen. 27 Einerseits boten sie Information zum Reiseweg, andererseits hielten sie mit subjektiven Wertungen und Erlebnissen nicht zurück. Die Berichte zu Santiago oszillierten zwischen Elementen des Faktischen und Fiktiven. Sie waren weder faktische Literatur, noch verstanden sie sich als fiktive Literatur und erzielten damit häufig ein hohes Niveau an Poetizität. Schon Horaz hatte vorgeschlagen: „aut prodesse volunt aut delectare poetae“/ „Die Dichter wollen nutzen und erfreuen.” 28 Die Fixierung auf die Ausdrucksästhetik im frühen 19. Jahrhundert und auf die Performanz zum Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts ließen diese Verfahren für die Postmoderne in den Hintergrund treten. Damit wäre die Frage nach der Relevanz der postmodernen Reiseberichte für das Thema angesprochen. Die erste Differenz zur mittelalterlichen Darstellung dürfte in einem entscheidenden Wandel der Werte liegen. Nicht mehr ein Gott erlöst den Menschen, sondern dieser erlöst sich selbst. Das 26 Hannes Fricke: „Bestseller.” In: Ralf Schnell (ed.): Metzler Lexikon Kultur der Gegenwart. Stuttgart: Metzler, 2000, pp. 60‒61; Christian Klein: Kultbücher. Theoretische Zugänge und exemplarische Analysen. Göttingen: Wallstein, 2014. 27 Anita Runge: „Literarische Biographik.” In: Christian Klein: Handbuch Biographie. Stuttgart: Metzler, 2009, S. 103‒112. 28 Horaz: Ars poetica. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1972, v.333. Reinhold Münster 146 Spiel des Als-Ob trat an die Stelle des Wunsches auf gesellschaftliche Veränderung. Im Spätmittelalter waren es religiöse Aussteiger, die auf die Revolutionierung der Gesellschaft abzielten. Dieser Aspekt verschwand in einer subjektiven Beliebigkeit der Ansichten, der Pluralisierung der Meinungen über die Welt. Jeder entwarf seine eigene Esoterik. Das Mittelalter erlebte in den letzten Jahren einen Boom, jedoch nicht in der Betrachtung seiner historischen Realität, sondern als Spiel. Mittelaltermärkte, Rittertourniere, Filme und Bücher - hier wäre auf die Erfolge von Dan Brown, Umberto Eco oder Ken Follett zu verweisen - florierten. Ganze Burganlagen und mittelalterliche Dörfer wurden und werden als Disneyland „rekonstruiert“ und durch Events belebt. Computerspiele förderten nicht nur den kindlichen Spieltrieb, sondern auch die Rekreation eines fiktiven Mittelalters. Die Reiseberichte der Postmoderne sprachen zwar über das Mittelalter, aber über ein fingiertes. Besonders Coelho und MacLaine strichen diese Elemente heraus. Der Mentalitätswandel bezog sich damit auch auf postmoderne Formen des Eskapismus. Wandern in einer medial anders konstruierten Natur, Auszeiten nehmen, aber im Notfall und bei Lust und Laune auf die Annehmlichkeiten der Zivilisation zurückgreifen zu können, das wären die Kennzeichen einer Postmoderne, die zwischen den eigenen Wünschen zerrissen wurde und ihre Paradoxe nicht lösen konnte. Die Reisenden sehnten sich in die Wildnis zurück - das war kein rousseauisches „Zurück zur Natur“ - und zugleich nahmen sie die Segnungen der Moderne gerne in Anspruch. Das war nicht eine einfache Zivilisations- und Kulturkritik, sondern auch der Wunsch nach dem völlig Anderen: der Auflösung der Widersprüche der modernen Welt. Hier versprachen die dargestellten Reisebeschreibungen Abhilfe. Der Lebenssinn sei auffindbar - wenn nur bestimmte Bedingungen und schlichte Vorstellungen, wie das „Sei du selbst“ oder „Der Weg ist das Ziel,” der Pilgerfahrt akzeptiert würden. Dazu riefen die Autoren die jeweils zurechtgebastelte Religion oder Esoterik zu Hilfe. Coelho und MacLaine geisterten wie Fantasyhelden durch die Landschaften Nordspaniens, mancher Autor von heute durchflog sie völlig losgelöst wie eine fensterlose Monade. 29 Nooteboom irrlichterte durch Spanien und scheiterte am Ende ganz postmodern mit seinem Versuch, das Unsichtbare zu erfahren und in sein Leben zu integrieren. Lediglich Kerkeling gelang die Quadratur des Kreises, indem er seinen Humor und Witz mit dem Ernst der Pilgerfahrt verband. Er konnte am Ende die positive Erfahrung der Freundschaft mit in die moderne Welt der europäischen Großstädte und Medien nehmen. 29 Philipp Winterberg: Jakobsweg im Smoking. Hamburg: Tredition, 2013. Abenteuer erleben auf dem Camino de Santiago 147 Bibliographie Anonym: Der Jakobsweg. Mit einem mittelalterlichen Pilgerführer unterwegs nach Santiago de Compostela, ed. Klaus Herbers. Tübingen: Narr, 1986. Otto Bantel: „Sachbuch.” In: Günter und Irmgard Schweikle (eds.): Metzler Literatur Lexikon. Begriffe und Definitionen. Stuttgart: Metzler 1990, S. 403-404. Marie Francois Baslez: „Den Göttern nahe kommen.” In: Welt und Umwelt der Bibel 3 (2014), S. 22-27. Paulo Coelho: Auf dem Jakobsweg. Tagebuch einer Pilgerreise nach Santiago de Compostela. Zürich: Diogenes, 1999. Ulf Dietrichs: Annäherungen an das Sachbuch. Zur Geschichte und Definintion eines umstrittenen Begriffs. Berlin 2010 (www.sachbuchforschung-uni.mainz.de. Nr. 18; Zugriff: 27.09.2014). Hannes Fricke: „Bestseller.” In: Ralf Schnell (Hrsg.): Metzler Lexikon Kultur der Gegenwart. Stuttgart: Metzler, 2000, S. 60-61. Jakob und Wilhelm Grimm: Deutsches Wörterbuch. Digitale Ausgabe. Frankfurt a. M.: Zweitausendeins, 2004. Isabel Gutiérrez Köster: „Die neuen Reisenden.” In: Berta Raposo und Isabel Gutiérrez (Hrsg.): Bis an den Rand Europas. Frankfurt a. M.: Vervuert, 2011, S. 347- 397. Arnold von Harff: Rom, Jerusalem, Santiago. Das Pilgertagebuch des Ritters Arnold von Harff (1496-1498). In: Helmut Brall-Tuchel und Folker Reichert (eds.): Köln: Böhlau, 2008. Klaus Herbers und Robert Plötz: Nach Santiago zogen sie. Berichte von Pilgerfahrten ans ‚Ende der Welt‘. München: dtv, 1996. Horaz: Ars poetica. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1972. Hape Kerkeling: Ich bin dann mal weg. Meine Reise auf dem Jakobsweg. München: Malik 2006. Christian Klein: Kultbücher. Theoretische Zugänge und exemplarische Analysen. Göttingen: Wallstein, 2014. Martyn Lyons: Das Buch. Eine illustrierte Geschichte. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg, 2012. Shirley MacLaine: Der Jakobsweg. Eine spirituelle Reise. München: Goldmann, 2001. Reinhold Münster: „Vision und Wirklichkeit. Deutsche Spanienreisende von der Jahrhundertwende bis zum Dritten Reich.” In: Berta Raposo und Isabel Gutiérrez (Hrsg.): Bis an den Rand Europas. Frankfurt a. M.: Vervuert, 2011, S. 275-314. Cees Nooteboom: Der Umweg nach Santiago. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 1992. David Oels: Was ein Sachbuch eigentlich ist… (www.sachbuchforschung-uni.mainz.de. Nr. 20. Zugriff: 27.09.2014). Norbert Ohler: Pilgerleben im Mittelalter, Zwischen Andacht und Abenteuer. Freiburg i. Br.: Herder, 1994. Werner Paravivini: Europäische Reiseberichte des späten Mittelalters. Eine analytische Biblio-graphie. Vol. 1. Deutsche Reiseberichte, Christian Halm (bearb.). Frankfurt a. M.: Lang, 2001. Martin Parr; Gerry Badger: The Photobook. A History. 2 Vols. London: Phaidon, 2004 Stephan Porombka: „Sachbücher und -texte.” In: Thomas Anz (Hrsg.): Handbuch Literaturwissenschaft, Vol. 2. Methoden und Theorien. Stuttgart: Metzler, 2007, S. 155-160. Reinhold Münster 148 Anita Runge: „Literarische Biographik.” In: Christian Klein: Handbuch Biographie. Stuttgart: Metzler, 2009, S. 103-112.Michael Schikowski: Immer schön sachlich. Kleine Geschichte des Sachbuchs, 1870-1918 (www.sachbuchforschung-uni.mainz.de. Nr.23. Zugriff: 27.09.2014) S. H. Steinberg: Die schwarze Kunst: 500 Jahre Buchwesen. Übersetzt von Johann Jakob Hässlin. 3. Aufl. München: Prestel, 1988. Hermann Künig von Vach: Die walfahrt und Straß zu sant Jacob, Pilgerführer nach Santiago de Compostela (1495), hrsg. Ludwig Hengstmann. Solingen: Nink, 1998 Philipp Winterberg: Jakobsweg im Smoking. Hamburg: Tredition, 2013. Eva Robustillo Bayón Female detectives in French contemporary crime fiction: Morvan, Parker-Simmons and Khan French crime literature is renowned around the world thanks to several authors whose novels have inspired masterpieces of the ‘seventh art’, such as Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, based on a text by Pierre Boileau’s and Thomas Narcejac’s originally called D’entre les morts (1954). Also important is Belgian author George Simenon’s series of novels, set in Paris and starred by Chief Inspector Maigret, which helped to project his own crime fiction universe. Other examples showcasing the success of French detective or crime fiction could be cited, all sharing a common trait - they feature only one type of main character: the male one. Thus, only male journalists, inspectors, and hard-boiled detectives are found in these texts. French crime literature shapes itself after the models widely present in the genre and, as it often happens in this kind of literature, male-centered models are dominant at least until the 1980s. Indeed, this is the date usually set by critics to mark the decade when female-authored crime novels began to be published more extensively and enjoyed a successful reception by readers. This fact holds true for Anglo-Saxon and other western literatures, but not for French ones, as Nicola Barfoot underlines: It seems that French women were doubly disadvantaged: when it came to writing about French crime fiction, women writers were overlooked in favour of men; when the subject was women’s crime fiction, French productions were overlooked in favour of English and American writers. 1 Therefore, and since the development of female protagonists in crime fiction appears to be linked to the arrival of female authors to the literary sphere at large, it could be noted that this kind of main character is developed later in French-written literature than in other western literatures. Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that the lack of female leaders in crime novels in France and other French-speaking countries cannot be attributed solely to the late arrival of women writers to the literary scene. Another important reason should also be accounted for: not all women authors decide to create leading female characters for their crime fiction texts. Such is the case of Fred Vargas (female! ), one of the most celebrated contemporary 1 Nicola Barfoot: Frauenkrimi / polar feminin: Generic Expectations and the Reception of Recent French and German Crime Novels by Women. Frankfurt a. M.: Peter Lang, 2007, p. 40. Eva Robustillo Bayón 150 French crime fiction writers, whose novels - translated into several languages including English - star Chief Inspector Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg and his murder squad. However, since Vargas’s protagonists are not women, we will turn our attention to three other successful best-selling authors whose series star female leads: Andrea H. Japp, Dominique Sylvain and Maud Tabachnik. In the following pages, I will present an analysis of three of their female protagonists or enquêtrices by highlighting their peculiarities so as to determine to what extent these characters can be considered as a narrative innovation, apart from the innovation by itself that a woman is featured as the main character in the French crime novel scene. 1 Andrea H. Japp’s Gloria Parker-Simmons Behind the pseudonym Andrea Japp hides Lionelle Nugon-Baudon, a researcher in toxicology who holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry. Japp is known in the field of literature as the translator into French of several of Patricia Cornwell´s crime detective stories, but more importantly for penning over 40 crime novels herself, which have also been translated into several languages, such as English, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. The female character I will focus on in this section is Parker-Simmons, a young lady who stars in five of Japp´s texts: La parabole du tueur (1996), Le sacrifice du papillon (1997), Dans l’oeil de l’ange (1998), La raison des femmes (1999) and Le ventre des lucioles (2001). The success of this series is demonstrated by the fact that all of these five texts have been brought out by at least two of France’s main publishing houses: Flammarion, J’ai lu, LGF (Livre Poche collection) and Éditions du Masque, which reissued four books under the new title, Intégrales Japp. Tome 1 (2000), even before the end of the series in 2001. Evidence of the international impact of Japp´s series is provided by their translations into other languages like Portuguese (O Sacrificio da Borboleta, [Le sacrifice du papillon], Lisboa, Editorial Presença, 1998). Critical works, among them Claude Mesplède’s Dictionnaire des Littératures Policières 2 , testify to the relevance of the character of Parker Simmons. Indeed, Mesplède´s analysis of this young lady takes up almost a whole column of text out of three he writes on Andrea H. Japp. From her very first appearance the reader can perceive that Parker-Simmons is created to unsettle the genre’s female stereotypes, usually related to the angel-demon dichotomy. In fact, Parker-Simmons’s characteristics sometimes point to the angelic representation of women (starting from her first name, i.e., Glory) and sometimes to the demonic one. 2 Claude Mesplède: Dictionnaire des littératures policières. Nantes: Joseph K, 2003, pp. 32‒ 33. Female detectives in French contemporary crime fiction 151 Indeed, she is, on the one hand, described as fragile, discreet and shy, fitting with the image of the “angel”-woman: she wears classic clothes and does not use any make-up, perfume or high-heeled shoes: Ni maquillage, ni parfum, ni talons sonores, ni bijou à l’exception de la traditionnelle petite paire de boucles d’oreilles en perle. 3 At any given time, agent Cagney feels fascinated by Parker-Simmons’s ability to blend into the background 4 . Her role as a mother and the lengths she goes to protect her child reinforce her angel-like features which could potentially place her inside this group of stereotyped women images. However, the combative attitude she displays in the five books - especially in Le Sacrifice du papillon, where her child’s life is seriously compromised - grants her a main role in the action, separating her from the inactive-woman image. On the other hand, and despite her desire to go unnoticed, the involuntary reaction she triggers in men could correspond to one of the defining features of the femme fatale stereotype: Ils étaient trois, trois spécimens que relativement peu de chose apparentait, perdus dans cet amour sans histoire, dans ce fantasme qui ne se nourrissait que de dérobades, de fuites, d’absence. 5 Three men are thus lost in this love without story: Cagney, Morris and Barzan. To agent Cagney, Parker-Simmons represents a mystery, the biggest one he has ever faced. At the end of the fifth novel, throughout which they work and even live together, he admits his inability to understand her, as he confesses to another male character: Lionel, mon métier, c’est l’esprit humain. Eh bien, je confesse que je ne comprends pas grand-chose à cette femme. 6 To Jude Morris, Cagney’s assistant, she becomes “une sorte de métaphore parfaite de la femme aimé,” 7 that is, a passionate idealization that leads Morris to use another female character as a double to pursue his fantasy. This is depicted in the text as a real sickness, 8 one that drives one crazy and leaves one exhausted, weak and starving, indicating that the desire will remain unsatisfied regardless of what one does. 3 Andrea H. Japp: La Parabole du tueur. Paris: LGF “Le Livre de Poche”, 2006, p. 29. 4 Andrea H. Japp: Le sacrifice du papillon. Paris: LGF “Le Livre de Poche”, 2004, p. 88. 5 Andrea H. Japp: Dans l’œil de l’ange. Paris: LGF “Le Livre de Poche”, 2004, p. 35. 6 Andrea H. Japp: Le Ventre des lucioles. Paris: J’ai Lu, 2005, p. 295. 7 Andrea H. Japp: Dans l’œil de l’ange, opus cit., p. 35. 8 “Peut-être Gloria avait-elle été pour lui une inévitable pathologie, une de ces fièvres sentimentales et charnelles qui vous assomment, vous font délirer, et vous laissent épuisé, affaibli, mais avec une faim de loup” (Andrea H. Japp: Le Sacrifice du papillon, opus cit., p. 142). Eva Robustillo Bayón 152 The third man obsessed with Parker-Simmons is Hugues de Barzan who, fascinated by his talented student, did not hesitate to favour her when he was her professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All three men are hopelessly in love with Parker-Simmons, who represents the inaccessibility and the incomprehension produced not only by difference but also by the intellectual challenge posed by any unknown being or object, as it can inferred from these words: S’il [Cagney] était si amoureux d’elle, si Morris et Barzan l’avait tant aimée, c’était précisément parce qu’elle était autre. L’homme veut toujours apprivoiser, réformer ce qu’il aime passionnément, précisément parce que cet objet de fascination est différent. 9 In light of what has been mentioned so far, I suggest that Parker-Simmons neither fully corresponds to the angel nor to the demon stereotype. Indeed, the features related to the femme fatale - such as the attraction men feel toward her, her active role in the plot, or the way she is sometimes described (for example, “joli petit monstre”) - are mixed with those that correspond to the opposite image of woman: her name, her aforementioned description as a discreet character and her lack of sexual activity, 10 all of which remove her far from the sphere of devil women. Therefore, this mixture and the duality that results from it could be seen as a way to unsettle stereotypes, since Parker-Simmons embodies all these traits as a new female protagonist. The last point that I would like to highlight is precisely the defining aspect that makes her so special and the reason why she stars in the novels: her exceptionally high IQ, which allows her to create a specific software capable of answering any question provided it is appropriately formulated. This pragmatic aspect has nothing to do with the superior intelligence of detectives such as Poe’s chevalier Dupin or Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. In fact, Parker-Simmons does not deduce what happened from the clues found in the crime scene. What she does is enter data into a computer after finding “le bon système d’expression.” 11 The complexity of this system is such that only Parker-Simmons herself can understand her own method: sitting in front of her computer, she is the only one able to decode the mystery. Every explanation of math theorems, chaos theory or the “situation poétique” 12 the narrator offers and which lies at the basis of each crime mystery contributes to drawing attention to this young lady’s enigmatic side. In 9 “If Cagney was so in love with her, if Morris and Barzan loved her so much, it was precisely because she was other. The man always wants to tame, remodel what he loves passionately, precisely because this objet of fascination is different” (Andrea H. Japp: La Raison des femmes. Paris: LGF “Le Livre de Poche”, 2000, p. 248). 10 “Toujours est-il que ma connaissance du sexe s’arrête avec la naissance de ma fille et cela me va très bien comme cela” (Andrea H. Japp: Dans l’œil de l’ange, opus cit., p. 263). 11 Andrea H. Japp: La Parabole du tueur, opus cit., p. 48. 12 Andrea H. Japp : Dans l’œil de l’ange, opus cit., p. 229. Female detectives in French contemporary crime fiction 153 fact, the solving process itself points into that direction too. Indeed, after entering the data, Parker-Simmons just needs to wait for the results to arrive. This process somehow involves math, the most abstract of sciences, without explaining the logic that leads to a conclusion, to the solution, in other words: to the name of the guilty. To put it differently, reason - in which positive knowledge is based - turns against itself. Thus, Japp presents us here with a major departure from what traditionally happens in crime novels, whose final chapter or section usually presents the explanation to every mystery. In Parker-Simmons’s series, we do get a result but it comes without the reader’s understanding the logical process behind it: she is the only one in possession of this knowledge, which makes her the holder of reason and logical mathematical thinking. Finally, to conclude with this character, I would like to underline two intertwined important aspects. Firstly, in this series Japp suggests a new way to investigate crime. Secondly, Japp also presents in these novels a clear innovation in the traditional system of characters in crime detective fiction, since Parker-Simmons challenges the stereotypical ways to represent women in this literature. 2 Dominique Sylvain’s Louise Morvan The second female lead I will deal with is Morvan, created by French writer Dominque Sylvain. Having started her professional life as a journalist, Sylvain is currently a full-time author residing in Tokyo. So far, she has published 16 crime novels that set up four main series. As it is explained on her publisher’s webpage, according to the Magazine littéraire, Dominique Sylvain is among the 50 authors that matter in France today. 13 In this section I will focus on the series that comprises the following seven titles: Baka! (1995), Sœurs de sang (1997), Travestis (1998), Techno Bobo (1999), Strad (2001, winner of the Michel Lebrun’s crime fiction award), La nuit de Geronimo (2009), Le roi Lézard (2012). Although Sylvain’s main publishing house remains Viviane Hamy, this series can also be found in pocket book editions brought out by other publishing houses such as J’ai lu and Points. Regarding reissues, Baka! was rewritten in 2007. Parallel to this, Travestis was ready for reprinting in 2012, but the novel went through so many modifications that Sylvain decided to rename it as Le roi Lézard. In the pages of Mesplède’s Dictionnaire, 14 we can find more information about Morvan and her relationship with other characters in the books, espe- 13 http: / / www.viviane-hamy.fr/ les-auteurs/ article/ dominique-sylvain-1295? lang=fr (last accessed on Feb. 10, 2015). Eva Robustillo Bayón 154 cially with inspector Clémenti. As for her international impact, Sylvain’s female protagonist has also become popular in other countries thanks to translations, for instance, into German: Blutsschwestern ([Soeurs de sang], Hamburg, Rotbuch-Verlag, 1998). As a character, Morvan could fit in what is usually known as the hardboiled pattern, firstly developed in American literature. This fact may further explain her links to Anglo-Saxon culture: born to an English mother, Morvan is also strongly influenced by the image of her dead maternal uncle, Julian Eden, from whom she inherits a detective agency. The genesis of Morvan’s adventures seems to echo PD James’ Cordelia Grey, however, the inherited agency is the only existing connection between them, since Grey was already fully trained as a detective, whereas Morvan abandons everything in order to build a new life from scratch. As far as her abilities as an investigator are concerned, Morvan - unlike Parker-Simmons - does not seem to have a clear and fixed research method, instead she follows what appear to be her intuitions, which are nevertheless based on her “esprit cartésien.” 15 Thus, intuition comes closer to being considered as a cognitive process based on science, which is often found in detective fiction from its origins, as Thomas Narcejac points out: Ce bond qui fait passer du domaine de l’expérience à celui de la loi, c’est l’intuition, et l’on sait quelle place l’intuition tient dans l’œuvre de Poe. 16 Therefore, at first sight, Morvan’s method is present in the foundational texts of detective fiction, but the evolution of this character throughout the novels shows us that her method is much more than just mere “intuition.” What puts her aside from other intuitive investigators is the fact that it is her dreams what often provides her with the key to solving the mystery. Let’s take only one example from Techno Bobo, the fourth novel in the series. In her dream, Morvan revives memories of a scene where Katia Pachenko, one of the victims, is dancing: Elle danse face à un homme dont on ne voit que la silhouette. Katia lui sourit, ne danse que pour lui. Véronique est là, ainsi que le voisin qui a un bas sur la tête comme un braqueur. Ils sont assis à une table. Le voisin se penche et dit à Louise : -Elle, elle est dans la lumière mais lui, il est à l’ombre. Il est à l’ombre. Il est à l’ombre. Cette phrase avait réveillé Louise. 17 14 Claude Mesplède: Dictionnaire des littératures policières, opus cit., pp. 846-848. 15 Dominique Sylvain: Baka! Paris: Viviane Hamy “Chemins Nocturnes”, 2007, p. 42. 16 Thomas Narcejac: Une machine à lire: le roman policier. Paris: Denoël and Gonthier, 1975, p. 37. 17 Dominique Sylvain: Techno bobo. Paris: J’ai Lu, 2002, p. 102. Female detectives in French contemporary crime fiction 155 On the one hand, in the dream the shadow represents a man, but we only perceive his silhouette. On the other, Véronique Étienne - the second victim - has been described as Pachenko’s shadow throughout the text. Therefore, the resulting equation allows us to make the connection between the shadow in the dream, a mysterious man, and Pachenko’s friend. Hence, the dream makes it possible to put on the same level Étienne’s figure and the silhouette of a man at the moment of the girls’ death, which actually provides, already on page 102, the key clue to solve a mystery explained more than two hundred pages later. Besides her crime-solving method, based on a mixture of intuition and unconscious dreams, Morvan´s description also contributes to portraying a female protagonist that, like Parker-Simmons, is beyond genre stereotypes. Apart from her high IQ, and at the express wish of the author, the reader does not learn many things about Morvan in the first novels: “Comme je voulais qu’elle plaise à tout le monde, je l’avais peu définie.” 18 In fact Baka! - the inaugural novel of the series - hardly contains any references to her descriptions, mainly because the text is narrated mostly from Morvan’s point of view, and only a few fragments offer an external vision of her. Nevertheless, it is one of these fragments that carry the idea that she does not fit into either of the traditional images of women. 19 For example, a male character remarks that she did not look like any women he had ever met before, to which the narrator adds: À y regarder de près, elle lui faisait penser à la belle vêtue de sa chevelure à qui des bourreaux coulaient de l’or dans la bouche. Elle avait un visage qu’on voit dans les livres, celui des madones des chrétiens. 20 The first image appears in a book on pictures of hell, which means that in just a few lines, the text identifies Morvan with both extreme representations of a woman: an angelic virgin and an evil woman being tortured. Like Parker-Simmons, Morvan challenges crime fiction female stereotypes. Even though she fits in the “hard-boiled” model, her originality resides in her “intuitive” method and in her mixed physical features, which prevent the reader from identifying her with any traditional angel-demon women images. 18 C. Dupuis: “Quelques mots de Dominique Sylvain” in L’Ours Polar, nº 15, 2001. 19 “Nikko était étonné. Cette fille ne ressemblait à aucune de celles qu’il avait connues.” Dominique Sylvain Baka ! opus cit., p. 90. 20 Ibidem. Eva Robustillo Bayón 156 3 Maud Tabachnik’s Sandra Khan French author Maud Tabachnik started her literary activity after a long career as a physiotherapist and an osteopath. She is the author of over 30 books, most of them crime novels. Her second title, Un été pourri (1994), was widely successful, thanks in great part to two reappearing characters: Sandra Khan and Sam Goodman. It is the female character Khan who will be at the centre of our analysis in the next few pages. Khan stars in five of Tabachnik´s novels: Le festin de l’araignée (1996), Gémeaux (1998), Le Tango des assassins (2000), J’ai regardé le diable en face (2005) and Désert Barbare (2011) and she is also featured in La mort quelque part (1995), albeit not as a main character. These texts have been printed by four different publishing houses (Viviane Hamy, Albain Michel, J’ai lu and LGF), a fact that would qualify them as bestsellers. Some of these titles have also been translated into other languages, such as German (Sommer der Rache [Un été pourri], Baden-Baden, Elster-Verlag, 1998) and Spanish (He visto al diablo de frente. Los crímenes de Ciudad Juárez, [J’ai regardé le diable en face] Madrid, Artime, 2006). Khan first appears in Un été pourri, where she plays a secondary role as a journalist inquiring about a series of crimes, the investigation of which is led by lieutenant-detective Sam Goodman. This novel became an immediate success. “Indeed, the nature of the crimes - emasculated men with their throats cut - had a big impact on readers, up to the point that Tabachnik was threatened: J’ai reçu sur mon répondeur exactement neuf messages dans lesquels des lecteurs me menaçaient des pires sévices à cause des crimes avec castration évoqués dans le livre. 21 At the end of the story, the reader learns that Khan is in fact one of the killers, taking revenge on her girlfriend’s murder. Khan is indeed a lesbian, a remarkable innovation in terms of female character construction in Frenchlanguage crime fiction, whereas lesbian PI´s had been featured in Anglo- Saxon crime literature already since the 1980s, as Reddy points out in “Women detectives,” where she analyses Katerine V. Forrest’s detective Kate Delafield. 22 In addition to being a woman and a lesbian, Khan is also Jewish, so her religion completes a list of features susceptible to attracting every fanatic’s 21 Maud Tabachnik: “Remarques sur la non-place des femmes dans le roman noir.” In : Claude Lanzmann (dir.): Les Temps Modernes, nº 595, 1997, pp. 122-129, here p. 126. 22 Maureen T. Reddy: “Women detectives.” In: Martin Priestman (ed.): The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 191‒207. Female detectives in French contemporary crime fiction 157 hate: “Femme, juive et lesbienne, chaque catégorie d’ “anti” pouvait s’y reconnaître.” 23 Regarding her physical features, the reader only has a few clues since, as it happened in Morvan’s texts, Tabachnik´s novels are narrated from Khan’s point of view. We just know that she is an attractive woman who looks like a well-known American singer and actress, who also happens to be Jewish: Elle était grande et mince, pas maigre, pleine au contraire, mais avec les creux où il fallait. Elle ressemblait comme deux pois à Barbra Streisand. 24 And even though Khan does not seem to care about her looks, male glances are proof of her attractiveness: Ils se retournent vers moi et me reluquent de haut en bas. Je ne porte pourtant pas des fringues à la Marilyn: pantalon large de toile légère, chemise ample, sandales, pas de quoi s’émoustiller. 25 As a PI, Khan comes close to the hard-boiled pattern but her strong sense of duty to provide truthful information guides her research method, based on standard journalism procedures and practices (questioning witnesses, talking to the authorities, exchanging information with her colleagues, etc.). However, the slowness and lack of clarity of the answers she gets make it necessary for her to obtain other pieces of information on her own, thus putting herself into dangerous situations. In fact, she sometimes investigates affairs that bother authorities, as in Le Tango des assassin, where she meets an anonymous Colonel who kidnaps her and warns her against looking for her girlfriend: Je voulais juste vous rencontrer pour vous conseiller de ne pas commencer une enquête qui ne vous mènera nulle part. 26 Thus, even if her research method may not come across as too original, both Kahn’s sexuality and the fact that she turns out to be a killer in her first appearance in the novels are authorial innovations turning her into a fresh character that unsettles traditional genre patterns. Conclusion To conclude, I would like to state that this analysis has revealed that Parker- Simmons, Morvan and Khan contribute to innovating the list of characters in the genre of the crime novel not only because those are female leaders, but also because they have been invested with new features, including their 23 Maud Tabachnik: Gemeaux. Paris: J’ai lu, 2006, p. 169. 24 Maud Tabachnik: Un été pourri. Paris: J’ai lu, 2006, p. 74. 25 Maud Tabachnik: Le festin de l’araignée. Paris: J’ai lu, 2007, p. 37. 26 Maud Tabachnik: Le Tango des assassins. Paris: LGF “Le Livre de Poche”, 2003, p. 48. Eva Robustillo Bayón 158 original ways to find the truth. In this sense, and despite the differences between their investigating methods, all three enquêtrices share one common trait regarding the observance of law: none of them respects any law if it stands in the way of solving the mystery. For instance, Parker-Simmons does not hesitate to hack hospital computer records in La Parabole du tueur. In the same way, Morvan usually hides pieces of information, lies to policemen, or threatens uncooperative witnesses. Regarding Khan, her transgression of law - the murder she commits - serves to highlight the failure of the justice system as an institution, an idea which is also present in the other cases: Parker-Simmons needs to hack the computer because legal authorization would have taken too long and Morvan investigates crimes that have been neglected by the police. Thus, Morvan, Khan and Parker-Simmons not only represent an innovation as far as the traditional system of character is concerned, but they also underline the relativization of concepts such as “Justice” and “Law,” a direct consequence of the postmodern era and the breakdown of traditional legitimizing discourses. Bibliography Nicola Barfoot: Frauenkrimi / polar feminin: Generic Expectations and the Reception of Recent French and German Crime Novels by Women, Frankfurt a. M.: Peter Lang, 2007. C. Dupuis: “Quelques mots de Dominique Sylvain.” In: L’Ours Polar, nº 15, 2001. Andrea H. Japp: Dans l’œil de l’ange. Paris : LGF “Le Livre de Poche“, 2004. Andrea H. Japp: La Parabole du tueur. Paris : LGF “Le Livre de Poche“, 2006. Andrea H. Japp: La Raison des femmes. Paris : LGF “Le Livre de Poche“, 2000. Andrea H. Japp: Le sacrifice du papillon. Paris : LGF “Le Livre de Poche“, 2004. Andrea H. Japp: Le Ventre des lucioles. Paris : J’ai Lu, 2005. Claude Mesplède: Dictionnaire des littératures policière. Nantes : Joseph K, 2003. Thomas Narcejac: Une machine à lire: le roman policier. Paris : Denoël and Gonthier, 1975. Maureen T. Reddy: “Women detectives.” In: Martin Priestman (ed.): The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction. Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 191-207. Dominique Sylvain: Baka! Paris: Viviane Hamy “Chemins Nocturnes”, 2007. Dominique Sylvain: Techno bobo. Paris : J’ai Lu, 2002. Maud Tabachnik: “Remarques sur la non-place des femmes dans le roman noir.” In : Claude Lanzmann (dir.) : Les Temps Modernes, nº 595, 1997, pp. 122-129. Maud Tabachnik: Gemeaux. Paris : J’ai lu, 2006. Maud Tabachnik: Le festin de l’araignée. Paris : J’ai lu, 2007. Maud Tabachnik: Le Tango des assassins. Paris : LGF “Le Livre de Poche”, 2003. Maud Tabachnik: Un été pourri. Paris : J’ai lu, 2006. http: / / www.viviane-hamy.fr/ les-auteurs/ article/ dominique-sylvain-1295? lang=fr (last accessed on Feb. 10, 2015). Ana Rodríguez Domínguez and Silvia Martínez Martínez Irony in Sherlock (BBC, 2010) From Literary to Audiovisual Translation 1 Introduction In this study we seek to demonstrate that the protagonist of the bestseller, the detective Sherlock Holmes, has similar characteristics in both the literary and the audiovisual version. This paper involves, therefore, an analysis of intersemiotic translation from literary text to audiovisual, taking as an example the above-mentioned literary figure. His importance in international fiction, from the Victorian age to the current day, is well known, and he has lent his name to numerous novels as well as cinematic and television films, as seen below. However, given that there are so many aspects which could be studied, we have limited ourselves to an analysis of the irony typical of him. Not only can the loquacity and deductive ability of Conan Doyle’s detective be appreciated in this characteristic, it also takes in the essence of English humour, which is clearly present in his adventures. For that purpose we begin with two theoretical aspects which form the basis for our study: firstly, the translation studies perspective as this concerns an intersemiotic translation, and, secondly, irony as a narrative resource. In the latter analysis we set out what irony is and how it is reflected in the literary character (”origin character”), and its correlation with the irony detected in the character of the TV series (“meta character”). We consider that the audiovisual “version” of a literary text is a type of intersemiotic translation in which the formal characteristics of the literary narration are extrapolated to the audiovisual communicative system. Numerous researchers have investigated this field, 1 and from amongst Zavala’s more important contributions of relevance here is the comparison he makes between film narration and literary narration as regards the formal components, 2 and while some formal components are unique to each system, oth- 1 Jakobson (1979) standing out as a pioneer from the linguistic point of view. Together with him, other notable scholars include Mijaíl Bajtín (1979), Hjelmslev (1967) and, most recently, Metzt (2002) and Torop (2002). In addition to those references, due to its relevance our study draws from the research of Zavala (2005, 2006, 2009) into translation from literature to cinema. 2 Lauro Zavala: Elementos del discurso cinematográfico. México: Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Xochimilco, Serie Libros de texto, 2005. See page 50. Ana Rodríguez Domínguez and Silvia Martínez Martínez 160 ers are common to both, namely, the beginning, the end, the intertext and the ideology. For that purpose, we first examine the distinguishing features of irony and how they are reflected in the literary character (“origin character”). Thereafter, through case studies extracted from the first novel of the collection, we will investigate its correlation with the character of the first episode of the television series (“meta character”). Fig. 1. Narrative and filmic narration components There is room for the analysis of the irony in the so-called intertext given that the ethical, aesthetic and social aspects of the narration for the receiver are attributed to the intertext. It is from there that we begin our paper. 3 3 See Lauro Zavala: “Elementos para el análisis de la intertextualidad.” Cuadernos de literatura (1999). V (10), julio-diciembre, pp. 26‒52. Filmic narration Beginning Image Sound Editing Staging Narration Ideology Intertext End Literary narration Beginning Time Space Narrator Genre Lenguage Ideology Intertext End Irony in Sherlock (BBC, 2010) 161 2 Irony as a form of humour Firstly, a definition and classification of the object of our study must be provided. To understand irony as a rhetorical figure helps us understand the mechanisms of its generation, and, thus, its translation. Traditionally, 4 there are two definitions of irony: to say something different to what is meant, or to say the opposite of what is actually said. In other words, the factor which determines irony is the attitude of the speaker so that the receiver has to interpret suitably that attitudinal factor in order to access the appropriate meaning of the words. From a pragmatic point of view, 5 irony entails a rupture with the principle of co-operation, 6 through flouting of any of the conversational maxims, frequently quality, which brings about unexpected situations whose outcome is the opposite of our initial expectations. Meanwhile, in the field of literature, it is often related to exaggeration. In classical irony, the author makes his or her characters use exaggerated and incorrect language, leading even to the undervaluation of themselves and their own knowledge, while on the opposite side, they are excessively overvalued by the charactes, thus bringing about romantic irony. 7 However, although for the above reasons this figure appears to have the objective of “deceiving,” that is not the only objective, depending on the intention of the ironist. Without moving from literary narration, according to the study by Hutchens, 8 four types of irony can be distinguished: 4 María Ángeles Torres: Aproximación a la ironía verbal. Cádiz: Universidad de Cádiz, 1999. See pages 6‒7. 5 Herbert Paul Grice: “Further notes on logic and conversation.” In: P. Col (ed.): Syntax and Semantics IX. Pragmatics. New York: Academic Press, 1978, pp. 113‒127. 6 Grice’s maxims are the backbone of his pragmatic theory. They are not scientific generalisations in the usual sense, but are more like contractual obligations or laws of the land. - The co-operative principle (a super-maxim) Make your contribution as required, when it is required, through the conversation in which you are engaged. - Quality: contribute only what you know to be true. Do not give information which is false or for which evidence is lacking. - Quantity: make your contribution as informative as is required but do not give unnecessary information. - Relation (Relevance) Make your contribution relevant. - Manner (i) Avoid obscurity; (ii) avoid ambiguity; (iii) be brief; and (iv) be orderly 7 José Schraibman & Leda Carazzola: “Hacia una interpretación de la ironía en La Regenta de Clarín.” In: R. Johnson and P. Smith (eds.): Studies in Honor of José Rubia Barcia. Lincoln, NE: Society of Spanish and Spanish-American Studies, 1982. See page 176. 8 Eleanor Hutchens: “The identification of irony.” In: ELH 27 (4) (1960), 352‒363. Ana Rodríguez Domínguez and Silvia Martínez Martínez 162 1. denotative irony, which consists of the use of a word with a meaning opposite to what is opposite to the real message/ opposite to the meaning which it is hoped the audience will attribute to it. 2. connotative irony, in which the ironic term keeps its literal meaning, but brings about connotations which contrast with the truth which, in turn, renders judgement relative and makes one think that something may be good or true in some circumstances, but false and bad in others. 3. tonal irony, which, independently of the words employed in it, is based on the form in which the sequence has been constructed, in the ordering of the clauses and sentences, and in the puntuation 4. reference irony, when it refers to something so radically dissimilar that it causes a collision with the explicit reality. Often, when using this resource, several of the types mentioned are simultaneously combined by the author. Likewise, alternation of verbal and nonverbal irony occurs, as distinguished by Zabalbeascoa, 9 that is, plays on words, ambiguous phrases, parodies and satires along with semiotic messages which are, among other things, iconic, gestural or sonic. While the various stated intentions of irony make reference to the form thereof, its content is no less important. The deceit or the lie, we repeat, is not the only function of the rhetorical resource. It has another side which, apart from being able to coexist with the aspect already mentioned, may be more powerful and, thus, may prevail in the intended speech: humour. The levels of humour that irony can offer have various intensities which go from the comical (involuntary situations) to the humorous (when the speaker intentionally suggests that contrast) and now, in the examples of accentuated or even cruel irony, we would find the burlesque, in the case of which we move closer to the terrain of sarcasm. For the purposes of our study we are interested in the humorous and burlesque dimensions, given that they are what characterises the literary character chosen as Sherlock Holmes has a marked critical personality which, together with his deep British humour characterised by refined rules of courtesy, develops an ironic effect that at times is offensive and pointed. In any event, in order for irony to be a source of humour, as Muecke 10 suggests, three requirements must be met: - Feigned innocence on the part of the person who ironizes. - Contrast between appearance and reality: the greater the contrast, the more effective the irony. - Distancing attitude of the person who ironizes from a level of superiority in relation to the world. 9 Patrick Zabalbeascoa: Translation Audiovisual Screen Irony. Barcelona: Universidad Pompeu Fabra, 2003. See pages 206-207 10 Douglas Colin Muecke: Irony (Critical Idiom Series 13). London: Methuen, 1970. Irony in Sherlock (BBC, 2010) 163 When the requirements are met, they bring about two immediate effects; the amusement of the receivers and their aesthetic pleasure. Both the requirements as well as the said effects are manifested through two channels, the verbal and the non-verbal. While both are developed in literary narration, they are much more evident in the audiovisual due to the auditory as well as the visual channel being more explicit. 3 Audiovisual irony Irony in audiovisual narration, as in its filmic counterpart, presents the same characteristics and interpretations as those referred to above in literary narration. What happens in this field is that, in order for the narration to be created, two channels (visual and sound) are necessary, and, thus, use is made of the communicative aspects of both to induce the deceit, the humour, the mockery and so on. There is a classification of four types of audiovisual variable in which irony can be expressed are 11 : a) visual presentation - verbal signs: the irony contains a visual element which presents a verbal element (written). For example, in the episode of the series studied herein, they are the telephone messages written over the shots: Fig. 2. Visual presentation - verbal signs 11 Dirk Delabastita: “Translation and mass-communication: film and TV translation as evidence of cultural dynamics.” In: Babel 35 (4) (1989), pp. 193‒218. See page 199. Ana Rodríguez Domínguez and Silvia Martínez Martínez 164 b) visual presentation - non-verbal signs: the irony is based on visual elements (non-verbal), such as the components of the image of the shot, that is to say, the decoration, the characters’ clothes, the camera movements and such like. In the series, the perception of the ultramodern London of the 21st century as a replacement for the novel’s 19th-century London is ironic: Fig. 3. Visual presentation - non-verbal signs c) acoustic presentation - verbal signs: the irony is based on the use of the expressions themselves, for example, conversations in which Sherlock’s superiority stands out through comments loaded with irony. Such is the case in the dialogue between police officer Anderson and Sherlock: Anderson: So we can read her e-mail. So what? Sherlock: Anderson, don’t talk out loud. You lower the IQ of the whole street. d) acoustic presentation - non-verbal signs: the irony is based on nonverbal elements nonetheless perceptible through the auditory channel such as noises, diegetic sounds, extradiegetic music and similar. An example is the elevated tone of voice used by Sherlock as opposed to the lower tone of the rest of the characters. In any case, if the cinematographic character is based on a literary figure and a novel not characterised by their irony, their correct evolution to the audio- Irony in Sherlock (BBC, 2010) 165 visual narration will lack the same trait. Below we set out some of the aspects of literary Sherlock and how he corresponds to television Sherlock. 4 Introduction to Sherlock: from literary character (Conan Doyle, 1887) to audiovisual character (BBC, 2010) The close relationship between the literary and the cinematographic characters has been praised by the critics since the series was first broadcast in 2010. Tom Sutcliffe, 12 critic for The Independent, wrote: “Sherlock is a triumph, witty and knowing, without ever undercutting the flair and dazzle of the original. It understands that Holmes isn`t really about plot but about charisma… Flagrantly unfaithful to the original in some respects, Sherlock is wonderfully loyal to it in every way that matters.” From the very first scenes, attention is drawn to the modernity of British society. Far removed from the Victorian age, devices such as mobile phones, GPS, taxis and nicotine patches (in place of the pipe smoked by Doyle’s character), among others, are used. However, this is nothing new given that using the latest technology is a trait of the literary character. As the series’ director, Paul McGuigan, remarks: “I think it was important for us when we were doing this modern day version that we are understand what those elements are that people are attracted to and not lose anything in the modern day setting.” 13 Similarly, in the series there is nothing new about the place where the protagonists live. As in the novel, they live at 221B Baker Street. In reality they are the same characters, with the same personalities, in the same environment, but more than a century later. The change of era produces a contrasting effect which contributes very efficiently to the creation of the narration resource of irony. Other examples of adaptation to the current day are Sherlock’s accessories: while the Victorian went dressed in a tweed cape and deerstalker hat, he wears smart-casual in the new version. Both styles are out of the ordinary in their environments. 12 Available at: http: / / www.independent.co.uk/ arts-entertainment/ tv/ reviews/ the-weekends-tvsherlock-sun-bbc1bramish-worlds-squarest-teenagers-sun-channel-4-2035302.html (2010) 13 Available at: http: / / www.reelscotland.com/ exclusive-interview-paul-mcguigan-on-sherlock/ (2010) Ana Rodríguez Domínguez and Silvia Martínez Martínez 166 Fig. 4. The “Victorian” characters (illustration from the 1887 edition) Fig. 5. The characters from the series Sherlock (BBC, 2010) Irony in Sherlock (BBC, 2010) 167 5 From “A study in Scarlet” (Conan Doyle, 1887) to “A study in Pink” (BBC, 2010): studies in the case of translation of the irony in Sherlock from literary text to the audiovisual Having looked at some of the more important characteristics shared by the two versions, literary and audiovisual, of the narration of Doyle, we analyse the evolution of the irony of the Sherlock character of the 19th century writer’s first novel to the first episode of the modern day series. While we have already looked at an example when referring to Delabastita’s classification, 14 we find other relevant cases of irony both in the book “original character” and the television “meta character” who illustrate our study. From the start of the novel it is easy to recognise explicitly the irony in the protagonist. In his first encounter with Watson, Sherlock, with feigned innocence, gives details of the life of the former even though he has just met him. The details he supplies and the way he does so (adjectives, adverbs and modal expressions) foster a clear superiority with respect to Watson, which provokes an immediate effect of amusement and aesthetic pleasure in the reader on contemplating the workings of the privileged mind of the protagonist. “How on earth did you know that? ” I asked in astonishment. “Never mind,” said he, chuckling to himself. “The question now is about haemoglobin. No doubt you see the significance of this discovery of mine? ” (Pp. 6-7) Later going on to clarify: (P. 11) “Nothing of the sort. I knew you came from Afghanistan. From long habit the train of thoughts ran so swiftly through my mind, that I arrived at the conclusion without being conscious of intermediate stops. There was such stops however. The train of reasoning ran, ‘Here is a gentleman of a medical type, but with the air of a military man. Clearly an army doctor, then. He has just come from the tropics, for his face is dark, and that is not the natural tint of his skin, for his wrists are fair. He has undergone hardship and sickness, as his haggard face says clearly. His left arm has been injured. He holds it in a stiff and unnatural manner. Where in the tropics could an English army doctor have seen much hardship and got his arm wounded? Clearly in Afghanistan.’ The whole train of thought did not occupy a second. I then remarked that you came from Afghanistan, and you were astonished.” 14 Dirk Delabastita: “Translation and mass-communication: film and TV translation as evidence of cultural dynamics.” In: Babel 35 (4) (1989), pp. 193‒218. Ana Rodríguez Domínguez and Silvia Martínez Martínez 168 In the audiovisual narration, this deduction is likewise made through a dialogue, shorter, but with the same superiority of Sherlock with respect to Watson. Here the conversation takes place as a consequence of the decision to share a flat: Dr. Watson: We’ve only just met and we’re going to go and look at a flat? Sherlock: Problem? Dr. Watson: We don’t know a thing about each other. I don’t know where we’re meeting. I don’t even know your name. Sherlock: I know you’re an Army doctor and you’ve been invalided home from Afghanistan … That’s enough to be going on with, don’t you think? Similarly, it is of great interest to reflect the irony demonstrated by both “Sherlocks,” the literary and the audiovisual, when interpreting the main clue in the investigation carried out in this story: the discovery of the word Rache written at the scene of the crime. Although the filmic narration, as we shall see, alters this part of the story to a certain extent, the use of the ironic resource by the protagonist remains intact and similar in both systems. In the novel, a man appears dead in a house with no signs of violence or injury. One of the policemen, Inspector Gregson, finds the word Rache written in blood near the corpse. The other officer in the case, Inspector Lestrade, arrives at the conclusion that it refers to a female name, Rachel, which he tells Sherlock. (P. 16) “And what does it mean now that you have found it? ” asked Gregson in a depreciatory voice. “Mean? Why, it means that the writer was going to put the female name Rachel, but was disturbed before he or she had time to finish. You mark my words, when this case comes to be cleared up you will find that a woman named Rachel has something to do with it …” However, Holmes “clears up their confusion” and, with great irony, informs them that in reality it concerns the word Rache, “revenge” in German: (P. 17) “One other thing, Lestrade,” he added, turning round the door. ‘Rache’ is the German for ‘revenge’, so don’t lose your time looking for Miss Rachel.” With which Parthian shot he walked away, leaving the two rivals openmouthed behind him. In the series, however, the corpse is a woman’s and it is Sherlock himself who, mocking his literary alter ego, makes two deductions about the word found: the first mistaken (“revenge” in German) and the second correct (a woman’s name). The joke the film narration makes with this manipulation of this part of the story is reinforced by the montage technique it uses. The two corre- Irony in Sherlock (BBC, 2010) 169 sponding interpretations are written over each shot detailing the word written on the floor, as occurs with the above-mentioned text messages. Fig. 6. Image of ‘revenge’ in German Fig. 7. Image of the woman’s name Ana Rodríguez Domínguez and Silvia Martínez Martínez 170 6 Conclusions Intersemiotic translation has been one of the more researched forms of translation in recent years due to the ever-growing presence of audiovisual texts in modern society. Literary irony as an expressive rhetorical resource finds its form in the audiovisual text through its two communicative channels: visual and auditory. In this paper we have presented the translation of the irony of Conan Doyle’s character into the irony of the protagonist of the series Sherlock (BBC, 2010) and it has been confirmed that the latter does not lose the ironic traits which identify the literary character. The faithfulness of the modern version to the literary version is absolute, which entails a guarantee as well as a gesture of complicity with the meta-receivers (of the series), surely avid readers and admirers of the intuitive 19th century investigator. Bibliography Míjail Bajtin: Estetika Slovesnogo tvorchestva. Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1979. Dirk Delabastita: Translation and mass-communication: film and TV translation as evidence of cultural dynamics. Babel 35 (4) (1989), pp. 193-218. Arthur Conan Doyle: A study in scarlet. United Kingdom: Wordsworth Editions, 2001. Louis Hjelmslev: Prolegómenos para una teoría del lenguaje. Madrid: Gredos, 1967. Eleanor Hutchens: The identification of irony. ELH 27 (4) (1960), 352-363. Herbert Paul Grice: “Further notes on logic and conversation.” In: P. Cole (ed.): Syntax and Semantics IX. Pragmatics. New York: Academic Press, 1978, pp. 113-127. Roman Jakobson: Ensayos de lingüística general. Barcelona: Seix Barral, 1979. Christian Metz: “Raymond Bellour/ Christian Metz: entrevista sobre la semiología del cine (1970).” In: Ensayos sobre la significación en el cine (1968-1972). Vol. 2. Barcelona: Paidós, 2002. Douglas Colin Muecke: Irony (Critical Idiom Series 13). London: Methuen, 1970. José Schraibman and Leda Carazzola: “Hacia una interpretación de la ironía en La Regenta de Clarín.” In: R. Johnson and P. Smith (eds.): Studies in Honor of José Rubia Barcia. Lincoln, Nebraska: Society of Spanish and Spanish-American Studies, 1982. Peeter Torop: “Intersemiosis y intersemiotic translation.” Cuicuilco. Revista de la Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia 25 (2002), pp. 13-14. María Ángeles Torres: Aproximación a la ironía verbal. Cádiz: Universidad de Cádiz, 1999. Patrick Zabalbeascoa: Translation Audiovisual Screen Irony. Barcelona: Universidad Pompeu Fabra, 2003. Lauro Zavala: “La traducción intersemiótica en el cine de ficción.” Ciencia ergo sum. 16 (1), marzo-junio. Toluca, México: Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, 2009, pp. 47-54. Lauro Zavala: “La traducción intersemiótica: el caso de la literatura y el cine.” In: Primer Congreso Interdisciplinario en torno a la Traducción. México: Universidad Intercontinental, 2006. Irony in Sherlock (BBC, 2010) 171 Lauro Zavala: Elementos del discurso cinematográfico. México: Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Xochimilco, Serie Libros de texto, 2005. Lauro Zavala: “Elementos para el análisis de la intertextualidad.” Cuadernos de literatura V (10) (1999). julio-diciembre, pp. 26-52. Daryna Zvoleiko & Ana Rodríguez Domínguez: “La ironía en el subtitulado: un reto traductor.” En The Route of Ukraine in cross-cultural Communications context. Dnipropetrovsk: Alfred Nobel University, 2014, pp. 148-152. Lorena Silos Ribas Selling the South Seas Vicki Baum’s Liebe und Tod auf Bali 1 Vicki Baum: a literary star When one looks at the sales figures, at the enormous popularity of her works and especially at the celebrity status granted to Vicki Baum during the 1920s and 1930s, it is not difficult to picture tram travellers and clerical workers of the time voraciously reading her most recent publications, just as one sees avid readers on the metro, on a plane or in waiting rooms eagerly holding their copies of Ken Follett, Stephen King or J. K. Rowling and taking pleasure at the suspense of their stories. Viennese author Vicki Baum (1888-1960), whose enthralling life could also become the narrative of a very successful bestseller, is a prime example of how literature can be branded and marketed as if it were a convenience good. In Germany, the early 1920s witnessed the birth of a new literary trend, which under the name of “Neue Sachlichkeit,” or “New Objectivity,” aimed at providing a more factual and clearer picture of the world after the era of Expressionism, whose pathos led to an alienation from society and was regarded as a very poor tool for facilitating dialogue between the individual and its environment. Parallel to these aesthetic developments, literature during the interwar period was also defined by social and technological advances. Cheaper printing methods and the consequent expansion of books, newspapers, and magazines went hand in hand with a fastdeveloping mass readership. Since the nineteenth century, literacy had grown dramatically; this, coupled with increased leisure which resulted from shorter working hours, created a greater demand for reading material, especially among the middle and working classes. 1 The creation of a popular culture that would deal with the reality of this expanding readership, offering stories and characters that they could easily relate to, was a key element of the new literary trends. In this respect, the publishing house Ullstein in Berlin played a key role in the development of a mass literature. Ullstein, which had been founded in 1848 as a newspaper publisher, was by the end of the 1920s the largest publishing house in Eu- 1 Heather Valencia: ”Vicki Baum: "a first-rate second-rate writer"? ” In: Karl Leydecker (ed.: German Novelists of the Weimar Republic: Intersections of Literature and Politics. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2006, pp. 229-252, here p. 240. Selling the South Seas 173 rope and it made literature available for all levels of society thanks to tailored marketing strategies inspired by American marketing concepts, such as market research and intermediality, and polishing the image of their authors in order to create a literary star system. 2 It was in this context that Vicki Baum achieved stellarstatus among the most popular figures of the Ullstein galaxy. Even if the author was already fairly well-known when she signed her exclusive contract with Ullstein 3 , her popularity obviously increased after her book Der Eingang zur Bühne (1920) was serialized in the Vossische Zeitung and then published in the series of Ullsteinbücher in inexpensive paperbacks. Almost 150,000 copies were sold. 4 A year later, Die Tänze der Ina Raffay, a novel with certain autobiographical elements, was also released by Ullstein. Even if Baum did not want to be identified with mass literature (she placed her next four books, which she considered of greater quality, with the Deutsche Verlaganstalt), her husband’s professional instability and the expectations of a better future with Ullstein made her sign a contract of exclusivity with that publishing house, which would commit her to Ullstein until 1930. 5 According to her agreement with the publisher, Baum would be hired as writer and editor for Die Dame, a weekly fashion-magazine, in which she was responsible for the literary supplement, “Die losen Blätter.” The strategy behind that placement was to present Baum as an expert in the literary realm and to increase the value of her novels in the eyes of the readership - which would in turn allow an increase in their prices. Soon after Baum’s contract was signed, two of her most popular texts were printed in series in the Berliner Illustrirte [ sic] Zeitung: stud. chem. Helene Willfüer, the scandal story of the coming-of-age of a young woman, which was published between 1928-1929, and the compelling Menschen im Hotel, her most famous novel, which appeared in 1929. The magazine kept increasing its sales thanks to Baum’s serialized novels: soaring from 200,000 up to two million copies. 6 The name of Vicki Baum had become a literary brand. 7 2 Lynda J. King: Bestsellers by Design. Vicki Baum and the House of Ullstein. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1988, p. 58. 3 After her literary debut in 1914 with Frühe Schatten. Das Ende einer Kindheit, she had published several narrations and, in 1925, even won a literary contest judged by Thomas Mann with her short novel Der Weg. 4 Nicole Nottelmann: Die Karriere der Vicki Baum. Cologne: Kiepenheuer&Witsch, 2007, p. 71. All the biographical information has been obtained from Nottelmann’s biography of Vicki Baum. 5 Nottelmann 2007, p. 121. 6 Nottelmann 2007, p. 125. 7 Cf. Julia Bertschick: „Ihr Name war ein Begriff wie Melissengeist oder Leibnizkekse“: Vicki Baum und der Berliner Ullstein-Verlag. In: Walter Fähnders and Helga Karrenbrock (eds.): Autorinnen der Weimarer Republik. Bielefeld: Aisthesis, 2003, pp. 119-135, here p. 120. Lorena Silos Ribas 174 The publisher’s astute marketing strategies can be observed in the launching of these two serialized novels. The first issue of Helene Willfüer appeared on 28th October 1928 after a fierce commercial campaign, which prompted thousands of fans to flood the offices of the publishing house with letters praising the writer and wanting to find out more about her. As part of that strategy, Baum was to be seen as an expert in whatever the topic of her novel was. Shortly before the start of the serialisation of Helene Willfüer, in which the main character engages in research into human rejuvenation through chemicals, an article by Baum appeared in Ullstein's popular magazine, Uhu, in which the author explained how research in the area of rejuvenation was conducted. An editorial preface to the article stated that she had investigated this topic for a novel which would soon appear in the Berliner lllustrierte. According to King, prior to the publication of Menschen im Hotel, a similar story was circulated that Baum had worked as a maid in a large Berlin hotel in order to collect material for the novel. 8 Whether that rumour is true or not seems unimportant, since the fact is that it had people talking about the book and its author. Menschen im Hotel was so popular in Germany that it was made into a theater play a year after its book publication and soon after that the rights were sold for translation into several languages. The translation of the text into English signaled a turning point in Vicki Baum’s career, especially when the novel was translated into a major film starring Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, and John Barrymore: Grand Hotel was released in 1932 and became the most successful film of the year. This was a success which was to have a direct impact on Baum’s subsequent novels, as the author’s popularity rocketed and she achieved the status of a film star. It should thus not be surprising that the sales of the novel Grand Hotel also increased in the United States after the release of the film. After some time in New York, Baum returned to Germany, only to have to leave shortly after. Due to her Jewish heritage, Baum was forced with the rise of the National Socialist party in 1932 to set up home in the US. She settled first in New York and afterwards in Hollywood, where she enroled as a writer with film studio MGM, where she spent the rest of her life. From 1926 until the late fifties, a very prolific Baum wrote an endless list of books that were, to a greater or lesser extent, true bestsellers: Hell im Frauensee (1927), Zwischenfall in Lohwinkel (1930), Pariser Platz 13 (1931), Die Karriere des Doris Hart (1936), Liebe und Tod auf Bali (1937), Hotel Shanghai (1939), Marion lebt (1941), among many others. Nevertheless, Baum’s increasing popularity among her readers ran parallel to the disapproval - and sometimes even mockery―by the literary critics of her time, who, in most cases, accused the author of doing everything for 8 Lynda J. King: “Vicki Baum and the Making of Popular Success.” In: Women in German Yearbook, 11 (1995), pp. 151-169, here p. 160. Selling the South Seas 175 money. However, besides being proof of her ability to find topics and plots which would attract numerous readers, 9 her texts also show a very innovative manner of writing and a remarkable skill in creating characters who were not appreciated for a long time. Her success as a writer of so-called “Trivialliteratur” obviously precluded her from other recognitions 10 , so that she has only become a topic of interest for German literary studies since the 1980s. 11 The label most often used for her narratives was “Unterhaltungsliteratur,” a vague term that normally defined literature which was better than kitsch but also not of the highest standard. 12 The author herself was conscious of the barriers existing between higher and lower literature and she was also aware that her connection to Ullstein could jeopardize her career. In the last years of her life, and particularly in her autobiography Es war alles ganz anders, published posthumously in 1962, Baum reflects upon that fact and tries to redeem herself, claiming that she was indeed conscious of the questionable quality of her texts, but wrote, so to speak, to please her audience. 13 Since 1935, her texts had been banned in Nazi Germany, and hence Baum’s novels appeared first in English translation, and then in German in exile publishing houses, such as Querido in Amsterdam. However, by the end of the 1930s, she began writing solely in English and did so until her death in 1960. Liebe und Tod auf Bali (first translated into English as A Tale from Bali and, in most recent editions, as Love and Death in Bali), published in 1937, was the last novel she published in German. 9 Cf. Andrea Capovilla: Entwürfe weiblicher Identität in der Moderne: Milena Jesenská, Vicki Baum, Gina Kaus, Alice Rühle-Gerstel. Oldenburg: Igel, 2004, p. 68. 10 In the 1950s, scholars such as Franz Lennartz and Heinrich Spiero did acknowledge Baum’s contribution to the literary scene and classified her texts as “above-average Unterhaltungsliteratur,” as quoted in King 1988, p. 155. 11 Besides the studies mentioned in this article, see also: Sonja Nothegger-Troppmair: „Die neue Frau der 20er Jahre am Beispiel Vicki Baum: literarische Fiktion oder konkreter Lebensentwurf? “ Saarbrücken: VDM Müller, 2008; Susanne Blumesberger: "Es war alles ganz anders: Vicki Baum neu betrachtet.” In: Michael Ritter (ed.): praesent. das österreichische Literaturjahrbuch (2011), pp. 37-43; Agnieszka Sochal: „Literatur als Spiegel des Schönheits- und Jugendwahns auf der Grundlage des Romans "stud. chem. Helene Willfuer" und der Komödie “Pariser Platz 13“ von Vicki Baum,” Studia niemcoznawcze 44 (2010), pp. 315-323. 12 Linda J. King, Bestsellers by Design, p. 5. 13 Vicki Baum: Es war alles ganz anders. Berlin: Ullstein, 1962, p. 504. Lorena Silos Ribas 176 2 Liebe und Tod auf Bali 2.1 Liebe und Tod auf Bali: genesis and sources In spite of the admiration she won among her American colleagues for the quality of her work, both for her literary works and her film scripts, Vicki Baum’s initial optimism about Hollywood began to fade in 1933. For this reason, she decided to grant herself some time to explore the world in search of inspiration, so she traveled the seas to Samoa, Fiji and Australia. After that came Japan, China and Hongkong, where she met the two men who would accompany her on her journey to Bali: Walter Dreesen, whom she knew from her time with Ullstein, and his partner, the photographer Fritz Lindner. According to Nottelmann, Baum played an alibi-companion for Lindner, which made things much easier for the homosexual couple while travelling in the South East. 14 From Hongkong, the three took a boat to Bali. Baum‘s first impressions of the island are very significant because they would find resonance in her novel: “Was man immer gelesen oder geträumt hat, ist viel zu wenig […] Die schönsten, sanftesten und wunderbar ausdrucksvollsten Menschen ziehen auf diesen Strassen dahin.” 15 The author had been fascinated with Bali since she had read Bali 1912, the popular book with photographs by Gregor Krause. In Bali, she met the artist and musician Walter Spies, who had settled on the island and was one of the first promoters of tourism there. Together with anthropologists Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson and artist Miguel Covarrubias, Spies was responsible for the image of Bali still prevalent in the Western world, namely "an enchanted land of aesthetes at peace with themselves and nature.” He was able to show Baum the beauties of Bali and make her acquainted with the customs and traditions which made the island so distinct. Walter Spies was also the source of the factual historical information and details on Balinese culture contained in Baum’s historical fiction novel Liebe und Tod auf Bali which deals with the Dutch intervention in Bali (1906), and was first published in German in 1937. 16 Liebe und Tod auf Bali (1937) is set at the beginning of the twentieth century, in 1904, at a time in which Bali was still a feudal society ruled by rajahs, who were considered half-gods by their subjects. This Balinese royalty had been in most cases appointed by the Dutch authorities, whose power had expanded across the Indonesian archipelago in the nineteenth century. The north of Bali was completely under their control, but the south did offer some resistance against the colonizers. When uprisings occurred, the Dutch 14 Nottelmann, p. 227. 15 Vicki Baum quoted by Nottelmann, p. 230. 16 It is remarkable that, more than seventy years after his death, Walter Spies has a page in facebook, which includes an album of images entitled “Love and Death in Bali.” Selling the South Seas 177 decided to intervene with so drastic military actions that they seriously affected the image of the Netherlands as a benevolent and responsible colonial power: under the pretense of stopping the plundering of shipwrecks, they mounted large naval and ground assaults in the Sanur region in 1906 which led to the mass suicide of the House of Badung, the nobility, and a great part of the population, who did not want to see the entire land under the power of a foreign lord. Baum’s novel depicts the years that led to this gruesome battle and the moment in which Bali’s last independent region defied the colonial power. She describes the fight between the natives and the colonizers in detail, highlighting the fierceness of the Dutch versus the willingness to sacrifice of hundreds of Balinese people; the arrogant violence of the former and the humbleness and love for their island of the latter. Baum weaves into her narration the lives of several Balinese characters - peasants, slaves, nobles - following their paths towards love and death and, notwithstanding her literary aspirations, she also provides insight into a very relevant event in the history of Bali. At the beginning of the novel, a schooner with a Dutch flag is looted by strangers. Its captain, a Chinese citizen, asks the Rajah of Badung for a too excessive compensation, which he refuses to pay. The Dutch authorities use the plundering as a (long-sought) pretext to expand their power all throughout the island and they threaten to use force after the Rajah refuses the payment once again. The Rajah asks his people to resist and orders the puputan, the Balinese term for “ending.” 17 Dressed in white with flowers in their garments and hair, the Balinese march towards the Dutch invaders in search of death. It is not the objective of this paper to analyse the depiction of this historical conflict. Suffice it to say, Baum was critized by many as being “an apologist for Dutch imperialism,” 18 suggesting that Balinese peasantry benefitted more from being in the hands of the Dutch than under the rule of their unpredictable Rajahs. Even her interpretation of the “puputan” itself partly exonerated the Dutch, since most of the responsibility is attributed to the resentful Chinese captain and the proud and obstinate Rajah Alit, who leads his people to death. Moreover, the mass-suicide of the natives is regarded as “der heilige Wahnsinn” (Baum 520) and not as political resistance to the invaders, while in her introduction to the first edition of Love and Death in Bali she states bluntly; “Since then the Dutch have carried out an achievement in colonization which reflects the highest credit on them. Scarcely anywhere in the world are natives free to live their own life under white rule so happily and with so little interference and change as in Bali.” 19 17 Vicki Baum: Love and Death in Bali. Singapore: Periplus, 2011, p. 14. 18 Adrian Vickers: Bali. A Paradise Created. Victoria: Tuttle, 1989, p. 112. 19 Vicki Baum: Love and Death in Bali, p. 15. Lorena Silos Ribas 178 2.2 Liebe und Tod auf Bali: a bestseller Liebe und Tod auf Bali was Vicki Baum‘s greatest success since Menschen im Hotel. Although sales figures in Germany were just a little higher than expected, the novel experienced an enormous success in the US, where it was listed as a bestseller in the New York Times soon after its publication and remained in the top five of the famed list for more than four weeks. Besides it telling a riveting story, which immediately captures the reader’s interest and attention, A Tale from Bali was published in America at a very advantageous moment, for Bali was far from unknown: during the 1930s, it had become a rather popular tourist destination for upper-class Americans and the island enjoyed a certain allure, which promoted the aforementioned photography anthology about the country which Gregor Krause had published some years before, as well as the song “A dance in Bali” by Cole Porter and the cover of Vanity Fair, which in 1936 showed a Balinese painting by Miguel Covarrubias, who had himself published a book on Bali in 1937, too. The cover was voted best cover of the year. Be it coincidence or an arranged maneuver, we can be sure that the timing was perfect for Vicki Baum to publish her book. Moreover, in a similar manner as it would have been done in Ullstein, and in order to confer her tale authenticity, Baum included an introduction in the first edition of her novel, 20 in which she refers to a manuscript authored by an old Dutchman, Dr. Fabius, who lived in Bali, as the source for her story. The fact that Dr. Fabius appears later in the novel as a character conveys even more authenticity to the tale. Such authenticity is also accentuated by the frequent inclusion of native expressions as used by the Balinese characters. After a number of pages, untranslated words such as “Puri,” “Kris,” “Kain,” “Balian” or “Sirih” stop being obstacles for the reader due to their frequent occurrence and the familiarity with which they are used. The structure of the novel is similar to the arrangement in Menschen im Hotel, with interwoven stories which head towards the same conclusion. In addition, the way these stories are told conveys suspense to the novel, as at the end of a chapter the reader is always left wondering what will happen next and sometimes does not find out until many pages afterwards. This sort of composition - that one finds more often than not in bestselling authors of today, such as Dan Brown - could be clearly inspired in the serialized novels which Vicki Baum knew so well from her time in Ullstein. In his study, El enigma bestseller [The bestseller enigma], David Viñas Piquer examines numerous examples of bestselling novels of the past fifty years and attempts to locate categories and features in order to define a gen- 20 This spoof introduction was removed in the subsequent German editions of the novel, although it has been kept in the English ones. Selling the South Seas 179 re which has never been examined as such. Viñas Piquer claims that bestsellers should contain, among other features, action, romance and a satisfying ending. What follows next aims to analyse Liebe und Tod auf Bali in light of Viñas’ findings to try to understand what made the book such a successful novel at the time of its publication. 2.2.1 A novel of adventures in the South Seas Like many other bestselling authors, Vicki Baum resorts to the adventure genre in Liebe und Tod to capture her readership. Even if the novel itself does not correspond exactly with a canonical book of adventures, it contains many elements which relate the novel to this genre. First of all, there is the frenetic narrative rhythm, particularly in the most thrilling scenes, which also marks the final episode in which the reader knows (or at least assumes) most characters will perish, yet s/ he still wants to find out how. In this respect, the brutal scenes with gory descriptions - also characteristic of bestsellers 21 - play an important role for Baum too: „Feuer! ,” rief der Kapitän. „Feuer! ,” schrie Dekker mit seiner ungeübten Kommandostimme. Die Kompanien schossen. Ein paar Balinesen fielen und blieben liegen. Die anderen rasten jetzt den Großen Weg entlang, der Biegung von Tian Siap entgegen, von wo die Haubitzen schossen und die Trompetensignale schmetterten. […] Über ihn hinweg rannten die weiß gekleideten Männer dem Feind entgegen, sie stürzten hin, und die hinter ihnen kamen, rasten über sie fort. Ein Hügel von Toten und Verwundeten wuchs zwischen der Puri und den feuernden Truppen auf. […] Ein Mann trat über ihren Körper weg, ein kleiner, fast humoristisch aussehender alter Mann. Er schwang einen grossen Kris, um den Knaben zu töten. Dekker riss seinen Revolver heraus und legte auf den Mann an. Er wusste selbst kaum, dass er es tat, er wollte den Knaben retten. Es war ein schönes Kind […]. Als der kleine Mann gefallen war, nahm der Knabe ihm den Kris aus der Hand und half ihm damit zu sterben, denn die Kugel des Leutnants hatte ihn nur verwundet. Dekkers Hände zitterten. […] Blut rann an dem Kris herab, den der Knabe in der Hand hilet. Er hob ihn hoch, und Dekker stürzte sich zwischen die fallenden Balinesen, stürzte sich zwischen die Krise und Kugeln, um den Knaben zu retten. Er rang mit ihm, um ihm den Kris fortzureißen, aber das magere Kind hatte unerwartete und unglaubliche 21 David Viñas Piquer: El enigma bestseller. Fenómenos extraños en el campo literario. Barcelona: Ariel, 2009, pp. 328-330. Lorena Silos Ribas 180 Kräfte. (…) Blutend und plötzlich erschlaffend fiel es gegen die Brust des Leutnants. 22 As is typically the case in bestsellers, 23 the fast-paced narration is also well supported by the appearance of unexpected circumstances, such as the sudden enconunter between young lovers Raka and Lambon, once she has become the Rajah’s favourite wife, or the illness that finally forces Raka to be expelled from the village. Raka, the handsome dancer and son of one of the most venerated men in town, functions as a hero and reinforces the adventurous tone of the novel, which, with his story, echoes the genre of the “Bildungsroman.” 24 The reader meets Raka as a sensitive youth, the best dancer in town, but then witnesses his downfall, when he betrays the trust of the Rajah, his friend, engaging in a relationship with Lambon. Soon after that Raka is inffected by an incurable illness - probably, leprosy - and banished from society. However, his time as an outcast enables him to morally cleanse himself and, against all odds, his soul will be reborn in the body of his grand-nephew who is named after him and has inherited his talent for dancing. 25 2.2.2 Romance in Liebe und Tod auf Bali As is suggested by Viñas Piquer, from a marketing perspective bestsellers ever so often resort to the portrayal of passionate relationships, since they are thought to make books more popular. Such relationships can also function as adventures, particularly - as is the case in Liebe und Tod with Raka and Lambon, but also with Pak and Sarna - when such a relationship is seen as forbidden. 26 As is clearly suggested in the title, love is one of the main components of this story and the instrument that triggers the action in many instances. Most of the relationships portrayed throughout the narration are based on a feeling of devotion or passion. The fact that both are considered irrational forms of love supports the argument that Vicki Baum assumes in her novel the role of the colonizer and represents the Balinese people as somehow impulsedriven creatures in need of a certain rationality. 22 Vicki Baum: Liebe und Tod auf Bali. Cologne: Kiepenheuer&Witsch, 2013, pp. 513 and 517. 23 Cf. Viñas Piquer, pp. 296-297 24 According to Viñas Piquer, such characters are also frequent in bestsellers, see David Viñas Piquer, pp. 349-390. 25 In the novel, Raka, his wife and a third outcast fear most of all that their souls will not be reborn, since those affected by the “Great Illness” are not allowed to be burned after their death. According to their beliefs, fire cleanses the soul and prepares it for its rebirth. As if it were a sign of poetic justice, their bodies are burnt during the puputan. 26 Viñas Piquer, p. 527. Selling the South Seas 181 Although the novel is far from being sexually explicit, it does indeed play with the physical beauty of both men and women as well as their sensuality and there are several instances of sexual innuendo, particularly when describing the relationship between the two main figures (Raka and Lambon), but also when referring to the sexual preferences of the Rajah. 2.2.3 Historical background: a lesson to be told Even if the historical element is underplayed for most of the novel, which revolves on the small yet very relevant lives of the islanders, the truth is that, toward the end of the book, the narrator does offer a painstaking description of how the events took place during the puputan of the Battle of Badung in 1906. In this respect, Liebe und Tod auf Bali clearly responds to one of the most representative traits of bestsellers: their didactic intention. Following the Horatian adage, “et prodesse volunt et delectare poetae,” bestsellers aim to entertain their readers while instructing them. It has been shown how readers take pleasure in becoming knowledgeable while reading for leisure, 27 and thus bestsellers attempt to reconcile those two facets. As has been mentioned, during her time with Ullstein, Baum learnt the importance of appearing to be an expert in the topics of her books. Such is also the case in this novel, for which she had the expertise of Walter Spies at her disposal. Thus, Liebe und Tod is rich in exhaustive realistic descriptions of customs, traditions, places and landscapes, garments, dances and meals which provide the reader with a complete picture of life in a small town in Bali without being too educational. The facts are interwoven in the narration in a very natural manner, so that the flow of the writing is not interrupted: Hundert Meter vom Hotel entfernt badeten die Frauen wieder nackt im Fluss, die Häuser verkrochen sich wieder hinter Mauern, über die Palme ihre Wipfel streckten. Hühner, Schweine und Hunde liefen vor dem Auto her. Wir bogen in das nächste Dorf ein und erreichten die weit gestreckten Reisfelder, die dahinter lagen. Ich zog mir am Feldrand die Schuhe aus, denn auf den fußbreiten, lehmig-nassen Dämmen zwischen den Sawahs kann man barfüßig besser vorankommen. […] Vor der Pforte zu Putuhs Hof hing, aus Palmenblättern geflochten, das Zeichen, dass Krankheit im Hause war. In zwei Nischen zu den Seiten des Tores lagen Opfer an die bösen Geister, Sirih und Reis und Blumen, damit sie den Hof nicht betreten sollten. 28 As has been mentioned, native terms are recurrent in the narration to provide authenticity and local color, but they somehow seem appropriate and do not hinder the reading due to their salience. Even if Vicki Baum does not 27 Viñas, p. 194. 28 Baum, Liebe und Tod auf Bali, p. 22. Lorena Silos Ribas 182 resort to other strategies used by bestselling authors - such as footnotes and explanations within the text 29 - when dealing with more spezialized content, she succeeds in delivering the exact amount of interesting information that seduces the reader. 2.2.4 Happy ending As in Hollywood films, bestsellers need a happy ending to please the audicence. Even if these types of narratives include death, catastrophes, pain in all forms and general distress, at the end of the day, readers must turn the last page feeling that “all is well that ends well.” And such is also the case in Vicki Baum’s novel. Even if the final chapters entail illness, sorrow and war, the fight between good and evil that encompasses this tale is effectively resolved in the end in fav our of poetic justice. The victory of good - as defined by the morals and ideology of the context 30 - is clearly shown in the main male characters: Pak and Raka. While the latter’s soul is cleansed through fire in the final battle and thus granted the opportunity of re-birth, Pak reconciles himself with his destiny and is satisfied: Der Tempel war unversehrt, trotz aller Kanonen, denn es war eine heilige Stelle, und die Götter liebten die nuen Schreine und kamen täglich hin, um unsichtbar zu rasten. Pak kniete nieder und legte die gefalteten Hände vor die Stirn, Er war nur ein einfacher Mann und zu dumm, um zu beten. Er dankte für nichts, und er bat um nichts; er spürte nur, dass alles seine Ordnung hatte un dass es kam, wie die Götter es bestimmten. Er freute sich auf den Reis für sein Abendessen, darauf, Siang und Lintang und Tanah herumzutragen, er freute sich, seine Hähne zu liebkosen und mit seinen Frauen zu schlafen. Er freute sich darauf, den Gong zu schlagen, wenn der Gamělan spielte, und mit den Männern über die wichtigen Fragen des Dorfes zu reden und neues Stroh auf seine Mauern zu breiten, und er freute sich, zu rasten und dass der Krieg vorbei war. Seine Kinder waren gestorben und sein Vater gefallen. Aber sein Herz war zufrieden mit einer Zufriedenheit, die der weiße Mann nicht kennt. 31 Liebe und Tod auf Bali and its English version for the American market, Tale of Bali, were Vicki Baum’s great success after her almost epic triumph with Menschen im Hotel and Grand Hotel, respectively. Even if one may wonder whether the readership was influenced and won over by the impact of the latter and the subsequent film version, which made the sales soar, it has been shown that Vicki Baum makes use of all the ingredients listed in the “magic” formula to write a bestseller. However, as one can very well imag- 29 Cf. Viñas, pp. 238-240. 30 Cf. Umberto Eco quoted by Viñas Piquer, p. 332. 31 Baum, Liebe und Tod auf Bali, p. 525. Selling the South Seas 183 ine, many bestselling authors have questioned the existence of such formulae and rather claim talent and effort as reasons for their success. Vicki Baum would have agreed, since she considered Liebe und Tod auf Bali her most valuable literary creation: “Besser schreiben als ich [es] diesmal getan habe, kann ich einfach nicht.” 32 Bibliography Vicki Baum: Es war alles ganz anders Berlin: Ullstein, 1962 Vicki Baum: Love and Death in Bali. Singapore: Periplus, 2011 Vicki Baum: Liebe und Tod auf Bali. Cologne: Kiepenheuer&Witsch, 2013 Julia Bertschick: „Ihr Name war ein Begriff wie Melissengeist oder Leibnizkekse“: Vicki Baum und der Berliner Ullstein Verlag. In: Walter Fähnders and Helga Karrenbrock (eds.): Autorinnen der Weimarer Republik. Bielefeld: Aisthesis, 2003, pp. 119-135 Andrea Capovilla: Entwürfe weiblicher Identität in der Moderne: Milena Jesenská, Vicki Baum, Gina Kaus, Alice Rühle-Gerstel. Oldenburg: Igel, 2004 Lynda J. King: Bestsellers by Design. Vicki Baum and the House of Ullstein. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1988 Lynda J. King: “Vicki Baum and the Making of Popular Success.” In: Women in German Yearbook, 11 (1995), pp. 151-169 Nicole Nottelmann: Die Karriere der Vicki Baum. Cologne: Kiepenheuer&Witsch, 2007 Heather Valencia: “Vicki Baum: ‘a first-rate second-rate writer’? ” In: Karl Leydecker (ed.), German Novelists of the Weimar Republic: Intersections of Literature and Politics. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2006 Adrian Vickers: Bali. A Paradise Created. Victoria: Tuttle, 1989 David Viñas Piquer: El enigma bestseller. Fenómenos extraños en el campo literario. Barcelona: Ariel, 2009 32 In a letter to her friend Peter von Anrooy quoted by Nottelmann, p. 245. Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero “Well, so I did: but yet I did not think / To show to all the world my pen and ink”: John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress as an early bestseller No list of early literary bestsellers would be complete without the mention of John Bunyan’s iconic work, The Pilgrim’s Progress. From its first publication well over three hundred years ago (1678) to this day, countless copies of the book have been sold, read, and treasured by a remarkably wide readership in many languages. It can be regarded as one of the truly great literary creations of England, while its instantaneous and then also sustained success and accessibility to such a broad contemporary readership leaves no doubt as to whether this classic text deserves to be considered a bestseller. Seventeenth-century English Puritanism gave rise to some outstanding literary exponents, such as John Milton (1608-1674) and John Bunyan (1628- 1688). Bunyan, unlike Milton, had a rural upbringing, as he informs us in Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666). It might be argued that his humble origins are Bunyan’s hallmark. The objectives of his writings are both religious and instructive. In his masterpiece, The Pilgrim’s Progress, he confirms that “I’ll shew the profit of my book“ (Bunyan 1853, 8) 1 reflecting a similar intention to that expressed by the Puritan poet John Milton at the beginning of Paradise Lost, 2 “And justify the ways of God to men.” Bunyan was a Baptist Puritan English writer who died in the year of the Glorious Revolution, when dissenters were beginning to enjoy far greater freedom than previously was granted them under the reign of Charles II. Bunyan produced much of his work during the Restoration, the period during which the exiled monarch Charles II returned to the throne of England. It is telling that Bunyan is buried in Bunhill Fields, a north London cemetery favoured by dissenters, nonconformists, and radicals; other renowned figures buried there include Daniel Defoe and William Blake. Bunyan was a Puritan who suffered religious persecution 3 and, in fact, spent many years in prison for refusing to desist from preaching without a 1 The lines included in the titles come from the same source, p. 4. 2 Preached as such in line 25 of the first book. Milton 2003, 3. 3 An example of his religious struggles can be found in his work from 1657, Some Gospeltruths Opened, whose main theme goes against the Quakers. John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress as an early bestseller 185 license. 4 His first arrest occured in 1660, when he was charged with illegal preaching in Lower Samsel (Bedfordshire). He spent more than a decade in prison and, three years after his release in 1672, he was imprisoned again. 5 Bunyan was in and out of prison for much of his adult life, the victim of an authoritarian, unforgiving system and subject to the changing currents of political and religious policy of that unsettled period. 6 The author’s religious conversion, his involvement in religious congregations, and his preaching service were hallmarks of his biography. His literary beginnings may have stemmed from his entry into the Baptist congregation in Bedford, where he began to preach in 1655. 7 He participated in community life under the spiritual guidance of Pastor John Gifford, who was succeeded by John Burton. W. R. Matthew, in his early study on Bunyan, states: “The tormented and yet victorious spirits have been creative perhaps beyond the measure of their brethren whose spiritual pilgrimage was calmer, and among their gifts to the whose body of the Church we must assign a high and permanent place to The Pilgrim’s Progress.” 8 The first part of the work was published in 1678, 9 coincidentally the same year when Andrew Marvell, the poet and politician who defended the liberties of religious dissenters, died. The second part of the work was finally published in 1684. 10 The narrator of The Pilgrim’s Progress from this World to That Which is to Come, Delivered under The Similitude of a DREAM (1678, 1684) recounts a dream he has of Christian the pilgrim, and his dangerous journey upon arriving at the Celestial Region. The book revolves around the writer’s religious conversion, describing his solitary pilgrimage, occasionally accompanied by a variety of other pilgrims. The second part outlines the journey undertaken by his family who, having initially attempted to restrain him from embarking on his pilgrimage, eventually follows his example, indicating a significant spiritual community in this case. The work is a conversion narrative, 11 reflected in his autobiographical work published in 1666 entitled Grace Abounding to the 4 His first arrest and persecution took place during the year of the Restoration, and he remained in prison until 1672. He was charged based on a law from 1593 (Elizabethan Act). See A Relation of the Imprisonment of Mr. John Bunyan, 1765. 5 In this case, Bunyan entered prison in December 1676 and remained imprisoned until June 1677. John Owen probably participated in bringing about his release (Duncan 2010: 139). 6 Waterhouse 1938: x. 7 Their doctrinal principles can be found in the work of 1659 entitled Doctrine of the Law and Grace Unfolded. 8 Matthews 1938: viii. 9 Published by Nathaniel Ponder. 10 In 1682 there appeared a spurious second part by the General Baptist Thomas Sherman (Dunan-Page 2010: xvii). The final part is entitled The Pilgrim’s Progress, A Holy Life, Seasonable Counsel, A Caution to Stir Up Against Sin (1684). 11 Smith 2010: 32. Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero 186 Chief of Sinners, which forms part of the spiritual autobiographies 12 of the seventeenth century, following “the ups-and-downs of what has been termed a ‘morphology of conversion’.” It is an ordo salutis, or order of salvation, the sequence beginning with the conviction of sin, passing through several stages towards belief, salvation and grace. 13 These aspects and their significance resulted in a text full of anthropological content. The publication of the first part was a resounding success. Blending his personal biblical perspective with his characteristic stylistic simplicity, its narrative voice proves to be unique. Allegory figures heavily in the work as a narrative technique. The text reflects a rich literary background from Aesop’s Fables to Plato’s The Republic (the allegory of the cave), as well as the work of Spenser, 14 particularly The Faerie Queene (the allegories of ”holiness,” “temperance,” etc.). In the seventeenth century, English poets produced several good examples of allegory, such as Dryden with his Absalom and Architophel, 15 published three years after The Pilgrim’s Progress. John Sutherland comments that Bunyan’s work is “a narrative” that may be considered “an allegory.” It is worth noting his assertion that “literature’s cleverest trick is to say something by means of saying something entirely different.” 16 To repeat, The Pilgrim’s Progress was a bestseller both at its time and after. In a classic edition of the work, the dean of the Saint Paul’s Cathedral, W. R. Matthews, claimed that the book is “a famous religious classic in which the work is presented without the encumbrances of references which repel the modern reader.” 17 Bunyan succeeded particularly in reaching the more humble and less scholarly readers. 18 The book ran to ten editions within the author’s lifetime, a significant indication of its immediate success. To this day, over three centuries after the writer’s death, the title has never been out of print, with thousands of copies being sold each year. 19 It seems justified, therefore, to consider Bunyan the bestselling writer of his century. 20 Bunyan kept the common reader in mind and strove to maintain a sense of universality to his narrative, like The Book of Common Prayer. Among the various edition of the book, 21 there also existed low cost, affordable ones for the poorer members of society. 22 12 Davies 2010: 73. 13 Davies 2010: 73. Two other books that deal with this topic are the study by Edmund S. Morgan (1963) and the investigation by Patricia Caldwell (1983). 14 Sutherland 2010: 88. 15 Smith 2010: 27. 16 Sutherland 2010: 88. 17 Matthews 1938: vii. 18 Sasek 1961: 44. 19 Waterhouse 1938: xi. 20 Keeble 2010: 13. 21 Spufford 1981: 74. 22 Green 2000: 445-502. John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress as an early bestseller 187 This paper explores some of the reasons why the work achieved such great success at many levels of society as well as in the emerging literary market. The first component is its simplification of key spiritual issues and questions, related in a language which is both plain and powerful. The second component is the use of allegory as a vehicle of communication, similar to certain narrative elements to be found in the Bible. The third and final component is the verisimilitude of the episodes placed before the reader through vivid imagery, despite the narrative being markedly fictional and dreamlike. First, however, we must explore the content of Bunyan’s work in order to examine later the three aforementioned aspects. As the pilgrim advances geographically, he also progresses spiritually. The protagonist begins by explaining his decision to start the pilgrimage to his family. His wife and children cry out in objection when they discover that Christian will leave his home in the City of Destruction. As well as his family, Christian finds other characters who oppose his decision, such as Obstinate and Pliable. The first eventually decides to go with him, the second does not. Christian uses the journey to talk about divine matters to Pliable. Next, he comes across Worldly Wiseman, with whom he also maintains a dialogue. Evangelist urges Christian to follow the path heading towards the Wicket-Gate where Goodwill describes the joys of the straight path to Christian. Guided by Goodwill, the protagonist moves towards the House of the Interpreter. The Interpreter delights the visitor with his symbolic representations of The Dusty Parlour, Passion and Patience, The Fire, The Palace, The Man in the Iron Cage and The Dream. Following this display he bids farewell to the Interpreter and continues on his journey. It is striking that so early on in the narrative an individual is portrayed presenting certain passages and interpreting them for the benefit of the protagonist; a preacher who represents certain ideas and breaks them down into its individual parts. This is an explicit element that identifies the relationship between the preacher and the reader. It is a technique that highlights the need for proper interpretation of the principles that the book ultimately presents. Christian leaves the house of the Interpreter and is relieved of his burden, that is, of his sins. He soon encounters three other characters, Simple, Sloth, and Presumption. The protagonist also talks to two characters named Formality and Hypocrisy. The next place the pilgrim comes to is Difficulty Hill, which he ascends. There he meets with Timorous and Mistrust, indicating that his journey is not without difficulty on both a mental and spiritual level as well as materially. An example of these difficulties is the episode of the lions. Following this, Christian arrives at the palace called Beautiful. Here, Christian recounts his journey to its inhabitants, and rests for the night. In the morning, he is given armour to wear as he continues his journey, and Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero 188 departs. He then descends into the Valley of Humiliation where he meets with Appollyon. This character represents temptation for the traveller. Appolyon tempts Christian to turn back from his pilgrimage, and challenges him when he refuses to do so. The hard-fought battle ends in victory for the protagonist, a victory that is both spiritual and material, reflecting the eternal battle between the two. Following this confrontation, the work makes reference to the religious tree of life. The next location which Christian discovers is The Valley of the Shadow of Death, a place full of danger for the pilgrim who is almost compelled to turn back. However he maintains his course and eventually meets with Faithful, and the two converse with each other. This meeting serves as an example for Christian, as Faithful recounts his life and story. He makes particular mention of his confrontation with Shame, during which meeting the two maintained a heated argument on various aspects of religion and faith. Faithful emerged victorious from this encounter and Christian congratulates him for overcoming Shame. After this acount by Faithful, the two meet Talkative, with whom they hold a lengthy conversation. Faithful describes the nature of practical religion, which upsets and offends Talkative, who says he will walk with them no further and leaves them both. Continuing on their path, Christian and Faithful meet Evangelist, who gives them encouragement and warns them of the difficulties they are sure to encounter along the way. The two pilgrims arrive next at the Town of Vanity. At this point the author goes into a detailed description of Vanity Fair, a fair which is held constantly in the town. While the fair is said not to be a novelty of Bunyan’s time but dates back to an old tradition, the picture Bunyan provides his reader contained many similarities to contemporary seventeenth-century London (particularly in terms of the burgeoning trade markets and the implied destruction of moral values). Other parts of the country may also have been reflected in this depiction, such as the market near Cambridge described by Isaac James in his 1815 work (which takes a line from Bunyan’s book). Soon after arriving in the town, the pilgrims are confronted and ridiculed. They are even beaten and imprisoned, and eventually threatened with death. Within this macro-scene, a trial takes place in which Faithful appears before Evidence. The jury convicts Faithful who is summarily executed. Finally, Christian escapes and leaves the Town of Vanity. Resuming the travel, Christian is joined by Hopeful, who is convinced that it is best to leave the town of Vanity after witnessing the recent treatment of the pilgrims and their steadfastness. They soon encounter By-Ends, who narrates his life and describes his home town of Fair-Speech and its inhabitants. During this encounter, two conflicting ideas are presented in the contrasting viewpoints of By-Ends and the pilgrims. First, By-Ends and his friends voice their opinions about religion, arguing that it should only be John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress as an early bestseller 189 taken into account when it is advantageous and favourable for the individual. Opposing this idea, Christian explains that religion must be followed in all situations, in the face of all hazards. Given this difference of opinions, Christian and Hopeful decide to forsake By-Ends and choose to walk with him no further. The two travelers soon come across Demas, who sets up several traps in their way to encourage them to turn aside from their path., but they fortunately escape his snares. Upon reaching the River of the Water of Life, the symbolism becomes quite explicit. They soon arrive at By-Path Meadow where Christian is led astray by Vain-Confidence, entering into the land of Giant Despair. This unpleasant character finds them asleep and throws them into the prison of Doubting-Castle, beating them and encouraging them to take their own lives, even going as far as to show them the bones of other visitors who had met a similar end. They manage toget away, thanks to the key called Promise, which Christian remembers he is carrying and which opens all the locked doors of the castle. After these difficulties, they ascend to the Delectable Mountains where they rejoice and sing in the company of shepherds, before continuing on their journey. Next, they encounter Ignorance and talk with this new character, who embodies those considered safe and happy without knowing and without concerning themselves with religion, without coming to a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. Christian chooses to leave him with some thoughts on which to meditate rather than to endeavor to convince him about the happiness offered by the heavenly way. Next, Christian tells the story of Little-Faith, who during his own journey was attacked by robbers. This episode highlights the contrast between people of weak faith and the sincerity and strength of true Christians. The former mistrust the divine promises, and ultimately prove hypocritical since they commit sins while being aware of their own actions. This encounter allows Bunyan to expand the idea through several mechanisms. Christian and Hopeful discuss this pernicious character, indirectly evoking the perseverance of the saints and their lives. In addition, Hopeful mentions the difference between believers and non-believers, musing on the different behaviour of some others. Behind these debates lies the pursuit of truth, lending an amicable and ultimately positive aspect to the discussion. The next characters to appear are Great-Grace, Faint-Heart, Mistrust, and Guilt. Once again, the pilgrims are beset with dangers, as in the passage where they are entangled in the snares of the Flatterer, eventually managing to escape. Further danger occurs in the encounter with Atheist, from which they also emerge victorious. Following these difficulties, they come to the Enchanted Ground, where they meet several kind pastors. The underlying Christian element in this part of the work is that worldly pleasures naturally Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero 190 exercise an influence on people. Faced with these perils, the book proposes conversion to the Christian faith as a remedy and a means to attain grace. The following scene, in fact, is the conversion of the pilgrims, which takes place in the Enchanted Ground. Next, the work presents a detailed review of the life of Hopeful in a first person narrative, recounted in a straightforward style in dialogue with Christian. Thereupon follows a conversation between the two central characters and Ignorance. In this instance, a triple conversion takes place: not only of Christian and Hopeful, but of Ignorance as well. The next place the pilgrims discover is Beulah Land, 23 which they reach after leaving the Enchanted Ground. The name of this place means “married” and symbolizes the church and its blessed state. It is at this point that the pilgrims catch sight of the Celestial City and replenish their energy in the King’s Vineyard. The two pilgrims arrive at the River of Death, which they eventually cross, Hopeful helping Christian over the crossing. The two reach the other shore and encounter two shining men who are ministering spirits sent to receive and help them. These angels then lead them up to the Gate of the City. This first part of the work culminates in three episodes. First, the reception they receive at the gates of paradise. Second, the gateway to the Celestial City. Finally, Ignorance is refused admission after which he suffers a terrible end, as he is bound by hands and feet, and carried to hell. The allegory closes with the depiction of the gates of heaven, which are the doors to a new life accessible only to those who persevere and ultimately achieve their goal. In terms of the characters, it is self-evident that their names reflect their most outstanding features. They can be divided into two groups according to whether they practice the Gospel or shun it in some way. Within the first group, there are three characters we might call true pilgrims: Christian, Faithful and Hopeful, with auxiliary characters including Evangelist, Piety and Prudence, among others. The second part of the story contains elements that reiterate events and places appearing in Christian’s initial journey. This technique, mirroring the first story in the second one, is a traditional device, as many episodes were by then familiar to the reader, thus creating an intimate relationship between the author and his audience. The second part begins by depicting the happiness of Christian upon reaching the Celestial City through the narration of Mr. Sagacity, after which the reader learns that Christiana and her children will follow in the path of their husband and 23 Beulah is a biblical name applied to the land of Israel, from Hebrew beulah, meaning "married (woman),” taken up as a given name by Puritans. John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress as an early bestseller 191 father. The protagonist is visited by an angel after whhich her children are also addressed. The first difficulty Christiana encounters comes from her neighbour Mrs. Timorous, who tries to convince her not to embark upon the journey. Help soon comes from Mercy, who decides to accompany her to the Wicket-Gate where they are warmly received on the one hand, and attacked by Enemies on the other. They then come to the House of the Interpreter who appears as The Holy Spirit, as a guide and the path to truth. 24 Concurrently, an explanation of several parables unfolds once again - just as it had occurred during Christian’s visit in the first part - such as The Man with the Muck-rake, The Spider upon the Wall, The Hen and the Chickens, The Flower Garden, The Corn Field, and The Robin and The Withered Tree. Before continuing on their pilgrimage once again, the characters appear dressed in white robes (emulating the passage in which Christian also changes his clothes). Great-Heart leads them on their new path, conversing with them and explaining - among other ideas - the nature of justice, divine forgiveness, and the joy of mercy. Upon encountering the cross, Christiana demonstrates her adoration and reverence. Arriving at the foot of the Hill Difficulty, where they drink from the fountain, the group takes a rest and cools down (at this point Formality and Hypocrisy are lost). Here they also encounter lions and are attacked by a giant, whom Great-Heart kills after a fierce battle. Later they come to the Beautiful House where they are warmly received. The dream theme reappears at this point in the story as Mercy recounts his dream. Prudence offers a catechism to Christiana’s children. Great-Heart once again guides them on their path when, suddenly, the protagonist hears singing in the grove. They descend to the Valley of Humiliation. Among the instructional content, the description given by Great-Heart of the blessings of humility is a key element of the entire narrative. Next, the pilgrims reach the place where Christian fights with Apollyon and enters into the Valley of the Shadow of Death, a place that embodies worry, fear, and danger. Great-Heart is forced to fight against a giant, whom he kills, whereupon he erects a pillar in commemoration of his victory. The pilgrims’ next encounter is with Honest, who greets them and outlines the character of Mr. Fearing (first giving an explanation before they move on to a discussion) and Self-Will, among others. They then come to the House of Gaius, who is hunting for the Giant Slay-Good in order to destroy him. They also converse with Feeble-Mind about his deliverance. Gaius offers a feast that preludes the departure of the pilgrims, at which point they are joined by Mr. Ready-to-Halt. The next place that they visit is the Town of Vanity, providing a further parallel between the two parts of the work and elucidating the design of the 24 John, vi. 45. Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero 192 author in reflecting the first work in the second one. In the city, Mr. Manson greets them and entertains them, introducing them to his friends. Great- Heart recapitulates the tribulations that they have suffered, which from a discursive point of view represents an ordering and cohesive technique of the text. They then fight against the Monster before departing from the town. The next location is the Hull Lucre where they are surrounded by beautiful mountains, reaching By-Path Meadow and attacking Doubting-Castle to free Mr. Despondency and his daughters. They finally come to the Delectable Mountains where they are welcomed by shepherds who show them both Mount Charity and the By-Way to hell. When they leave these mountains, they meet Valiant-for-Truth who explains to them his encounter with three men. The pilgrims wash his wounds, and the new character gives his reasons for also choosing to undertake the pilgrimage. Further emphasis is placed on the dialogues held between pilgrims while walking, recalling the work of Chaucer as well as the first part of the work. They then come to Enchanted Ground where they run into danger again. They meet Heedless, Too-Bold and Standfast with whom they talk about Madam Bubble and Allurements. The author’s aim is to show how believers achieve victory and grace, as described in the Gospel of St. John. 25 They begin to sing, and finally come to the Land of Beulah. Puritans believed that human beings must find the path that leads them through the narrow gate, “through Eden” or through the “enchanted land” to Beulah or the New Jerusalem. 26 At this point in the narrative, the joy of the characters is palpable. Christiana takes leave of the pilgrims and heads toward the Celestial City. Then, each of the pilgrims begins his/ her journey to the Celestial City (including Mr. Ready to Halt, Mr. Feeble Mind, Mr. Despondency, Mr. Honest and Mr. Standfast). Finally, a glorious reception of pilgrims takes place, with horses, chariots, trumpeters, pipers, singers and players, “at the beautiful gate of the city” (Bunyan 1853, 90). As José María Ruiz 27 explains, the book combines medieval biblical tradition with symbolic heroes, the emerging development of fictional characters and the “problem of religious experience illuminated by a puritanical interpretation of Christianity.” The blending of literature and religion is one of the crucial aspects that L. A. Sasek 28 emphasises, and written with immediacy and vividness, as Nigel Smith highlights. 29 25 John, v, 1. 26 Alcoriza and Lastra 2003: 11. 27 José María Ruiz 1989: 222. 28 Sasek 1961: 35. 29 Nigel Smith 2010: 29. John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress as an early bestseller 193 We now return to the hypotheses formulated at the beginning of this paper, in order to draw some conclusions. Of particular importance are the three factors mentioned above, namely domestication, allegory and veracity. This triad is arguably responsible for much of the extraordinary success which this book enjoyed. Domestication involves presenting the sublime in a familiar way. Elevated themes are illustrated comprehensibly, in the style of sermo humilis , the simplified speech devised by Latin Christian writers in late antiquity to address the general population. By this means, the author succeeds in incorporating human elements in a work of transcendental subject matter. The poetic introduction to the work closes with the following dicta: “Wouldst read thyself, and read thou know’st not what, / and yet know whether thou art blest or not, / By reading the same lines? ” (Bunyan 1853, 9). 30 Bunyan links his working method to a good understanding of the text and the benefit of the receiver, as foretold in the introductory verse: “May I not write in such a style as this? / In such a method too, and yet not miss / My end - thy good […]” (Bunyan 1853, 5). Bunyan trusts that the reader is capable of interpreting each of the messages conveyed through the allegory, demonstrated by the fact that the final poem of the first book begins thus: “Now, Reader, I have told my dream to thee, / See if thou canst interpret it to me” (Bunyan 1853, 91). He even counsels the reader to apply a correct interpretation of the dream, saying: “Take heed also that thou be not extreme / In playing with the outside of my dream” (Bunyan 1853, 91). Bunyan does not want the reader to get lost in the incidental, auxiliary and ornamental aspects of the tale; to this end he advises “Do thou the substance of my matter see,” continuing with the image through “None throws away the apple for the core” (Bunyan 1853, 91). The author encourages the reader to decode the metaphors, that is, to unravel the content hidden within the allegory. He makes clear that this is “[…] because / By metaphors I speak” (Bunyan 1853, 6). In one verse that serves as a conclusion to the first part of the story he entreats the reader to: “Turn up my metaphors and do not fail” (Bunyan 1853, 91). In this respect, Bunyan can be viewed as joining an insular tradition pioneered by Chaucer in The House of Fame. 31 Importantly, the Christian allegory 32 incorporates the sublime and the popular. Edmund Spenser’s Fairie Queene traces its complex allegory from the Book of Revelation, among other sources. In The Isle of Man, Richard Bernard employs allegory emulating The Holy Land and Bun- 30 Bunyan’s first effort as a poet came in 1661, with the publication of his poem, Profitable Meditations. This was followed two years later by his second collection of poems entitled Christian Behaviour. 31 See Torralbo-Caballero (2015). 32 Watt 1991: 54. Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero 194 yan’s text. In The Arraignment of Mr. Persecution, The Leveller Richard Overton was strongly influenced by the trial occurring in Bunyan’s Vanity Fair. 33 Roger Pooley 34 begins his monograph by focusing on the relevance of the word “dream” from the very title of the work, which has the subheading: “Delivered Under the Similitude of a Dream.” The allegorical and the oneiric appear intertwined, since the work contains allegories, dream elements as well as an interpretation of them. Bunyan’s allegorical method is associated with that of Christ’s teaching through parables. 35 In this sense, The Pilgrim’s Progress “is a Christian allegory whose hermeneutic signifying system seems to assume a life on its own.” 36 The highly allegorical aspect throughout The Pilgrim’s Progress “aligns it with an earlier tradition of prose fiction” 37 because the landscapes that later writers (like Defoe 38 ) configure are more attached to the real world. The overabundance of allegory, despite differing from later literary traditions, brings the specific content of the work closer to the receiver.The relationship between dream and reality can refer to the relationship between fiction and truth. This is an issue that reflects the development of prose and the genre of the novel 39 at this time. 40 One particular line by Bunyan offers the key to finding the truth behind the work, hinting at verisimilitude and accuracy. 41 Bunyan asks the reader: “Or would’st thou see a truth within a fable? ” (Bunyan 1853, 9). The poet returns to this idea in other verses of the book: “My dark and cloudy words, they do but hold / The truth, as cabinets in the gold” (Bunyan 1853, 7). Notably, the Puritan writer achieves accuracy and vividness in his speech without detracting from the biblical content in so doing. Bunyan’s legacy blends and connects the “frigid moralism of the common allegory with a 33 Pooley 2005: 83. 34 Pooley 2010: 80. 35 MacKeon 2005: 328. 36 MacKeon 2005: 623. 37 Sim 2010: 95. 38 Stuart Sim (2010: 95) signals that “the protagonist [Defoe’s] can make his way from York to London, and ultimately to North Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean, rather than from the City of Desctruction to the Celestial City by way of the Valley of the Shadow of Death and Vanity Fair (even if Bunyan clearly drew on his knowledge of the Bedfordshire countryside and London to construct that landscape).” 39 A good study about the work The Life and Death of Mr Badman in relation to the rise of the novel as a literary genrecan be found in the work of Stuart Sim (2010), specifically on pages 101 and 104-105. 40 Sim 2010: 95. 41 One difference between the work of Bunyan and contemporary English novels is precisely the lack of realism in the sense given by Ian Watt. Stuart Sim (2010: 95) alludes to “the patina of circumstantial and referential detail that distinguishes Defoe from his immediate predecessors, helping to establish what we now generally think of as the ‘early novel’.” John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress as an early bestseller 195 deep and significant personal spiritual experience.” 42 In the text, the sound of the Gospel rings loud and clear. Bunyan’s sources are the Bible, 43 the everyday people of his time and place, and the schooling he received in his youth. 44 According to R. W. Owens 45 “he had absorbed the language of the Bible so thoroughly that his own prose was infused in the most natural way with Biblical references, phrases and idioms.” All this has been referred to as “verbal felicity.” 46 The elements of popular culture that permeate the book, the vividness of Bunyan’s voice 47 and the simplicity of his vocabulary, riddled with biblical references that are at all times entirely intelligible to the average reader, make the work wholly understandable and accessible to a wide-ranging readership. One prologue states that “Here you will find in easily readable form, Bunyan’s clear nervous prose, his flashes of insight and humour.” 48 The reading itself is an act of redemption, of identification for a segment of readers and of salvation or an example of Christian life. The pattern of this ethical reading is non defectio sed signification. 49 The work offers aesthetic and sensual pleasure both for those reader whose motivation would be religious as well as for those whose interest might be purely finding literary entertainment. Bunyan makes the verbal medium and visual elements (symbolic, metaphorical and allegorical) work together and merge. The reader is encouraged to unravel this narrative web and discover its components through a cognitive process that adds pleasure to the reading. Metaphors and allegories stand as milestones or supports for the reader, acting as guidelines that directly help to unravel the meaning of the text. This is a reading that evokes the classics and allows the reader freedom of conscience, applying the principles that Bunyan’s predecessor, Milton, preached regarding religious literature in his work Areopagitica. 50 To conclude, it seems beyond question that The Pilgrim’s Progress stands as one of the true bestsellers in the history of English literature. Bunyan was no 42 Matthews 1938: vii. 43 For this source and the intertext, see W. R. Owens’s “John Bunyan and the Bible” (2010 39-50). 44 Waterhouse 1938: ix. 45 Owens 2010: 49. 46 Mathews 1993: vii. 47 The appeal of the dialogues is also present in the other work of Bunyan from 1680 (The Life and Death of Mr. Badman) in which we encounter the figures Christians, Wiseman, and Attentive modeled on the exemplary life of Badman as a guideline. In this case it is a counter-Pilgrim’s Progress, as the progress of an anti-Christian does (Sim 2010: 96). 48 Waterhouse 1938: xi. 49 Alcoriza and Lastra 2003: 11. 50 See Torralbo-Caballero 2014: 61-73. Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero 196 scholar as was Milton, and he did not possess the linguistic proficiency of the London-born poet. The relative simplicity of the language in his narrativehad the effect of making the text immediately accessible to a larger English audience (as was the case with the works by Chaucer and Shakespeare) among his contemporaries, which it would not have achieved had it been penned in French or Latin, which were two languages exlusively used by the highly literate and educated population (clergy and aristocracy). Even though the level of illiteracy was still very high at his time, the fact that the work became a bestseller is even more impressive. 51 Crucially, The Pilgrim’s Progress is a book written in the vernacular, intended to reach the majority of the population in England. The work is full of human interest. The act of progress through life involves change (trauma and its overcoming) that convinces the reader through plain yet varied language. In this regard, Bunyan stands alongside such luminaries as St. Paul, St. Augustine, and Luther, “with those Christians who have found peace only after deep conflict and have celebrated, in their different manners, the triumph of God’s grace.” 52 The work also reflects Bunyan’s lyrical side, since it is preceded by his apology in verse, a grand poem in heroic couplets and a reflection of this popular verse form cultivated by Dryden and then by Pope, 53 among others. The conclusion of the first part also contains several lines of verse, as does the start of the second part. The author incorporates an emotional touch in his work, the function of which is related to that of the biblical Psalms. The influence that the story has exerted on other writers also reflects the success and continued survival of this bestseller, as may be seen in the work of Aphra Behn 54 (Love Letters Between a Nobleman and his Sister) or Daniel Defoe (Robinson Crusoe 55 ) among others. The interpretation of life in allegorical terms and the self-analysis are common components in Bunyan’s works and in other narratives and novels of his time. 56 Bunyan’s influence can also be observed in some texts by Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist, The Parish Boy’s Progress), W. M. Thackeray (Vanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero), Mark Twain (The Innocents Abroad, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 57 ), E. E. Cummings (The 51 Waterhouse 1938: xi. 52 Matthews 1938: viii. 53 Torralbo 2013: 96-100, 135-142. 54 Behn’s book “seems intelligible as pornography just as Bunyan’s allegory was being read as a novel” (MacKeon 2005: 489). 55 There are interesting parallels between the Giant Despair of Bunyan and the Island Despair in Defoe’s work from 1719 (Sim 2010: 95). 56 Watt 1957: 75-85. 57 The protagonist of Twain refers to the work of Bunyan in these terms: “about a man that left his family, it didn’t say why. I read considerable in it now and then. The statement was interesting, but tough” (Twain 1962: 83). Embarking on a journey or pilgrimage, leaving the family is also what Huckleberry Finn does. John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress as an early bestseller 197 Enormous Room), N. Hawthorne (The Celestial Railroad) or Robert Lowell (“Beyond the Alps”). Anne Duncan-Page infers that those who came into contact with Bunyan’s work (readers, publishers, anonymous authors and famous writers) set the canon and “kept Bunyan’s memory and work alive until the Romantics and the Victorians transformed the thinker of Bedford into one of the great icons of the nineteenth century.” 58 Bunyan’s work has appeared in countless editions. 59 A bestseller in its original language, as well as in various translated versions, Bunyan’s work is read, understood, and studied by ordinary citizens interested in literature, by devout believers who understand the book in terms of their own spiritual needs, as well as by academic scholars who regard it as a key work in the progress of English prose. 60 The profound yet simple piety of Bunyan with its modern sophistication and its directness paved the way for the great literary revolution of the coming century - the invention of the English novel. 61 Bunyan, “along with Pepys, tends to confirm how they both are great amateurs without literary pretensions, not professional writers, who best develop the genre in the Restoration, unwittingly preparing the ground for the rise of the novel in the eighteenth century.” 62 Bunyan paved new ways for English literature, which would subsequently and naturally contribute to the emergence of the modern novel. Bibliography Alcoriza, Javier & Antonio Lastra: “Introducción.” In John Bunyan, El progreso del peregrino. Madrid: Cátedra, 2003, pp. 9‒43. Bunyan, John: The Pilgrim’s Progress From This World to That Which is to Come; Delivered under the Similitude of a Dream. Auburn where is this? Derby and Miller, 1853. Caldwell, Patricia: The Puritan Conversion Narrative: The Beginnings of American Expression. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983. 58 Anne Dunan-Page 2010: 148. 59 The reception of Bunyan’s work in the years immediately following his death is one of the topics of Anne Dunan-Page’s study (2010) in which she observes, for instance, that “the early reception is essentially the story of his transformation into the pastoral giant of the eighteenth century” (Dunan-Page 2010: 147), adding that “as readers began to forget about Bunyan’s fiercest controversies, they became fascinated by the minutiae of his personal life and eager to hear time and again of the miraculous conversion of an illiterate man” (Dunan-Page 2010: 148). Another chapter that should be considered is that of Isabel Hofmeyr (2010) entitled “Bunyan: Colonial, Postcolonial” which addresses the voyage of his legacy from the nineteenth century to the twenty-first century. 60 Hammond and Regan 2006: 12, Jiménez-Heffernan 2007: 36 61 Matthews 1938: vii. Sim 2010: 104-106. 62 Dietz 1989: 14. Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero 198 Davies, Michael: “Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners: John Bunyan and spiritual autobiography.” In The Cambridge Companion to Bunyan, ed. Anne Dunan-Page. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, 67-79. Dietz, Bernd: El progreso del libertino, John Wilmot, conde de Rochester. La Laguna: Secretariado de Publicaciones de la Universidad de La Laguna 1989. Dietz, Bernd: “Introducción” to Estudios literarios ingleses: La Restauración. Madrid: Cátedra, 1989, pp. 9-15. Dunan-Page, Anne: “Posthomous Bunyan: Early Lives and the Development of the Canon.” In The Cambridge Companion to Bunyan, ed. Anne Dunan-Page. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp. 137-149. Green, Ian: Print and Protestantism in Early Modern England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Hammon, Brian & Shaun Regan: Making the Novel. Fiction and Society in Britain, 1660- 1789. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. Hofmeyr, Isabel: “Bunyan: Colonial, Postcolonial.” In The Cambridge Companion to Bunyan, ed. Anne Dunan-Page. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2010, pp. 162-176. Jiménez Heffernan, Julián: De mostración. Ensayos sobre descompensación narrativa. Madrid, Antonio Machado Libros, 2007. Keeble, N. H.: “John Bunyan’s Literary Life.” In: The Cambridge Companion to Bunyan, ed. Anne Dunan-Page. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 13-25. MacKeon Michael: The Secret History of Domesticity. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. Matthews, W. R.: “Introduction.” In John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, ed. E. W. Walters. London: Duckworth, 1938, pp. vii-viii. Mason, Emma: “The Victorians and Bunyan’s Legacy.” In The Cambridge Companion to Bunyan, ed. Anne Dunan-Page. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2010, pp. 150-161. Milton, John: Paradise Lost, ed. John Leonard. London: Penguin, 2000. Morgan, Edmund S.: Visible Saints: The History of Puritan Idea. New York: Hardcover Publisher, 1963. Murray, Shannon: “A Book for Boys and Girls: Or, Country Rhimes for Children: Bunyan and Literature for Children.” In The Cambridge Companion to Bunyan, ed. Anne Dunan-Page. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp. 120-134. Owens, W. R: “John Bunyan and the Bible.” In The Cambridge Companion to Bunyan, ed. Anne Dunan-Page. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp. 39-50. Pooley, Roger: The Pilgrim’s Progress and the Line of Allegory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, 80-94. Ruiz, José María: “La prosa de John Bunyan.” In Estudios literarios ingleses: La Restauración, ed. Bernd Dietz Madrid: Cátedra, 1989, pp. 221-244. Sasek, L.A.: The Literary Temper of English Puritans. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1961. Sim, Stuart: “Bunyan and the Early Novel: The Life and Death of Mr Badman.” In The Cambridge Companion to Bunyan, ed. Anne Dunan-Page. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp. 95-106. Smith, Nigel: “John Bunyan and Restoration Literature.” In The Cambridge Companion to Bunyan, ed. Anne Dunan-Page. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp. 26-38. John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress as an early bestseller 199 Spufford, Margaret: Small Books and Pleasant Histories. London: Methuen, 1981. Sutherland, John: 50 Literature Ideas You Rally Need to Know. London: Quercus Publishing Plc., 2010. Torralbo-Caballero, Juan de Dios: Una nueva poesía en la literatura inglesa: Dryden y Pope. Sevilla: Alfar, 2013. Torralbo-Caballero, Juan de Dios: “Areopagitica, “The First Tidings and Trumpet of Reformation to all Europe”: Law, Praxis and Defense of Freedom,” Central European Political Science Review 56 (2014), pp. 61-73. Torralbo-Caballero, Juan de Dios: “Self-Fashioning and Personal Identity in Chaucer’s The House of Fame.” In New Medievalisms, ed. Javier Martín-Párraga and Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars, (forthcoming). Twain, Mark: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, ed. Hodson Long. New York: Norton, 1962. Watt, Ian: The Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding. London: Chatto & Windus, 1957. Watt, Tessa: Cheap Print and Popular Piety, 1550-1640. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. Waterhouse, E. S.: “Introduction.” In John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, ed. E. W. Walters. London: Duckworth, 1938, pp. ix-xii. Juan Miguel Zarandona Vincent Mulberry’s Claudio y la Tabla Redonda (1976) or the Hidden Truths of the Translation / Adaptation of an English Original into a Spanish Bestselling Comic Book 1 1 Introduction In 1976, legendary Spanish publishing house Editorial Bruguera offered its younger readers a 32‒page comic book entitled Claudio y la Tabla Redonda [Claudio and the Round Table]. It was part of a very ambious series of 170 volumes translating the best of international literary classics into Spanish and adapting them to the hybrid comic format of text and illustration, this time addressing teenagers and young adults. Examples of the entire series included celebrities such as Jules Verne, Charles Dickens, Daniel Defoe, Karl May, James Fenimore Cooper, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain, Captain Marryat, Jonathan Swift, Alexandre Dumas, Walter Scott, Nikolai Gogol, Emilio Salgari and many others. But Claudio y la Tabla Redonda was very different from most of the previous issues. Vincent Mulberry was the supposed name of its original author. But there is no such writer in the history of world literature. Consequently, there is no English language original either. We know today that Víctor Mora Pujadas (1931-), the great Spanish classic comic author, was the main person responsible for this translationadaptation process. He was indeed the author of the texts of this graphic book in collaboration with some other colleagues as illustrators, and he only pretended to serve as a translator. As Gideon Toury observed years ago, the true identity of pseudotranslators is usually discovered really quickly. Víctor Mora was not an unknown figure in 1976, but already a legend. Together with Miguel Ambrosio, nicknamed Ambrós, (1913-1992), he had published, for many years, the most popular Spanish comic of all time: El Capitán Trueno, a medieval fiction hero of Spain. Mora and Ambrós never acknowledged that they followed the model comic of Harold Foster’s Prince Valiant in the Times of King Arthur (1937-) very closely. They did not include the British King Arthur or Merlin, 1 This chapter was originally a paper presented at the International Conference on Translators and (Their) Authors, held at the University of Tel Aviv, Israel, 7‒8 May 2013. Vincent Mulb e rry’s Claudio y la Tabla Redonda (1976) 201 Camelot or the Round Table, among their characters, places, motifs or objects, as Harold Foster did, but purposefully nationalized them all to make them fully Spanish. In contrast, this makes Arthurian Claudio y la Tabla Redonda a unique product in the history of the Spanish national comic tradition: it is one of the few openly Arthurian products that Spanish comic tradition has known. As Toury also noted, there is always a specific reason behind any instance of pseudo-translation. However, our effort to discover the specific reason may be frequently subject to much speculation. What were the circumstances that made Mora hide himself behind the name of Vincent Mulberry? Was it the rules of the series or the wish to write and draw a fully Arthurian story? Consequently, this chapter will comment and elaborate on, and answer, if possible, all these points of interest, questions and surprising oddities in more detail. Bestselling Editorial Bruguera will be the focus of our discussion in the next section. 2 Bestselling Editorial Bruguera Editorial Bruguera was founded by Juan Bruguera Teixidó (1890-1933) in Barcelona in 1910, then named El Gato Negro (The Black Cat). Eventually, the venture was to become the most successful Spanish publisher of comics and all types of popular, bestselling literature. The project survived the death of the founder in 1933; the takeover by his two sons, Pantaleón and Francisco Bruguera; the Spanish Civil War, when, although publishing was not totally interrupted, the company facilities were occupied and run by a revolutionay committee of workers; and its renaming in 1939 when Bruguera was finally officially known by the family surname as Editorial Bruguera. But everything changed dramatically and for the better in 1947 after World War II had ended and peace had returned to Europe. Bruguera just boomed thanks to its comics, national or international, in translation, and in all possible formats (strips, magazines, 2 graphic books, etc.), and it also boomed because its many fictional texts belonged to the most popular gen- 2 The Spanish comics in magazine format were called tebeos due to a pioneer weekly publication dating from 1917, entitled TBO, which established a new kind of light, humorous periodical, including short stories, historietas (comic strips) and pastimes for children. This series lasted until 1998, but was finally bought by Bruguera in 1986. The first tebeo by Editorial Bruguera itself, Pulgarcito, was published in 1921. It continued for decades and was the first of more than twenty other (DDT, Tiovivo, etc.) extremely popular and profitable tebeo series (colecciones de tebeos) by the same publishing house that managed to establish an almost perfect monopoly among Spanish reading audiences. Juan Miguel Zarandona 202 res: Western, sentimental, detective or science fiction novels, etc. 3 Employing many different series, its first target was the younger and juvenile audiences, but it also specialized in cheap pocket books for all readers, and turned them into a popular concept in the second half of 20th‒century Spain. In this way, for example, it helped make the national, foreign and contemporary classics everyday companions, i.e., affordable reading material for the greater audiences for the first time. Consequently, in the heyday of its success, Bruguera reached the status of a multinational company, with branches in countries such as Portugal (in Europe) and Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela (in Latin America). It had its own production sites, bookshops, distribution and advertising networks, etc. Bruguera established a type of monopoly in their publishing business and among the target readership, where no other company could dream of competing for many years. However, no success story lasts forever. In 1986, the company was dissolved after a number of financial defaults, among other business problems. The devastating economic crisis in Latin American in those years, where Bruguera had invested heavily, took its toll, and the corporation as a whole was sold to another publishing house, Grupo Zeta, which inherited the immense Bruguera archives and catalogue. In 2006, the new owner attemped a resurrection of the label, called Ediciones B, but it was short-lived. The former success could not be repeated. However, it has never been completely shut down, as many old Bruguera hightlights are still published from time to time as Ediciones B, but this is incomparable with what it (Ediciones B) was intended to be. 4 However, the old Bruguera Mexican branch survived the demise and is still distributing the old publications in the Americas, including the USA. 3 The Spanish popular collective imaginary is dominated by many Bruguera names and titles such as Marcial Lafuente Estefanía (Western), Corín Tellado (sentimental), Sissi (1959) or Celia (1963) (women’s writing), national (El Capitán Trueno) or international (French-Belgian Asterix the Gaul, Blueberry) comic books, etc. 4 The tebeos are still the most profitable, bestselling Bruguera products ever, with an unavoidable cast of classic tebeo authors, titles and characters that include: José Peñarroya (1910-1975): Don Pío (1947), Gordito Relleno (1948); Guillermo Cifré (1922-1962): Don Furcio Buscabollos (1947), El repórter Tribulete (1947); Miguel Bernet Toledado, Jorge (1921-1960): Doña Urraca (1948), Doña Filo y sus hermanas (1959); José Escobar (1908- 1994): Carpanta (1947), Zipi y Zape (1948); Carlos Conti Alcántara (1916-1975): Apolino Tarúguez, hombre de negocios (1944), El loco Carioco (1949); Manuel Vázquez (1930-1995): Las hermanas Gilda (1949), La familia Cebolleta (1951), Anacleto, agente secreto (1965); Gustavo Martínez Gómez, Martz Schmidt (1922-1998): El doctor Cataplasma (1953), Troglodito (1957), El profesor Tragacanto y su clase que es de espanto (1959); Enric de Manuel González, Enrich (1929- ): El caco Bonifacio (1957); Roberto Segura (1927-): Rigoberto Picaporte (1959); and the most successful Bruguera author and series ever, Francisco Ibáñez (1936-) with his Mortadelo y Filemón (1958), different adaptions of which have been made for the big screen. Vincent Mulb e rry’s Claudio y la Tabla Redonda (1976) 203 Claudio y la Tabla Redonda can be regarded as a most typical Bruguera publication because it was popular, juvenile, graphic, fully entertaining, and, hence, bestselling. 5 3 A comic book entitled ... What you see, when reading (and watching) 6 this comic book entitled Claudio y la Tabla Redonda, is an attractive tebeo or short comic book, or comic magazine, 7 that strikes the eye for its subject matter, format and promise of providing entertainment and a pleasant reading experience. It was also a 5 The products of the so-called Escuela Bruguera (Bruguera School) were always easily recognizable, especially its tebeos: humoristic, entertaining, satirical, and urban in their contents and approach; firstly targeted at younger generations but able to appeal to all age groups; minimalist in drawing techniques and faithful to a repeated narrative structure. For further details, see Antonio Altarriba: La España del tebeo. La historieta española de 1940 a 2000. Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid: Espasa Calpe, 2001; Jesús Cuadrado: Atlas español de la cultura popular. Madrid: Ediciones Sinsentido - Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez, 2000; Antoni Guiral: 100 años de Bruguera. De Gato Negro a Ediciones B. Barcelona 2010; Antoni Guiral et al.: Del tebeo al manga. Una historia de los cómics. Vols. 1‒9. Torroella de Montgrí, Girona, Spain: Panini Cómics, 2002-2011; Antoni Guiral: Cuando los cómics se llamaban tebeos. La escuela de Bruguera (1945‒1963). Barcelona: Editorial El Jueves, 2004; Antonio Martín-Martínez: Historia del cómic español 1875-1939. Barcelona: Editorial Gustavo Gili, 1978; Antonio Martín-Martínez: Los inventores del cómic español 1873-1900. Barcelona: Planeta De Agostini, 2000; Ana Merino: El cómic hispánico. Madrid: Cátedra, 2003; Terenci Moix: Historia social del cómic. Barcelona: Ediciones B, 2007; Juan Antonio Ramírez: La historieta cómica de posguerra. Madrid: Editorial Cuadernos para el Diálogo, 2012; Tino Regueira: Guía visual de la Editorial Bruguera (1940‒1988). Barcelona: Ediciones Glenat, 2005; Pedro Porcel Torrens: Tragados por el abismo. La historieta de aventuras en España. Castalla, Alicante, Spain: Edicions de Ponent, 2010. 6 Comics belong to the wider world of “picture books,” to the special type of literature that provides equal importance to texts and pictures; in other words, to the two levels of communication, the verbal or symbolic signs, those that narrate, and the visual or iconic signs, those that describe or represent. When we approach them, close reading means, more frequently than not, close watching. And the unavoidable tension between these two functions creates unlimited possibilities for interaction between word and image. This is the secret weapon of comics, the one that makes them irresistible: words create new meanings and expectations for the images, whereas images empower and expand words. See Maria Nikolajeva and Carole Scott: “Introduction.” In How Picturebooks Work. New York: Garland, 2000, pp. 1-6; Federico Zanettin: “1 Comics in Translation: An Overview.” In: Comics in Translation, ed. id. Manchester, UK: St Jerome, 2008, pp. 12‒13. 7 The series that included this volume, Joyas Literarias Juveniles, can be regarded, according to its length of 32 pages, as something between a comic magazine and a comic book. However, as all the volumes adapt former books, mainly novels, to the comic format, I have decided to use the term “comic book” throughout. Juan Miguel Zarandona 204 bestselling product first published in 1976, in Barcelona, and by Editorial Bruguera. All its sections prove this. It consists of 32 main pages, the inner title page and the story itself, and front and back covers that will be analyzed in detail below. 3.1 The back-cover pages Claudio y la Tabla Redonda, the comic book itself, boasts of colourful, spectacular front and back covers that require independent study. 3.1.1 The front cover The comic book that attracts our attention here, Claudio y la Tabla Redonda, exhibits a spectacular front cover. At the top, there is a band, two thirds of which is used to present the title and the name of the author of the original book adapted for producing this volume. It also advertises that the comic includes 300 colourful illutrations (all the comic vignettes), which is something clearly expected when you happen to deal with a comic book publication. The remaining third is reserved for the name of the series, “Joyas Literarias Juveniles” (Literary Jewels for Juvenile Readers), 8 which just displays a most typical Bruguera business approach, and the surprisingly low price, 25 pesetas at the time. The rest of the page displays a most beautiful and symbolic illustration - a colourful and appealing representation of nature, architecture, and human characters in good harmony. To the left, readers can contemplate Claudio, a young Spanish knight, and his Viking or Nordic lady, Brunild, both original additions to the stock of Arthurian characters established by the King Arthur tradition. Next to Claudio, we can see Merlin with both his arms equally raised as if totally concentrated to perform his arts. His long white hair and beard correspond with his traditional look. Behind Brunild there is another lady, the powerful Lady of the Lake, displaying a very special countenance, something between threatening and being threatened by an undefined menace. It is a disquieting, nightly scene. The moon is full, the sky is black, and the landscape looks like a wasteland. Finally, a huge, neo-medieval, romantic castle surrounded by purple waters features prominently in the background. It happens to be Camelot. But it is not only the impressive artistic qualities of the drawing that deserve to be highlighted. It must also be emphasized that this Arthurian front cover is a unique example, a rarity in the history of Spanish comics. In a previous study, I show how unusual original Arthurian subject matters or 8 Claudio y la Tabla Redonda (1976) is issue 54 within this series. Vincent Mulb e rry’s Claudio y la Tabla Redonda (1976) 205 motifs were in the Spanish comic tradition. 9 This illustration, for its size and scope, is probably one of the best depictions of Arthuriana in Spanish tebeos. And this is a fact that can only be regarded as a spectacular added value to this front cover - a jewel in a series devoted to literary jewels, Joyas Literarias Juveniles. 3.1.2 The back cover The back cover is divided into three different sections. At the top of the page, a band shows and highlights, and consequently advertises, the first four covers of the series, corresponding to books by Jules Verne (Michael Strogoff, 20.000 Leagues under the Sea); Charles Dickens (A Tale of Two Cities) and Robert L. Stevenson (Treasure Island), also turned into comic books. One band lists the 170 titles comprising the series, Joyas Literarias Juveniles, some already published, some soon to be published. And a final band at the bottom of the page identifies the publisher, Bruguera, its address, the capitals of the countries where it had branches in addition to Barcelona (Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Mexico City), the ISBN, the legal deposit numbers and the names of those who claim authorship and copyright: Antonio Bernal Romero, Víctor Mora Pujadas and Juan José Ubeda Fuentes. The listing, or catalogue, can only be called a very ambitious project that still surprises today, since it includes many of the most famous world writers of travel and adventure literature, all very popular among juvenile readers, originating from many countries and writing originally in many different languages, although English is the main source language. Jules Verne was the clear star of the series as 35 issues were devoted to adapting his works. Other brilliant authors were R. L. Stevenson (5), Charles Dickens (8), Mark Twain (6), Walter Scott (6), Karl May (13), Emilio Salgari (17), Mayne Reid (7), Louise May Alcott (5), and so forth, up to a total of 54 different writers. 10 9 Juan Miguel Zarandona: “The Treatment of the Character of Merlin in the Spanish Comic El Aguilucho (1959) by Manuel Gago (1925-1980).“ In: Eva Parra-Membrives and Albrecht Classen (eds.): Literatur am Rand/ Literature on the Margin. Popular Fiction Studies 1. Tübingen: Narr Verlag, 2013, pp. 279‒292. 10 Other names, some slightly adapted to Spanish, include: Lewis Wallace, Daniel Defoe, Fenimore Cooper, Enrique Sienkiewicz, Erchmann-Chatrian, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Joseph Lacier, Johann Rudolf Wyss, Capitán Marryat. E. Bulwer Lytton, Paul Feval, W. O’Connor, Hector Malot, Norman R. Stinnet, George Witting, Howard Stanley, Ch. C. Harrison, R. M. Ballantyne, Enrico Farinacci, Vincent Mulberry, M. M. Astrain, Alphonse Daudet, Nicolás Gogol, Edmondo d’Amicis, Alejandro Dumas, Alfred Assollant, R. M. Ballantyne, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Ch. Harrison, Miguel de Cervantes, Enrique Conscience, Canónigo Ch. Schmid, Friedrich Schiller, Juana Spyri, Johathan Swift, Cassarel, Herman Melville, Aldo Bruneti, Lewis Carroll, K. F. Münchhausen, H. Rider Haggard, Jack London, H. de la Vaulzx, A. Galopin and Marco Polo. Juan Miguel Zarandona 206 Regarding the copyright holders, Antonio Bernal Romero (1924-2013) was a famous illustrator who specialized in spectacular front covers such as the one which he provided for Claudio y la Tabla Redonda. Both Víctor Mora Pujadas (1931-), as writer, and Juan José Úbeda Fuentes (1925-1992), as illustrator, worked together in order to produce the main pages of the adapted story. Úbeda Fuentes was one of the most prolific artists who took part in the Bruguera Joyas Literarias Juveniles project. 11 3.2 The Author, Vincent Mulberry This series, Joyas Literarias Juveniles, includes three titles by Vincent Mulberry, supposedly an Anglo-American talent well deserving a place among the greatest who devoted their time and talent to the benefit and pleasure of young adults or juvenile readers of all ages. In order of appearance, Mulberry features in issues 49, Hacia el Zambesi [Toward the Zambezi], 54, our Claudio y la Tabla Redonda, and 59, La isla de nunca más [The Island of Never More]. However, no such writer has ever been recorded in any history of literature. There is no Vincent Mulberry and nobody by that name ever wrote such stories of legends and adventures for young people. In short, Víctor Mora Pujades was not the adapter-translator of an original fiction novel about the adventures of Claudio, a new Spanish knight of the Round Table, but the original author of the comic, with the help of both illustrators: Antonio Bernal Romero and Juan José Úbeda Fuentes. When writers do not reveal their name, for whatever reason, we use the term “pseudonym,” but here we are dealing with a more complex phenomenon because two other factors are also involved: translation and adaptation. 3.2.1 Pseudo-translator, pseudo-adapter, pseudo-writer In his now classic monograph, Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond (1995), Gideon Toury included a chapter on what he called pseudotranslations or fictitious translations, which have been quoted repeatedly ever since by analyzers of this phenomenon. He defined it as applying to those texts that have been presented as translations with no corresponding source texts in other languages - hence, there are no factual transfer operations and translation relationships. These texts are paradoxical products as they can be studied and approached as pseudo-translations only when the truth has been uncovered and the status that they were intended to hold (of 11 Although the series Joyas Literarias Juveniles was published mainly in the 1970s, it staged a comeback in the 1990s, when a local Catalan newspaper, El Periódico de Catalunya, re-edited and gave free copies of the original issues together as one of its Sunday supplements. Vincent Mulb e rry’s Claudio y la Tabla Redonda (1976) 207 translated texts) no longer exists. What is left, however, is an endless wealth of possible questions about why such a disguised mode of presentation was selected, why such language, cultural or literary tradition was chosen to fabricate an original text, how it managed to pass for a genuine translation and for how long, etc. The research possibilities are endless, especially when it is acknowledged that pseudo-translating has never been only a marginal practice in the history of translation as a whole, as claimed by Toury and by many of his supporters. 12 Claudio y la Tabla Redonda is a clear example of a pseudo-translated comic book, supposedly originating in a fictional work by a non-existent writer, Vincent Mulberry. The intriguing question is why this happened. Gideon Toury offers the following three possible explanations: a) to disguise own works as translation has historically been a convenient way of introducing novelties into a culture without arousing much antagonism, especially in cultures reluctant to deviate from sanctioned models and norms, because translations are often received with greater tolerance; b) authors’ fears of censorial measures against them or their work; and c) a multitude of individual decisions very difficult to trace or explain. Which decision(s) determined the fate of this text? Our conclusion will aim to provide possible answers. 13 Toury also adds that pseudo-translators always do their best to adjust and incorporate in their texts features that are associated with translations in the target culture, thus enhancing the resemblance of the texts to genuine translation and, in this regard, their works belong to the field of Translation Studies despite their fictitious nature. 14 Consequently, Claudio y la Tabla Redonda, although not a translation, but a pseudo-translation, was published in a long series of translated comic books, adjusted to its context, which had to do its best to seem to be a translation, more so than a genuine translation. Because of this, Claudio y la Tabla Redonda, as a pseudo-translation, lies within the scope of Translation Studies, among other fields of study. Claudio y la Tabla Redonda also pretends to be an “adaptation,” a label that refers to the transformation from a fictional text (novel) into a comic book. 15 12 Gideon Toury: “Excursus A. Pseudotranslations and Their Significance.” In: Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1995, pp. 40-41. 13 Gideon Toury, “Excursus A. Pseudotranslations and Their Significance,” pp. 41-43. 14 Gideon Toury, “Excursus A. Pseudotranslations and Their Significance,” pp. 45-46. 15 For further comments on the nature of adaptation and its blurring of the borders between translation proper and adaptation, see Georges L. Bastin: Traducir o adaptar. Caracas: Universidad Central de Venezuela, 1998; Georges L. Bastin: “Adaptation.” In: Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha (eds.): Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. London and New York: Routledge, 2009, 3‒6; Linda Hutcheon: A Theory of Adaptation. New York: Routledge, 2006; Julie Sanders: Adaptation and Appropriation. London and New York: Routledge, 2006; Juan Miguel Zarandona: “Mulatto (1931) by Langston Juan Miguel Zarandona 208 The fact that the novel was supposedly written originally in a foreign language, requiring a combination of interlinguistic (English-Spanish? ) and intersemiotic (from novel to comic) translations to make the adaptation process possible or, to be more precise, the adaptation from the original source text into the hybrid product of text and illustration combined that characterizes the comic medium 16 and adds more fascinating overtones to Claudio and the Round Table as an artistic product. It is not only a pseudo-translation, but also a pseudo-adaptation, as there was no source text from which to derive the adapted text. Finally, although this cannot be applied in full to the illustrators, as the existence of an original comic version of the pseudo-translated or pseudoadapted comic was never claimed, keeping their originality status unaffected, the truth is that Víctor Mora, the writer, is not only a pseudo-translator and a pseudo-adapter, but also a pseudo-writer, as both Antonio Bernal and Juan Úbeda were, because they translated into a different semiotic communication system and adapted into another artistic medium. Víctor Mora’s status is even more complex than the status of his illustrators. The extent of the “fake work” is greater in his case, and he could probably never be regarded as the author or writer of Claudio y la Tabla Redonda, but only its pseudo-author or pseudo-writer. 3.3 The title, Claudio y la Tabla Redonda Claudio y la Tabla Redonda recounts the story of a young man from outside of Britain who reaches this country, eventually joins the Round Table, and becomes one of the knights of King Arthur at Camelot. This general plot reminds any connoisseur of the classic master comic Prince Valiant in the Times of King Arthur (1937-), the earliest and most famous comic book series on Arthurian subject matters, by Canadian-born Harold Foster (1892-1982) Hughes (1902-1967) and Mulato (1963) by Alfonso Sastre (1926- ): Translation, Adaptation or New Creation, or the Need for a More Comprehensive Concept of Adaptation.” In: Eva Parra-Membrives, Miguel Ángel García Peinado, and Albrecht Classen (eds.): Aspects of Literary Translation. Building Linguistic and Cultural Bridge[s] in Past and Present (Translation, Text, and Interferences 1). Tübingen: Narr Verlag, 2012, pp. 235‒250. 16 Comics, as multimedia texts, fall under the scope of the so-called field of “constrained translation,” a difficult modality characterized by a limited freedom to translate the written text due to interferences between the two semiotic systems. Translated words must continue to match the drawings with which they create an inseparable unity. See Fede-rico Zanettin: “1 Comics in Translation: An Overview,” Comics in Translation, ed. Fede-rico Zanettin, Manchester, UK: St. Jerome, 2008, pp. 20-21. Vincent Mulb e rry’s Claudio y la Tabla Redonda (1976) 209 and his continuators. 17 Whereas Valiant is from Scandinavia, 18 Claudio is from Spain. Harold Foster’s Prince Valiant found many imitators in Spain who followed the same successful formula, the main ingredients of which were: 1) the same legendary, romanticized, anachronistic Middle Ages, but always set in medieval Spain; 2) continuous action and an unstoppable succession of adventures across the five continents and the seven seas; and 3) the modern fully developed technique of making comics showing a more perfect complementarity between texts and illustrations, etc. Manuel Gago (1925-1980) must be mentioned in the first instance, and his Guerrero del Antifaz [Masked Warrior], which consisted of 688 issues published between 1944 and 1966. 19 Second place must go to Capitán Trueno [Captain Thunder], the most legendary Spanish comic ever, published between 1956 and 2005, written by our Víctor Mora Pujadas, and illustrated by the aforementioned Miguel Ambrosio and Ambrós, among others, who continued his work. 20 Both Spanish heroes competed for the attention of Spanish younger readers for many years. But their real competitor was Prince Valiant, their unacknowledged source, model and inspiration. They succeeded in preventing Prince Valiant from being fully translated into Spanish for many years. 21 Nevertheless, no matter how many intertextualities can be identified between Guerrero and Trueno, on the one hand, and Valiant, on the other, neither Spanish comic is set in the time of King Arthur despite the abundant and strong similarities. From time to time, we can read and see some Arthurian motifs, mainly names and objects that were impossible to avoid. Consequently, it seems that Spain has never produced a full comic book series dealing directly with the matter of Britain. 22 Guerrero and Trueno liked the formula, imitated it and were successful in doing so, but they also created their own national heroes and subject matters, which is a characteristic trend inSpanish literature as a whole from the Middle Ages until today. Additionally, both Guerrero and Trueno were created and produced during the long 17 Harold Rudolf Foster et al.: Príncipe Valiente 1937-2011. Vols. 1-75. Edited by Carlos Palomar. Translated by José Miguel Pallares. Barcelona: Planeta De Agostini, 2011- 2012. 18 Brian M. Kane (Ed.): The Definite Prince Valiant Companion. Foreword by Brian Walker. Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics Books, 2009. 19 Manuel Gago: El Guerrero del Antifaz. 34 vols. Barcelona: Planeta De Agostini, 2002. 20 Víctor Mora and Manuel Ambrosio, Ambrós: El capitán Trueno. 18 vols. Barcelona: Ediciones B, 2006. 21 See Juan Miguel Zarandona: “The Treatment of the Character of Merlin in the Spanish Comic El Aguilucho (1959) by Manuel Gago (1925-1980).” In: Eva Parra-Membrives and Albrecht Classen (Hrsg./ eds.): Literatur am Rand/ Literature on the Margin. Popular Fiction Studies 1. Tübingen: Narr Verlag, 2013, pp. 282-286. 22 See Siegrid Schmidt and Peter Meister: “Comics.” In: Norris J. Lacy (Ed.): The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York and London: Garland, 1996, pp. 97-98. Juan Miguel Zarandona 210 years of the Francisco Franco dictatorship, and its extremely nationalistic regime. The censorship service not only encouraged national subject matters and characters, but also made them compulsory if approval was to be granted. Consequently, under these cultural and historical circumstances, it was almost impossible for Spain and its tebeo comic artists to produce a 20thcentury national Arthurian comic book series, which they were probably reluctant to do as it was too British. However, there is no rule without exception, and Gago and Mora knew where their source of inspiration was and tried something different and totally Arthurian in scope. Manuel Gago’s exception was one minor work of his, El Aguilucho (1959-1960), 23 a series that displayed direct Arthurian characters under no disguise: a knight from the Round Table named Arthur, and a Holy Grail-like cup, or Merlin as a character. 24 Víctor Mora’s exception was Claudio y la Tabla Redonda, a fully Spanish Arthurian story and comic book in the wake of Prince Valiant, although he never acknowledged it. 3.4 The main pages or the story in comic format Claudio y la Tabla Redonda is simply a short project of 32 pages with no continuation: nothing like the many decades-long, creative effort exemplified by Prince Valiant. However, it is outstanding in one aspect: the brilliant combination of foreign, Arthurian elements, which we will call “the matter of Britain,” and national Spanish elements, called “the matter of Spain.” 3.4.1 The sources, the matter of Britain The matter of Britain, according to Foster’s Prince Valiant, assumes an overwhelming presence in Claudio y la Tabla Redonda. The hero, a young knight, proves his courage against Viking pirates and treacherous Picts; enters England through the coastal chalk cliffs and the marshes; meets a knight of the Round Table, Aglovan, who takes him to Camelot; and obtains the favour of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere (Ginebra), the friendship of Lancelot (Lanzarote); and the magical protection of Merlin and Vivian, the Lady of the Lake. He is knighted by the king himself by means of the sword Excalibor, confronts all the traitors of Arthur‘s court, Claudas and Maleagante, visits the forest of Brocelianda and Merlin’s own castle, and establishes a 23 Manuel Gago: El Aguilucho. 68 vols. Valencia: Editorial Maga, ca. 1959-1961. 24 Juan Miguel Zarandona: “The Treatment of the Character of Merlin in the Spanish Comic El Aguilucho (1959) by Manuel Gago (1925-1980).” In: Eva Parra-Membrives and Albrecht Classen (Hrsg./ eds.): Literatur am Rand/ Literature on the Margin. Popular Fiction Studies 1. Tübingen: Narr Verlag, 2013, pp. 287-290. Vincent Mulb e rry’s Claudio y la Tabla Redonda (1976) 211 happy and lasting family union with his lady, exactly as Valiant does in his own story. The debt to Foster’s comic is very clear. 3.4.2 The sources, the matter of Spain The creation of the matter of Spain is, according to Víctor Mora’s El Capitán Trueno, his own greatest and most enduring work. Claudio originates from Spain and is the son of a Spanish captain, something highly unlikely for a possibly original British or American writer. His girlfriend and future wife, Brunild, is a Viking lady, just like Trueno’s lady, Sigrid, also a Viking and blonde lady, and a very active and adventurous woman who follows him everywhere, despite the danger involved. Just like Trueno, Claudio is acompanied by two friends: two buffoonish rogues, Carlion, an innkeeper, and Leodagan, a tramp, both of whom counterbalance the serious purposes of the noble characters. On the whole, all 32 pages seem to have been taken directly from a Capitán Trueno issue. 4 A bestselling formula? At this point, it is impossible to deny that Claudio y la Tabla Redonda was produced under the auspices of a winning formula, which turned it into a bestselling comic: the series in which it was published, the popular format, the matter of Britain and Arthuriana, the proven talents of Víctor Mora and the illustrators, etc., enabled Editorial Bruguera to succeed again. 5. Some hidden truths The remaining intriguing question is: why did Víctor Mora and the Editorial Bruguera managers (consciously or unconsciously) undertake to produce an Arthurian pseudo-translated (-adapted) comic book? Was it for money and fame or to publish in this excellent collection to experience the fame of Jules Verne or Charles Dickens, for example? Was it for commercial reasons and the need to keep this series totally foreign as far as the authors chosen were involved? Was it for exoticism? Was it because a Mulberry sold better than a Mora, especially taking into account the foreign subject matter? Was it to trick readers for the sake of tricking them? Was it because of an unconquerable impulse, or temptation, to write a fully Arthurian story in comic format in Spain? Was it to cheat the censors, although the regime was about to collapse in 1976, once Franco had died? Was it for feelings of guilt for having written a foreign story that was not Spanish enough? Juan Miguel Zarandona 212 Was it to propose a playful creative game? No one knows and we do not need to know. 6 Conclusion What Víctor Mora could not create with his major work, El capitán Trueno, i.e., an openly Arthurian text, he accomplished with Claudio y la Tabla Redonda, a one-hundred percent Arthurian comic book. What is really surprising is the fact that he, a most popular tebeo writer, considered it necessary to hide behind the disguise of an invented foreign name, Vincent Mulberry, and that this happened in spite of his fame in late 1976. We will probably never be able to determine his reason(s), especially because he never commented on his product and kept his secret well. As we already know, Gideon Toury observed that pseudo-translators - also pseudo-adapters or pseudo-writers - are usually discovered very quickly. Trueno lovers probably knew from the start who was behind this Arthurian text. But not everyone is or will be a Trueno fanatic. However, all these facts are totally secondary now, from our 21st‒century point of view. The rarity of having a fully Arthurian comic book in Spanish remains a significant aspect, underscoring how much the genre of the comic book could contribute to introducing entirely new literary material into the Spanish book market. To be sure, for all these reasons, Claudio y la Tabla Redonda is unique, and uniqueness deserves to be appreciated, particularly because it translated into a major bestseller. Bibliography Antonio Altarriba: La España del tebeo. La historieta española de 1940 a 2000. Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid: Espasa Calpe, 2001. Georges L. Bastin: Traducir o adaptar. Caracas: Universidad Central de Venezuela, 1998. Georges L. Bastin: “Adaptation.” In: Mona Baker and Gabriela Saldanha (eds.): Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. London and New York: Routledge, 2009, pp. 3-6. Jesús Cuadrado: Atlas español de la cultura popular. Madrid: Ediciones Sinsentido - Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez, 2000. Harold Rudolf Foster et al.: Príncipe Valiente 1937-2011. Vols. 1-75. Edited by Carlos Palomar. Translated by José Miguel Pallares. Barcelona: Planeta De Agostini, 2011-2012. Manuel Gago: El Aguilucho. 68 vols. Valencia: Editorial Maga, ca. 1959-1961. Manuel Gago: El Guerrero del Antifaz. 34 vols. Barcelona: Planeta De Agostini, 2002. Antoni Guiral: 100 años de Bruguera. De Gato Negro a Ediciones B. Barcelona: Ediciones B, 2010. Vincent Mulb e rry’s Claudio y la Tabla Redonda (1976) 213 Antoni Guiral et al.: Del tebeo al manga. Una historia de los cómics. Vols. 1-10. Torroella de Montgrí, Girona, Spain: Panini Cómics, 2002-2011. Antoni Guiral: Cuando los cómics se llamaban tebeos. La escuela de Bruguera (1945-1963). Barcelona: Editorial El Jueves, 2004. Linda Hutcheon: A Theory of Adaptation. New York: Routledge, 2006. Brian M. Kane (Ed.): The Definite Prince Valiant Companion. Foreword by Brian Walker. Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics Books, 2009. Antonio Martín-Martínez: Historia del cómic español 1875-1939. Barcelona: Editorial Gustavo Gili, 1978. Antonio Martín-Martínez: Los inventores del cómic español 1873-1900. Barcelona: Planeta De Agostini, 2000. Ana Merino: El cómic hispánico, Madrid: Cátedra, 2003. Terenci Moix: Historia social del cómic. Barcelona: Ediciones B, 2007. Vincent Mulberry: Claudio y la Tabla Redonda. Adapted and illustrated by Antonio Bernal Romero, Víctor Mora Pujadas, and Juan José Ubeda Fuentes. Joyas Literarias Juveniles, nº 54. Barcelona: Editorial Bruguera, 1976. Juan Antonio Ramírez: La historieta cómica de posguerra. Madrid: Editorial Cuadernos para el Diálogo, 2012. Tino Regueira: Guía visual de la Editorial Bruguera (1940-1988). Barcelona: Ediciones Glenat, 2005. Julie Sanders: Adaptation and Appropriation. London and New York: Routledge, 2006. Siegrid Schmidt and Peter Meister: “Comics.” In Norris J. Lacy (ed.): The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York and London: Garland, 1996, pp. 97-98. Pedro Porcel Torrens: Tragados por el abismo. La historieta de aventuras en España. Castalla, Alicante, Spain: Edicions de Ponent, 2010. Gideon Toury: “Excursus A. Pseudotranslations and Their Significance.” In: Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond (Benjamins Translation Library). Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1995, pp. 40-52. Víctor Mora and Manuel Ambrosio, Ambrós: El capitán Trueno. 18 vols. Barcelona: Ediciones B, 2006. Maria Nikolajeva and Carole Scott: “Introduction.” In: How Picturebooks Work. New York: Garland, 2000, pp. 1-28. Federico Zanettin: “1 Comics in Translation: An Overview,” Comics in Translation, ed. Federico Zanettin. Manchester, UK: St. Jerome, 2008, pp. 1-32. Juan Miguel Zarandona: “Mulatto (1931) by Langston Hughes (1902-1967) and Mulato (1963) by Alfonso Sastre (1926-): Translation, Adaptation or New Creation, or the Need for a More Comprehensive Concept of Adaptation.” In: Eva Parra- Membrives, Miguel Ángel García Peinado, and Albrecht Classen (eds.): Aspects of Literary Translation. Building Linguistic and Cultural Bridge in Past and Present. Translation, Text, and Interferences, 1. Tübingen: Narr Verlag, 2012, pp. 235-250. Juan Miguel Zarandona: “The Treatment of the Character of Merlin in the Spanish Comic El Aguilucho (1959) by Manuel Gago (1925-1980).” In: Eva Parra- Membrives and Albrecht Classen (eds.): Literatur am Rand/ Literature on the Margin (Popular Fiction Studies 1). Tübingen: Narr Verlag, 2013, pp. 279-292. Amira Ž miri ć Robert Michels Trivialroman Die allerhöchste Frau Jonathan D. Long benutzt den Begriff „Sissi-Roman“ im Kontext des Romans Der wilde Gesang der Kaiserin Elisabeth 1 von Dieter Kühn, der als Stoff für seinen Roman das Leben der Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich gewählt hat. Man kann eigentlich eine ganze Reihe von Werken (Sachbüchern und fiktionalen Texten) 2 auflisten, die sich des „Sissi“-Stoffs bedient haben. 3 Für diesen Beitrag von größerer Bedeutung sind die zur Trivialliteratur zu zählenden Werke innerhalb dieses „Elisabeth-Mythos.” 4 Es soll hier gezeigt werden, dass Robert Michels „Elisabeth“-Roman 5 Die allerhöchste Frau (mit zwei Auflagen - 1947 und 1948) 6 ―selbst sowohl thematisch als auch sprachlich Elemente eines Trivialromans aufweist. Zu diesem reichen „Sissi/ Trivial“-Schrifttum zählen z. B. der Heftroman Erich Nitschkes, Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich 7 , Marie Louise von Wallersees Kaiserin Elisabeth und ich 8 oder Constantin Christomanos‘ Tagebuchblätter. 9 1 Vgl. Jonathan D. Long: Von der Gesellschaftskritik zur Darstellungskritik: Frauengestalten in den biographischen Arbeiten Dieter Kühns. In: Christine Bierbach u. a. (Hrsg.): Mannheimer Beiträge zur Literatur- und Sprachwissenschaft. Tübingen: Narr Verlag, 2005, Band 63, S. 325-338, hier S. 325. 2 Das Bild der Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich ‒ „Sissi“ ‒ ist zwar kein Thema des vorliegenden Beitrags, aber es verdient erwähnt zu werden, dass sie zu einem Österreich-Mythos gehört(e), was Robert Michels Roman Die allerhöchste Frau bestätigt. 3 Vgl. dazu Carolin Maikler: Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich: die Entstehung eines literarischen Mythos 1854 - 1918. In: Achim Aurnhammer und Werner Frick u. a. (Hrsg.): Klassische Moderne. Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2011, Band 17. 4 Vgl. ebd., S. 123. 5 Vgl. Walter Killy: Killy Literaturlexikon. Berlin und New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2010, Band 8, Marq - Or, S. 230. 6 Der Roman wurde erst 1947 veröffentlicht. Vgl. dazu Gero von Wilpert: Deutsches Dichterlexikon. Stuttgart: Alfred Kröner, 1988, S. 555; Walter Killy: Killy Literaturlexikon. Berlin und New York: Walter der Gruyter, 2010, Band 8, Marq - Or, S. 230. Die zweite Auflage erlebte der Roman im Jahr 1948. Das Kleine Österreichische Literaturlexikon erwähnt aber, dass der Roman Die allerhöchste Frau 1946 veröffentlicht wurde, vgl. Hans Giebisch, Ludwig Pichler und Kurt Vancsa Kleines Österreichisches Literaturlexikon. Wien: Verlag Brüder Hollinek, 1948, S. 283. 7 Erich Nitschke: Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich. Die Entstehung eines literarischen Mythos 1854-1918. Leipzig: Marien-Verlag, 1925. 8 Marie Louise von Wallersee: Kaiserin Elisabeth und ich. Leipzig: Goten Verlag, 1935. Anm.: Marie Louise von Wallersee war die Nichte der Kaiserin Elisabeth. Im Vorwort erwähnt die Autorin, dass sie die Geschichte ihres Lebens mit der Kaiserin niederschreiben möchte, „[...] in der Absicht, den Mißdeutungen um das Leben der Kaiserin, Robert Michels Trivialroman Die allerhöchste Frau 215 1 Robert Michel Robert Michel (1876 - 1957), der österreichische Offizier, aber auch Erzähler, Dramatiker, Publizist und Folklorist, widmete fast sein ganzes literarisches Schaffen der bosnisch-herzegowinischen Thematik, da er als junger Offizier der K. u. K. Monarchie die Zeit von 1898 bis 1900 in der herzegowinischen Stadt Mostar verbracht hatte, was einen tiefen Eindruck auf ihn machte. Die südslawische und die orientalische Kultur wurden zum Bestandteil seiner Werke. 10 Einen wichtigen Raum nimmt in seinem Schaffen aber auch der Böhmerwald ein, wo die Handlung seiner Romane Jesus im Böhmerwald. Ein Roman um eine böhmische Volkslegende (1927) und Die Augen des Waldes (1946) spielt. Der Schauplatz des ersten Teiles von Michels Roman Die allerhöchste Frau ist ebenfalls der Böhmerwald. Der zweite Teil spielt hingegen in Wien, unter anderem in der Hofburg - mehr dazu im weiteren Verlauf des Beitrags. Robert Michel hielt man für einen „in Innsbrucker Kreisen wohlbekannten Schriftsteller [...].” 11 Die Sudetenpost schreibt anlässlich des Todes Michels, dass seine „Bücher weiteste Verbreitung fanden [...].” 12 Allerdings trifft zu, dass Robert Michel nach seinem Tod fast vergessen wurde 13 und dass sein Leben und sein literarisches Werk lange Zeit nach seinem Tod kaum erforscht wurden. Wenn beides doch Gegenstand der Forschung war, so befassten sich die meisten Literaturwissenschaftler mit jenen seiner Werke, die zum bos-nisch-herzegowinischen Themenkreis gehörten, während der Roman Die allerhöchste Frau im Hintergrund des Interesses blieb, sodass man kaum von einer breiteren Rezeption dieses Romans innerhalb der For- wie sie in den zahlreichen Schriften enthalten sind und weil sie auch mich selbst angehen, auf dem Wege der Wahrheit entgegenzutreten.“ (S. 6) 9 Constantin Christomanos: Tagebuchblätter. Wien: Moritz Perles Verlag, 1898. Mehr dazu in: Carolin Maikler: Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich: die Entstehung eines literarischen Mythos 1854 - 1918. In: Achim Aurnhammer und Werner Frick u. a. (Hrsg.): Klassische Moderne. Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2011, Band 17, S. 146 - 165. „In seinen Tagebüchern schildert Constantin Christomanos in schwärmerischer und übertriebener Weise, dass er eine enorme Zuneigung für die Kaiserin von Österreich empfinde.“ Sie erscheint „in seinen Aufzeichnungen als mythische oder märchenhafte Figur.“ Vgl. Christina Hofstadler: Sisi-Images im Spiel- und Dokumentarfilm des 20. Jahrhunderts und ihre geschichtswissenschaftliche Reflexion. Dr. Phil. Diss. Wien, 2013, S. 123. 10 Vgl. Amira Žmirić: Bosansko-hercegovačka tematika u djelima Roberta Michela. Banja Luka: Besjeda, 2004. 11 Innsbrucker Nachrichten vom 15. Januar 1915, Nr. 25, S. 9. 12 Sudetenpost vom 23. Februar 1957, S. 8. 13 Riccardo Concetti betont, dass der Autor „selbst zu Lebzeiten keine breite Wirkung erreichte [...].“ Vgl. Riccardo Concetti: Der Briefwechsel zwischen Hugo von Hofmannsthal und Robert Michel 1898 - 1929. Historisch-kritische Ausgabe. Zwei Bände, Band 1, Dr. Phil. Diss. Wien, 2003, S. vii. Amira Žmirić 216 schung sprechen kann. 14 Über die Die allerhöchste Frau meinte aber Ferruccio Della Cave: [U]nverkennbar ist im Roman das nostalgische Festhalten des Autors an einer Tradition, die nur rückblickend erlebt werden konnte. [...] Der Autor verwendet dabei die Mittel des historisierenden Romans, in dem Tatsachen der Geschichte in ein „triviales Schema“ gepresst werden. 15 Bei Riccardo Concetti findet der Roman ebenso Erwähnung, und zwar in einer Korrespondenz zwischen Gerty [Gertrude] von Hofmannsthal und Robert Michel. Daraus kann man entnehmen, dass Michel der Frau von Hofmannsthal ein Buch mit einer „schönen Widmung“ geschickt hatte: Es handelt sich um den Roman Die allerhöchste Frau. 16 Gertrude von Hofmannsthal äußert sich über das Buch in folgender Weise: Wie sehr spiegelt es meine Jugend - auch ich war eine so gluehende Kaiserin-Anhängerin. Stundenlang stand ich auf der Strasse wenn ich den Wagen sah mit den goldenen Speichen. 17 Wie schon erwähnt, hat der Roman immerhin zwei Auflagen bei der Amandus-Edition erlebt, was für den Erfolg des Romans sprechen könnte. 18 Laut Hans Peter Fritz war die Amandus-Edition zwischen 1945 und 1954 einer der größten Verlage Österreichs, und zwar ein Verlag mit vorwiegend literarischem bzw. philosophischem Programm. 19 Es wird des Weiteren betont, dass die stärksten Produktionsjahre der Amandus-Edition die Jahre 1946 14 Vgl. zu Robert Michels Leben und Werk u. a.: Tomislav Bekić: Jugoslovenski motivi u delima Roberta Mihela. In: Zbornik za slavistiku: Matica srpska, 1978, Nr. 15, S. 155 - 165; Ferruccio Delle Cave: Robert Michel - Eine monographische Studie. Dr. Phil. Diss. Innsbruck, 1978; Riccardo Concetti: Der Briefwechsel zwischen Hugo von Hofmannsthal und Robert Michel 1898 - 1929. Historisch-kritische Ausgabe. Zwei Bände, Dr. Phil. Diss., Wien 2003, S. 106; Amira Žmirić : Bosansko-hercegovačka tematika u djelima Roberta Michela. Banja Luka: Besjeda, 2004. 15 Ferruccio Delle Cave: Robert Michel - Eine monographische Studie. Dr. Phil. Diss. Innsbruck, 1978, S. 139. 16 Vgl. Riccardo Concetti: Der Briefwechsel zwischen Hugo von Hofmannsthal und Robert Michel 1898 - 1929. Historisch-kritische Ausgabe. Zwei Bände, Band 1, Dr. Phil. Diss. Wien, 2003, S. 106. 17 Ebd. Anm.: Die Originalschriftweise wurde beibehalten. 18 Anm.: Es gibt keine offiziellen und sicheren Informationen des Verlags darüber, wie groß die Auflagen dieses Romans waren, weil der Amandus Verlag nicht mehr existiert und ich keinen Rechtsnachfolger dieses Verlags finden konnte. Zur 2. Auflage informiert uns immerhin die Plattform für antiquarische Bücher Antikbuch 24, dass dieser Roman zur Gruppe „Aktueller Bestseller“ gehörte. Vgl. http: / / www.antikbuch24.de/ buchdetails_8759233.html#.VPmfWXyG_gQ [Stand am 3. 3. 2015]. Die Ausgaben an sich enthalten leider keine Informationen zur Auflagenhöhe. Vgl. dazu Fn. 23. 19 Vgl. Hans Peter Fritz: Buchstadt und Buchkrise. Verlagswesen und Literatur in Österreich 1945 - 1955. Dr. Phil. Diss. Wien, 1989, S. 210. Robert Michels Trivialroman Die allerhöchste Frau 217 und 1947 gewesen seien. Danach 20 habe die Produktion kontinuierlich nachgelassen. Das Verlagsprogramm hatten Werke von Schriftstellern der älteren Generation, d. h. von katholischen Philosophen und Roman-schreibern geprägt, die an der Grenze zur Trivialität angesiedelt waren. Hans Peter Fritz schreibt weiter, dass das Angebot des Verlags trotz der schwierigen finanziellen Situation nicht dem zunehmenden Trend zur Bestseller- und Sachliteratur gefolgt sei. 21 Allerdings lässt sich gerade dies im Fall von Michels Roman annehmen, der nicht zu der „anspruchsvolleren“ Literatur zu zählen ist, wie wir im weiteren Verlauf noch beobachten werden. Daher zeigt seine Veröffentlichung eher eine Hinwendung zum Kommerziellen. Vermutlich hoffte der Verlag, dass dieser Roman mit dem „Sissi“-Thema ein Bestseller 22 werden könnte: Wie schon in der Einleitung angesprochen (vgl. Fn. 3), war das ein häufig bearbeitetes Thema und für die Leser bzw. die breiteren Massen als leicht lesbarer Stoff sehr interessant, so dass man einen nationalen (österreichischen) Bestseller hätte erwarten können. Ob das tatsächlich der Fall war, kann man nicht mit Sicherheit sagen, weil die Informationen über die Anzahl der verkauften Exemplare etwas verworren sind, 23 aber in Bezug auf die erwähnten zwei Auflagen und den attrakti- 20 Nach der Währungsreform in Österreich vom 10. Dezember 1947. 21 Vgl. Hans Peter Fritz, S. 212. 22 „Im allgemeinen Sprachgebrauch wird als Bestseller jedes Buch (seltener ein anderes Produkt) bezeichnet, das einen besonderen Verkaufserfolg erzielt. Im engeren Sinn des Begriffs versteht man unter Bestseller ein belletristisches Werk oder ein Werk der populären Sachliteratur, das einen vergleichsweise weit überdurchschnittlichen Verkaufserfolg innerhalb eines begrenzten Zeitraums und eines bestimmten Absatzgebiets erzielt.“ Vgl. Ernst Fischer: Bestseller in Geschichte und Gegenwart. In: Joachim-Felix Leonhard/ Hans Werner Ludwig (Hrsg.): Medienwissenschaft. Ein Handbuch zur Entwicklung der Medien und Kommunikationsformen. 1. Teilband. Berlin und New York: de Gruyter, 1999, S. 764. 23 Die folgenden Informationen habe ich Frau Mag. Veronika Meisel von der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek zu verdanken: Zur 2. Auflage: Laut einer Abrechnung von der Amandus-Edition vom 30.06.1948 hatte die 2. Auflage eine Höhe von 3510 Honorarexemplaren (insg. 3900 Exemplare abzüglich 10% honorarfreie Autoren- und Werbeexemplare), davon wurden bis 30.06.1948 609 Exemplare verkauft. Zwischen Robert Michel und der Amandus-Edition ist es dann allerdings zu einem Rechtsstreit wegen ausstehender Zahlungen gekommen. Laut der Klageschrift von Robert Michel hat der Verlag bis zum 30.06.1948 6982 Exemplare verkauft. Michel behauptet, dass er diese Zahl der Abrechnung vom 30.06.1948 entnommen hat. Man kann sehen, dass die Zahlen nicht übereinstimmen. In der Gegenklage wird dann auf die Zahl der verkauften Exemplare nicht mehr eingegangen, es wird aber auch nicht bestritten, dass 6982 Exemplare verkauft wurden. Der Rechtsstreit dreht sich im Wesentlichen nämlich nicht um die Höhe der verkauften Exemplare, sondern um die Höhe der Vergütung eben jener Exemplare. Die Amandus-Edition hat den Ladenpreis des Buches im Laufe der Zeit von 28,50 Schilling auf 26,80 Schilling herabgesetzt. Vgl. dazu die Abrechnung vom 30. 6. 1948 aus dem Nachlass Robert Michels; Rechtstreit: Konvolut aus dem Nach- Amira Žmirić 218 ven Stoff des Romans kann man annehmen, dass der Verlag einen großen Erfolg des Romans wenigstens erwartet hatte. 24 2 Die allerhöchste Frau - ein biographischer Roman bzw. ein „Sissi“-Roman Der Roman handelt vom Leben der Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich und von der Begeisterung der jungen Ungarin Aglae von Turba, der Hofdame der Erzherzogin Natalie, für die Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich. Zugleich schildert er ein paar wichtige Jahre in Aglaes Leben, nachdem sie die Kaiserin persönlich kennen gelernt und sich in ihrer unmittelbaren Nähe befunden hatte. Die Handlungszeit ist nicht klar definiert: Es wird nur das Attentat auf die Kaiserin 1898 in Genf erwähnt - mit diesem Ereignis endet der Roman - , sowie die Tatsache, dass Elisabeth keine junge Kaiserin mehr war. Aufgrund der im Roman geschilderten Ereignisse kann man davon ausgehen, dass sich die Handlung des Romans unmittelbar (ein paar Monate) vor dem Tod der Kaiserin abspielt. 25 Die Rückblenden helfen dabei dem Leser, einige Fakten aus dem Leben der Kaiserin, die sich vor dieser Zeit zugetragen hatten, zu rekonstruieren. So werden die gegenwärtigen Ereignisse durch Passagen über die Kindheit Elisabeths, ihre Hochzeit oder den Maskenball 1874 26 ergänzt. Die Handlung des Romans beginnt im Böhmerwald, im Schloss von Wyhorzan, nahe der Ortschaft Klenau, danach wechselt der Schauplatz nach Wien, unter anderem in die Hofburg. Im Mittelpunkt des Romans befindet sich eine historische Person, und zwar die Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich- lass Robert Michels. (Anm.: Titel und Zusatz zum Titel - Rechtsstreit: Konvolut - sind fingiert.) 24 Man muss aber betonen, dass Bestseller und Trivialliteratur nicht identisch sind: Die Trivialliteratur umfasst auch die sog. „Groschenhefte,” „die in hohem Maße fabrikindustriell und taylorisiert geschrieben und produziert wurden und werden [...].” Zit. nach Wiltrud Oelinger: Emanzipationsziele in Unterhaltungsliteratur? Bestsellerromane von Frauen für Frauen: eine exemplarische Diskurs- und Schemaanalyse. Münster: Lit, 2000, S. 28. Zusätzlich machen einen Bestseller immanente Voraussetzungen (leichte Lesbarkeit, echte oder vermeintliche Aktualität) und günstige äußere Bedingungen (Nobelpreis, Verfilmung, Skandale) aus. Vgl. ebd. 25 Anm.: Im Verlauf des Beitrags soll dargelegt werden, dass es sich hier um keinen historischen Roman handelt, sondern um einen historisierenden Trivialroman, sodass es einleuchtend ist, dass Michel keinen bestimmten Zeitrahmen nennt. Einige Indizien aber, die sich im Roman auf das Alter der Kaiserin beziehen, wie z. B. „[...] daß die Kaiserin nicht mehr die jugendlich schöne Frau ist [...]“ (vgl. Robert Michel: Die allerhöchste Frau. Wien: Amandus-Edition, 1947, S. 193), können doch helfen, die Handlung des Romans zeitlich einzuordnen. 26 Dazu mehr im weiteren Verlauf des Beitrags. Robert Michels Trivialroman Die allerhöchste Frau 219 Ungarn, umgeben von einer ganzen Reihe anderer historisch belegter Persönlichkeiten. Darunter sind vor allem die Personen zu nennen, die in enger Verbindung mit der Kaiserin gestanden haben, u. a. Kaiser Franz Joseph, der Kronprinz Rudolf von Österreich-Ungarn, die Hofdame der Kaiserin, die bis zu ihrem letzten Atemzug an ihrer Seite war, Gräfin Irma Sztáray, die Erzherzogin Natalie von Österreich 27 sowie Ida von Ferenczy, die Hofdame der Kaiserin. Es treten außerdem weiter aus der Geschichte bekannte Personen, die der Kaiserin nicht so nahe gestanden haben, in Erscheinung, wie z. B. Nikolaus Szent-Lörincz 28 und die Besitzerin des Hotels Sacher, Anna Sacher. 29 Außerdem schreibt der Autor auch vom „urböhmischen Adel,” 30 ohne Personen zu nennen; dieses Kollektivum soll betonen, welch wichtige Funktion Ungarn in der K. u. K. Monarchie, aber auch im Leben der Kaiserin innehatte. Michel schreibt explizit von der „Ungarnliebe der Kaiserin.” 31 Es ist also festzustellen, dass viele Handlungspersonen real existiert haben, wobei einige ihre richtigen Namen tragen und bei den anderen die Namen geändert wurden: Wie schon erwähnt heißt Nikolaus von Szemere im Roman Nikolaus Szent-Lörincz; Fritz Pacher von Theinburg, den die Kaiserin Elisabeth wirklich bei einem Maskenball kennen gelernt hat 32 , trägt den Namen Baron Franz von Taronin. Außerdem erscheinen im Roman fiktive Figuren, unter anderem der Wahrsager Justus, dessen Erscheinen von Bedeutung ist, weil die Kaiserin, laut Behauptungen ihrer Zeitgenossen, tatsächlich abergläubisch war. 33 Neben der Kaiserin steht eine weitere Figur 27 Eigentlich Natalie Maria Theresia Erzherzogin von Österreich (1884 - 1989). 28 Sein richtiger Name ist eigentlich Nikolaus von Szemere. Der Autor erwähnt am Ende des Romans, dass er Emil Seeligers Buch Hotel Sacher in Wien: Weltgeschichte beim Souper benutzt hat. Und zwar geht es um ein Erlebnis mit Nikolaus von Szemere, den Seeliger genau beschreibt, wobei Michel in seinem Roman zum Beispiel folgendes Detail verwendet: „Szemere, der nicht frei von Aberglauben war, trug stets zwei verschiedenfarbige Socken, meist einen lila und einen olivengrünen, darüber lederne Pantoffel.“ (Vgl. Emil Seeliger: Hotel Sacher in Wien: Weltgeschichte beim Souper. Berlin: Verlag für Kulturpolitik, 1931, S. 29). Michel beschreibt ihn [Nikolaus Szemere, bzw. Nikolaus Szent-Lörincz]: „An den Füßen hatte er gar nur leichte Lederpantoffel, und die Strümpfe sind von verschiedener, durch Aberglauben bestimmter Farbe.“ Vgl. Michel, S. 207. 29 Michel erwähnt Frau Sacher als „junge Frau Sacher [...] im schwarzen Seidenkleid, mit einer dicken Zigarre in der Hand [...].“ Vgl. Robert Michel: Die allerhöchste Frau. Wien: Amandus-Edition 1947, S. 204f. 30 Ebd., S. 20. 31 Ebd., S. 26. 32 Mehr darüber im weiteren Verlauf des Beitrags. 33 Vgl. Marie Louise von Wallersee: Meine Vergangenheit - Wahrheit über Kaiser Franz Josef, Schratt, Kaiserin Elsiabeth, Andrassy, Kronprinz Rudolf, Vetsera. Es Werde Licht G. m. b. J., 1913, S. 82. „Die Kaiserin war sehr abergläubisch [...]. Einmal besuchte Tante Sissi inkognito eine Kartenlegerin; [...] und sagte nur, daß sie ihr prophezeit habe, sie würde nicht in ihrem Bette sterben.“ Amira Žmirić 220 im Mittelpunkt des Romans, und zwar Aglae von Turba, die Hofdame der Erzherzogin Natalie. 34 Den Rahmen des Romans bildet das Leben der Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich; das Leben einer historischen Persönlichkeit macht also den Gegenstand des Romans aus, so dass er Elemente eines biographischen Romans, einer Sonderform des historischen Romans, aufweist. Für den biographischen Roman sind laut Gero von Wilperts Sachwörterbuch der Literatur u.a. folgende Elemente typisch: die „freie Verwendung historisch-biographischer Fakten, die Hinzuerfindung von Ereignissen, Begegnungen, Figuren und Gesprächen zur Profilierung des Helden [...].“ 35 Der biographische Roman hat eine bestimmte Intention: Für den biographischen Roman sei das Interesse am Menschen das Wesentliche, Taten und Ereignisse würden nur zum besseren Verständnis einer Persönlichkeit dienen [...]. 36 Eben dieses Ziel verfolgt auch Michels Roman: Sissi als die Repräsentantin einer ganzen Epoche und eines Lebensstils zu thematisieren. Michel erwähnt nämlich am Ende des Romans, dass er als Vorlagen für seinen Roman Egon Caesar Conte Cortis Werk Elisabeth 37 und das schon erwähnte Buch von Emil Seeliger Hotel SacherFehler! Textmarke nicht definiert. in Wien: Weltgeschichte beim Souper (vgl. Fn. 21) verwendet habe. 38 Der historische Roman sendet laut Hugo Aust für gewöhnlich „Geschichtssignale“ aus, wie Daten, Namen 34 Anm.: Ich konnte praktisch keine Informationen über die erwähnte Hofdame finden. Lediglich eine gewisse Olga Ondrejkovičova erwähnt bei der Schilderung ihres Stammbaumes, dass ihre Tante, eine Frau von Turba, die Hofdame der Kaiserin Elisabeth gewesen sei. Vgl. http: / / www.ondrejkovics-sandor.com/ ? lg=2&s=68. Ob es sich dabei um diese Hofdame handelt, bleibt aber unklar. Michel erwähnt auch ihren Vater, Ritter Guido von Turba, der wirklich existierte. Vgl. dazu Leo Hirsch/ Franz Schnürer/ Ritter Guido von Turba: Der kaiserlich-österreichische Franz-Joseph Orden und seine Mitglieder. Wien: Biographischer Verlag, 1912. Es ist aber viel eher zu vermuten, dass es diese Hofdame gar nicht gab und dass Michel in diesem Roman durch die Hofdame Aglae von Turba, also durch eine fiktive Figur, eine weitere Verkörperung der jungen Kaiserin darstellen wollte. Das bestätigen die im Roman betonten Parallelen zwischen der Kaiserin und der erwähnten Hofdame, sowohl die physischen als auch die seelischen, aber auch die „Domino“-Szene, in der Aglae von Turba als gelber Domino auf dem Maskenball in Wien erscheint, wie das wirklich vor vielen Jahren, genauer 1874, die Kaiserin Elisabeth getan hat. Vgl. Michel, S. 187ff. 35 Gero von Wilpert: Sachwörterbuch der Literatur. 8. verb. und erw. Aufl. Stuttgart: Alfred Kröner Verlag, 2001, S. 93. 36 Zit. nach Willy A. Hanimann: Studien zum historischen Roman (1939 - 1945). Bern/ Frankfurt a. M./ Las Vegas: Peter Lang 1981, S. 15. 37 Egon Caesar Conte Corti: Elisabeth, die seltsame Frau. Salzburg, 1934. Vgl. Otto Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode: Neue Deutsche Biographie. Band 3. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot 1957, S. 369. (Später erschienen unter dem Titel: Elisabeth von Österreich. Tragik einer Unpolitischen. München: Heyne, 1989.) 38 Michel, Ende des Romans, ohne Seitenangabe. Robert Michels Trivialroman Die allerhöchste Frau 221 von Personen, Lokalitäten, Ereignisse und Epochen, 39 was auch Michel in seinem biographischen Roman getan hat. Historische Tatsachen, bzw. biographische Daten aus dem Leben der Kaiserin, übernimmt Michel und verbindet sie mit einem banalen Plot: Der „konkrete biographische“ Stoff mündet in eine sentimentale Geschichte. Michel schafft, ganz im Bereich des Trivialen (inhaltlich und sprachlich-stilistisch) sich bewegend, einen „Elisabeth“-Roman innerhalb eines biographischen Romans. Inhaltlich konzentriert sich Michel darauf, dem Leser das Bild von einer einsamen, schönen Frau zu vermitteln, und nicht das von einer Kaiserin, inkorporiert in einem populären 40 Sujet. Die Idealisierung Elisabeths, das sentimentale Einfühlen in ihr Leben und ihre Denkweise, aber auch die Abwesenheit jedweder Kritik an den bestehenden Verhältnissen sprechen für die triviale Haltung in Michels Roman. Neben den erwähnten inhaltlichen Merkmalen ist auch im sprachlichstilistischen Bereich eine gewisse Banalität und Naivität erkennbar. Die biographisch-historischen Tatsachen, wie die Erwähnung des Stammbaums Elisabeths und ihrer Familie, 41 ihrer Aufzeichnungen, Tagebücher, Verse und Gedichte 42 und der Beziehung Elisabeths zu der Kaisermutter, 43 verbindet der Autor mit der Schilderung von Elisabeths (angeblichen) Lebensgewohn-heiten, die entscheidend zum „Elisabeth-Mythos“ beige-tragen haben. Vor allem befasst sich Michel mit in vielen anderen Werken ebenfalls besprochenen Themen wie Elisabeths Haarpflege, 44 ihr Baderitual, 45 stundenlange Spaziergänge und Reit-touren. 46 So schildert Michel das Haarewaschen als eine Obsession der Kaiserin und weiß zu berichten, dass ihre Friseurin die Kaiserin sogar in Handschuhen, mit kurz geschnittenen Nägeln und ohne Ringe frisieren musste. Michel betont die Bedeutung solcher Rituale für die Kaiserin, erwähnt aber auch den Widerhall, den sie bei den anderen Personen am Hof fanden, wenn er schreibt, dass man in der Umgebung Elisabeths gescherzt habe, dass jedes Haar nummeriert sei. 47 Darüber hinaus widmet Michel seine Aufmerksamkeit auch der Unterwäsche der Kaiserin, die er detailliert beschreibt, wobei wiederum festzustellen ist, dass ganz unwichtige Details aus ihrem Leben im Vordergrund des Romans stehen: 39 Hugo Aust: Der historische Roman. Stuttgart/ Weimar: J. B. Metzler, 1994, S. 22. 40 Vgl. Fn. 3. 41 Michel, S. 50f. 42 Ebd., S. 143. „Sie [Mary] erzählt ihr [Aglae], daß die Kaiserin vor einigen Jahren Aufzeichnungen von ihrer Hand, also Tagebücher, Verse, umfassende Gedichte und Betrachtungen, im Druck in zwei starken Bänden gesammelt haben soll.“ 43 Ebd., S. 90. 44 Ebd., S. 140. 45 Ebd., S. 139. 46 Ebd., S. 141. 47 Ebd., S. 140. Amira Žmirić 222 [...] ihre Höschen sind im Sommer aus Seidentrikot und im Winter aus weichem Leder. [...] Die seidenen Strümpfe werden ihr aus England geliefert [...]. 48 Durch eine simplifizierende Schilderung des Lebens von Elisabeth und eine kitschige, vereinfachte Darstellung ihres Alltags, besonders ihrer fieberhaften Körper- und Schönheitspflege, bekommt der Leser nur ein banales Elisabeth-Porträt vorgeführt ohne kritische oder ironische Distanz. Eine gewisse Sentimentalität ist den ganzen Roman hindurch präsent und kommt auch dadurch zum Ausdruck, dass Elisabeth in Michels Roman nur als „die Kaiserin“ oder gelegentlich, wie schon im Titel, als „die allerhöchste Frau“in Erscheinung tritt. Dieses Bespiel einer klischeehaften Sprache in Michels Roman ist aber nur eines von vielen. Michel verwendet in seinem Roman Ausdrücke, wie „sagenhaft schönes Haar“ 49 oder „[d]as lange kastanienbraune Haar“ 50 der Kaiserin. Er nennt die Kaiserin auch einen „Weihnachtsengel“ oder „ein Sonntagskind.” 51 Aglaes Besorgnis um die Kaiserin beschreibt der Autor durch die Syntagmen: nachts nicht einschlafen können, mit offenen Augen daliegen, immer nur an die Kaiserin denken u. a. 52 Die Kaiserin ist Aglae „über alles in der Welt wert,” sie ist einfach eine „vergöttert[e] Frau.” 53 2.1 Die allerhöchste Frau - der historische Trivialroman bzw. die historisierende Unterhaltungsliteratur Wenn es doch historische Tatsachen im Roman gibt, so stehen sie, wie schon erwähnt, nur im Dienste einer Unterhaltungsliteratur. Michel bringt das sehr klar zum Ausdruck, wenn er Parallelen zwischen der Kaiserin und einem dem böhmischen Adel zugehörigen Mädchen, der Hofdame Aglae von Turba, zieht. Es handelt sich um große Ähnlichkeiten zwischen den beiden, nicht nur äußerliche, sondern auch seelische: 54 Beide sind „mit einem Zahn zur Welt gekommen“ 55 und haben eine Vorliebe für Prophezeiungen und Aberglaube. Die wichtigste Parallele zwischen den beiden Frauen, oder sogar ihre Gleichsetzung, kommt in der „Domino“-Szene zum Vorschein. Ein tatsächliches Ereignis aus dem Leben der Kaiserin, das der Öffentlichkeit lange Zeit 48 Ebd., S. 141. 49 Ebd., S. 128. 50 Ebd., S. 140. 51 Ebd., S. 22. 52 Vgl. ebd., S. 38. 53 Ebd., S. 292. 54 Vgl. ebd., S. 45f. 55 Vgl. ebd., S. 21. Robert Michels Trivialroman Die allerhöchste Frau 223 nicht bekannt war, übernimmt der Autor in seinen Roman und macht daraus eine fiktive Abenteuer- und Liebesgeschichte. Die Kaiserin war nämlich 1874 inkognito, als ein gelber Domino verkleidet, zum Maskenball im Wiener Musikverein gegangen. Davon wusssten nur ihre Hofdame Ida Ferenczy, die sie begleitete, und Elisabeths Friseurin, Fanny Angerer. Auf dem Ball kam die Kaiserin mit dem jungen Beamten Fritz Pacher von Theinburg ins Gespräch und verbrachte dort mit ihm einen netten Abend. Bald dürfte Fritz Pacher ihre wahre Identität erraten haben; 56 bereits auf dem Ball ahnt er etwas. Diese Szene erfährt in Michels Roman eine zweifache Wiederholung. Die Hofdame Aglae erscheint wie die Kaiserin als gelber Domino auf dem Maskenball, und die Malerin Alice Godl, die fiktive Freundin der Kaiserin im Roman, wie Ida Ferenczy als roter Domino. Es wird hervorgehoben, dass Aglae eine große Ähnlichkeit mit der Kaiserin habe, sodass auch der Husarenoberleutnant Baron Taronin, der hier in die Rolle von Fritz Pacher schlüpft, im ersten Moment glaubt, die Kaiserin vor sich zu sehen: Noch nie im Leben hat mich eine Frau so an Elisabeth erinnert wie du. Wenn ich es nicht genau wüßte, daß sie jetzt in Südfrankreich ist, ich wäre töricht genug, zu glauben, daß sie vor mir steht. 57 Im Unterschied zur realen Begebenheit führt diese Begegnung im Roman zu einer sentimentalen Liebesgeschichte, die glücklich endet. Einerseits kann von einem Happy-End des Romans, wie es eigentlich Handlungsmuster und Klischee eines Trivialromans fordern, keine Rede sein: Aufgrund des (zum Teil modifizierten) historischen Stoffes ist das auch nicht zu erwarten. Die historische Vorlage erlaubt also kein glückliches Ende: Die Kaiserin wurde in Genf ermordet, und mit diesem Ereignis und mit ihrer Beisetzung endet der Roman. Andererseits schildert Michel im Kontrast zum tragischen Unglück der Kaiserin die glückliche Entwicklung im Schicksal der jugen Hofdame Aglae: Sie erfährt gleich nach dem Tod der Kaiserin, dass sie von dem Baron Taronin ein Kind erwartet. So kontrastiert Michel das tragische Ende der Kaiserin mit einem Happy-End für die Hofdame. Das Ende des Romans verweist letztendlich doch im Stil eines Liebesromans auf das zukünftige glückliche Leben eines jungen Paars und symbolisiert zugleich die Hoffnung auf ein „besseres“ Leben. 56 Vgl. Michaela und Karl Vocelka: Sissi: Leben und Legende einer Kaiserin. München: C.H. Beck Verlag 2014, S. 113f. Einige Quellen behaupten - wie das etwa bei Michaela und Karl Vocelka der Fall ist und die am häufigsten vertretene Meinung ist, dass diese Bekanntschaft nur in Form einer Briefkorrespondenz eine Zeitlang bestanden habe. S. 114. 57 Michel, S. 195. Amira Žmirić 224 Fazit Mit der Vereinfachung des Geschichtsbildes, einer klischeehaften Sprache, einfachen sprachlichen Strukturen und Inhalten sowie durch Ansprechen der Gefühle der Leser kreierte Michel einen historisierenden Trivialroman. Obwohl es keine offiziellen Daten über die verkauften Buch-exemplare und somit über den (Miss-)Erfolg des Buches gibt, könnte man diesem Roman doch aufgrund der leichten Lesbarkeit, eines immer attraktiven Stoffes bzw. der „allzeitigen“ Aktualität Bestseller-Qualitäten zugestehen, oder ihn zumindest als einen Roman qualifizieren, von dem man seitens des Verlags vermutlich erwartet hat, dass er von den Lesern gut aufgenommen werden würde. Die gewählten Motive, wie Liebe, Heimat, vor allem aber das zentrale „Elisabeth“-Motiv bringen zum Ausdruck, dass Michel eine große Sehnsucht nach den alten Zeiten empfunden hatte und in Nostalgie schwelgte: Durch die Wahl des „Elisabeth“-Stoffs wird speziell das „alte“ Wien wiederbelebt, und damit auch ‒ als das wichtigste Symbol dieser Zeit‒die Kaiserin Elisabeth. Dabei ist für Michel die historische Genauigkeit seines Romans weniger wichtig als die selbst empfundene nostalgische Stimmung, die er auf die Leser übertragen will. Unter anderem nimmt auch der Topos der ewigen Schönheit, der zu einem Bestandteil des „Elisabeth“-Mythos geworden ist, einen wichtigen Platz in Michels Roman ein. Hier symbolisieren aber das Altwerden und der gewaltsame Tod der Kaiserin, dass die alten Zeiten ein Ende gefunden haben und nie mehr wiederkehren können. Oder doch? Zumindest deutet der Autor dies an, wenn er in der Figur der Hofdame Aglae von Turba mit der bekannten „Domino“-Szene auf dem Maskenball eine Doppelgängerin der jungen Kaiserin schafft. Jedenfalls darf Michels romantische und verklärte Sicht auf die Vergangenheit nicht übersehen werden. Man kann im Fall dieses Romans auch vom Genre eines Frauen-Porträts sprechen: Der ganze Roman ist vor allem auf die Privatsphäre der Kaiserin konzentriert, die als Opfer dargestellt wird, und zwar als ein Opfer nicht nur des Attentats, sondern auch ihrer eigenen künstlichen Lebensweise und der gesellschaftlichen und historischen Rolle, die ihr zugewiesen war. Bibliographie Hugo Aust: Der historische Roman. Stuttgart und Weimar: J. B. Metzler, 1994. Tomislav Bekić: Jugoslovenski motivi u delima Roberta Mihela. In: Zbornik za slavistiku: Matica srpska, 1978, Nr. 15. Ferruccio Delle Cave: Robert Michel - Eine monographische Studie. Dr. Phil. Diss. Innsbruck, 1978. Constantin Christomanos: Tagebuchblätter. Wien: Moritz Perles Verlag, 1898. Robert Michels Trivialroman Die allerhöchste Frau 225 Riccardo Concetti: Der Briefwechsel zwischen Hugo von Hofmannsthal und Robert Michel 1898 - 1929. Historisch-kritische Ausgabe. Zwei Bände, Band 1. Dr. Phil. Diss. Wien, 2003. Ernst Fischer: Bestseller in Geschichte und Gegenwart. In: Joachim-Felix Leonhard und Hans Werner Ludwig (Hrsg.): Medienwissenschaft. Ein Handbuch zur Entwicklung der Medien und Kommunikationsformen. 1. Teilband. Berlin und New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1999. Hans Peter Fritz: Buchstadt und Buchkrise. Verlagswesen und Literatur in Österreich 1945 - 1955. Dr. Phil. Diss. Wien, 1989. Hans Giebisch, Ludwig Pichler und Kurt Vancsa: Kleines Österreichisches Literaturlexikon. Wien: Verlag Brüder Hollinek, 1948. Willy A. Hanimann: Studien zum historischen Roman (1939‒1945). Bern und Frankfurt a. M. und Las Vegas: Peter Lang, 1981. Christina Hofstadler: Sisi-Images im Spiel-und Dokumentarfilm des 20. Jahrhunderts und ihre geschichtswissenschaftliche Reflexion. Dr. Phil. Diss.Wien, 2013. Innsbrucker Nachrichten vom 15. Januar 1915, Nr. 25. Walter Killy: Killy Literaturlexikon. Berlin und New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2010, Band 8, Marq-Or. Jonathan D. Long: Von der Gesellschaftskritik zur Darstellungskritik: Frauengestalten in den biographischen Arbeiten Dieter Kühns. In: Christine Bierbach u. a. (Hrsg.): Mannheimer Beiträge zur Literatur- und Sprachwissenschaft. Tübingen: Narr Verlag, 2005, Band 63. Carolin Maikler: Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich: die Entstehung eines literarischen Mythos 1854 - 1918. In: Achim Aurnhammer und Werner Frick u.a. (Hrsg.): Klassische Moderne. Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2011, Band 17. Robert Michel: Die allerhöchste Frau. Wien: Amandus-Edition, 1947. Erich Nitschke: Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich. Die Entstehung eines literarischen Mythos 1854-1918. Leipzig: Marien-Verlag, 1925. Wiltrud Oelinger: Emanzipationsziele in Unterhaltungsliteratur? Bestsellerromane von Frauen für Frauen: eine exemplarische Diskurs- und Schemaanalyse. Münster: Lit, 2000. Emil Seeliger: Hotel Sacher in Wien: Weltgeschichte beim Souper. Berlin: Verlag für Kulturpolitik, 1931. Sudetenpost vom 23. Februar, 1957. Michaela und Karl Vocelka: Sissi: Leben und Legende einer Kaiserin. München: C. H. Beck Verlag, 2014. Marie Louise von Wallersee: Meine Vergangenheit - Wahrheit über Kaiser Franz Josef, Schratt, Kaiserin Elisabeth, Andrassy, Kronprinz Rudolf, Vetsera. Berlin: Verlag Es Werde Licht, 1913. Marie Louise von Wallersee: Kaiserin Elisabeth und ich. Leipzig: Goten-Verlag, 1935. Otto Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode: Neue Deutsche Biographie. Band 3. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1957. Gero von Wilpert: Deutsches Dichterlexikon. Stuttgart: Alfred Kröner, 1988. Amira Žmirić: Bosansko-hercegovačka tematika u djelima Roberta Michela. Banja Luka: Besjeda, 2004. http: / / www.ondrejkovics-sandor.com/ ? lg=2&s=68 [Stand am 22. 1. 2015]. http: / / www.antikbuch24.de/ buchdetails_8759233.html#.VPmfWXyG_gQ [Stand am 3. 3. 2015]. Contributors Albrecht Classen University of Arizona, Tucson aclassen@email.arizona.edu Manuel Almagro Jiménez Universidad de Sevilla almagro@us.es Montserrat Bascoy Lamelas Universidad de Alcalá montserrat.bascoy@uah.es Rocío Carrasco Universidad de Huelva rocio.carrasco@dfing.uhu.es Luis J. Conejero-Magro Universidad de Extremadura, Cáceres conejero.lj@gmail.com Francisco Manuel Mariño Universidad de Valladolid fmarino@fyl.uva.es Silvia Martínez Martínez Universidad de Granada smmartinez@ugr.es M. Cinta Mesa González Universidad de Huelva cinta.mesa@dfing.uhu.es Reinhold Münster Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg muensterrj@yahoo.de Eva Parra Membrives Universidad de Sevilla membrives2@gmail.com Eva Robustillo Bayón Universidad de Sevilla erobustillo@us.es Contributors 227 Ana Rodríguez Domínguez Universidad de Granada rodriana@ugr.es Lorena Silos Ribas Universidad de Alcalá lorena.silos@uah.es Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero Universidad de Córdoba l22tocaj@uco.es Juan Miguel Zarandona Universidad de Valladolid zarandon@lia.uva.es Amira Žmirić Univerzitet u Banjoj Luci, Bosnia-Herzegovina. amira.zmiric@efbl.org Index 1984 106 Aglae von Turba 218, 220, 222, 224 Albrecht von Eyb 98 Alexander III., Papst 138 Alien: Resurrection 74 Al-Mansur 138 Alvarez, Julia 126, 128 Ambraser Heldenbuch 88 American Beauty 78 Anti-Corn Law League 32 Apocalypse 84 Apokalypse 137 Apollonius of Tyre 89 Aquinas, Thomas 15 Armageddon 78 Arnold von Harff 135, 136, 139 Ars moriendi 84 Asterix et Obelix 20 Astrain, M. M. 205 Augsburger Stadtchroniken des 15. Jahrhunderts 98 Ballantyne, R. M. 205 Barlaam und Josaphat 98 Baum, Vicki 24, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183 Beecher Stowe, Harriet 205 Behn, Aphra 196 Benjamin, Walter 18, 31, 59, 61, 62, 64 Bible 21, 83, 90, 98, 187, 195 Biblia pauperum 21, 84 blockbuster 22, 67, 68, 69, 70, 73, 74, 75, 80, 89 Boethius 21 Boileau, Pierre 149 Books of Hours 10 Borges, Jorge Luis 15 Brokeback Mountain 78 Brown, Dan 146, 178 Browning, Robert 41, 48, 50 Bruguera Teixidó, Juan 201 Bruneti, Aldo 205 Bulwer Lytton, E. 205 Bunyan, John 12, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197 Burns, Robert 43, 45, 47, 48 Burton, John 185 Butler, Judith 68, 73 Byron, Lord 36, 43, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50 Campbell, Thomas 45 Carroll, Lewis 205 Caxton, William 86, 90 Cervantes, Miguel de 205 Chartists 17, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 38, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52 Chaucer, Geoffrey 45, 95, 192, 193, 196 Chrétien de Troyes 99 Christie, Agatha 15 Christine de Pizan 94 Christomanos, Constantin 214, 215 Cicero 45 Cisneros, Sandra 23, 125, 128, 129, 130, 132 Clinton, President 19, 71 Coelho, Paulo 140, 141, 146 Coleridge, S. T. 117 Conscience, Enrique 205 Cooper, Thomas 42, 43, 200 Costner, Kevin 72 Crabbe, George 43, 50 Crime novels 22 Dante Alighieri 45, 48, 93, 98 Daudet, Alphonse 205 David von Augsburg 98 Day, Daniel 78 Deep Impact 78 Defoe, Daniel 184, 194, 196, 200, 205 Demosthenes 45 detective novels 13, 22 Díaz, Junot 23, 125, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132 Index 229 Dickens, Charles 31, 36, 37, 50, 197, 200, 205, 211 Die fromme (selige) Müllerin 98 Dietrichs Flucht 88 Disraeli, Benjamin 30, 37, 39, 40 Dixon, J. Hepworth 38 Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan 23, 152, 159, 165, 167, 170 Dreesen, Walter 176 Dryden, John 186, 196 Dumas, Alexandre 200, 205 Eastwood, Clint 72 Eckermann, Johann Peter 113 Eckstein, Ignaz 57 Eco, Umberto 14, 15, 146 Eleonore of Austria 11 Elisabeth von Österreich 214, 218, 220 Elliott, Ebenezer 45 Ende, Michael 20 Erchmann-Chatrian 205 eXistenz 78 fairy tale 20 Falling Down 78 Ferenczy, Ida von 219, 223 Feval, Paul 205 Fittko, Lisa 18, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63 Follett, Kenneth Martin 16, 146, 172 Forrest, Katerine V. 156 Forster, Georg 144 Foscolo, Ugo 113 Foster, Harold 200, 201, 209, 210, 211 Foxe, John 84 Franco, Francisco 140, 210, 211 Franz Joseph, Kaiser 219 Freiligrath, Ferdinand 43, 46 Gadamer, Hans-Georg 117 Gago, Manuel 209, 210 Game of Thrones 11 Gaskell, Elizabeth 17, 36, 37 Gellert, Christian 10 Gesta Romanorum 89 Gifford, John 185 Gmünder Chronik 98 Godrey of Viterbo 89 Godwin, William 45 Goethe, Johann Wolfgang 18, 22, 113, 114, 121, 122 Gogol, Nikolai 200, 205 Golden Legend 90 Gottfried von Straßburg 98, 99 Grimm, Brothers 20 Guillaume de Lorris 12, 86, 93 Günther, Egon 113 Gutenberg, Johann 11 Haggard, H. Rider 206 Halberstam, Judith 73 Hamilton, Linda 74 Hanks, Tom 72 Harrison, Ch. C. 205 Hartmann von Aue 88, 98 Hedin, Sven 144 Herodot 144 Heyerdahl, Thor 144 Hitchcock, Alfred 149 Hoffmann, E. T. A. 114 Hollywood 22, 67, 68, 69, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81, 174, 176, 182 Homer 45, 48, 120, 136 Horaz 145 In and Out 78 Inception 78 Ivanhoe 10 Jacobus de Voragine 90, 98, 100 Japp, Andrea H. 23, 150, 153 Jauß, Hans Robert 121 Jean de Meun 12, 86, 93 Jolie, Angelina 74 Jones, Ernest 17, 34, 36, 39, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50 Karamsin, Nicolai 46 Karl der Große 98, 138 Kerkeling, Hape 136, 137, 140, 143, 147 King, Stephen 67, 172, 174 Kingsley, Charles 17 Kipling, Rudyard 15 Kisch, Egon E. 144 Index 230 Klage 88 Koran 83 Kriloff, Ivan 46 Legenda aurea 90, 92, 98, 100 Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim 18, 120 Lewis, Daniel Day 72 Liber Sancti Jacobi 135, 136, 139 Lindner, Fritz 176 Linton, W. J. 45 Lomonosoff, Michael 46 London, Jack 206 Lowell, James Russell 46 Lukács, Georg 13, 114, 115, 122 Luther, Martin 9, 10, 98, 134, 139, 196 Macaulays, Thomas B. 144 MacDiarmid, Hugh 42 MacLaine, Shirley 140, 142, 143, 146 Malot, Hector 205 Mann, Thomas 8, 113, 173 Márquez, Gabriel Garcia 8 Marryat, Captain 200, 205 Martin, George 10, 11 Massenet, Jules 113 Massey, Gerald 39, 46 Mauritius von Craûn 87, 88 May, Karl 15, 16, 85, 144, 200, 205 Mediascape 127 Meister Eckart 98 Meistersinger 97 Melusine 11, 120 Melville, Herman 205 Mendelssohn, Arnold 113 Michel, Robert 17, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224 Mighty Aphrodite 78 Milton, John 47, 48, 184, 196 Mitchell, David 13, 34, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111 Mora Pujadas, Victor 20, 200, 201, 205, 206, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212 Morris, William 42 Mulberry, Vincent 20, 200, 201, 205, 206, 207, 211, 212 Mulvey, Laura 75 Münchhausen, K. F. 206 Murakami, Haruki 9 Narcejac, Thomas 149, 154 Natalie, Erzherzogin 218, 219, 220 Navigatio sancti Brendani abbatis 86 Neidhart 98 Nibelungenlied 88, 98 Nicolai, Friedrich 46, 113 Nooteboom, Cees 140, 141, 147 Notting Hill 78 O’Brien, Bronterre 39 O’Connor, W. 205 One Good Cop 78 Ophüls, Max 113 Oprah’s Book Club 19 Pacher von Theinburg, Fritz 219, 223 Paine, Thomas 45 Pauli, Hertha 57 Peanuts 21 Petöfy, Sandor 46 Philadelphia 78 Pilgrim’s Progress 12, 34, 84, 184, 185, 186, 194, 195, 196 Plato 186 Plenzdorf, Ulrich 113 Poe, Edgar Allan 152, 154, 205 Pushkin, Alexander 46 Putnam, H. 115, 116, 122 Rabenschlacht 88 Ramsay, Allan 40 Realismus 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122 Reed, John 144 Reeves, Keanu 74 Reynolds, George 46 Robinson Crusoe 84, 196 Roman de la rose 12, 86, 93, 95, 97, 98, 100 Romero, Antonio Bernal 205, 206 Rowling, J. K. 16, 85, 172 Rudolf von Österreich-Ungarn, Kronprinz 219 Sacher, Anna 219 Index 231 Sage und Siegeszug des Kaffees 144 Salgari, Emilio 200, 205 Schiller, Friedrich 46, 123, 205 Schlink, Bernhard 19 Schwarzenegger, Arnold 74 Scott, Walter 40, 49, 200, 205 Seuse, Heinrich 98 Shakespeare, William 18, 45, 46, 47, 48, 196 Shelley, Percy 36, 43, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50 Sienkiewicz, Enrique 205 Simenon, George 149 Sleepy Hollow 78 Southey, Robert 45 Spenser, Edmund 186, 194 Spies, Walter 176, 181 Spyri, Juana [Johanna] 205 St. Georgener Predigten 98 Stanley, Howard 205 Stationes ecclesiarum urbis Romae 98 Stevenson, Robert Louis 200, 205 Stinnet, Norman R. 205 Storm and Stress 18 Strange Days 78 Stricker 88, 98 Swift, Jonathan 200, 205 Sylvain, Dominique 23, 150, 153, 154 Szent-Lörincz, Nikolaus 219 Sztáray, Irma 219 Tabachnik, Maud 23, 150, 156, 157 Tacitus 144 Tannahill, Robert 50 Taronin, Baron 219, 223 Tennyson, Alfred 50 Terminator 2 74 Thackeray, W. M. 31, 37, 113, 197 The Adventures of Roderick Random 84 The Matrix 78 The War of the Worlds 78 Thomas à Kempis 11 Thomson, William 40 Thüring von Ringoltingen 11 Tolkien, J. R. R. 10, 85, 99 Tomb Raider 74 Traffic 78 Trivialliteratur 175, 214, 218 Twain, Mark 197, 200, 205 Úbeda Fernández, Víctor Vicente 13, 104 Ubeda Fuentes, Juan José 205 Ulrich von Lichtenstein 88 Vargas, Fred 150 Vergil, Virgil 48, 144 Victoria, Queen 30 Vulpius, Christian August 22 Wallersee, Marie Louise von 214 Walther von der Vogelweide 98 Wappenbuch 98 Wars of the Roses 10 Weaver, Sigourney 74 Wernher der Gartenære 88 Wheeler, Thomas Martin 17, 34, 38, 41, 43 Whitman, Walt 46 Wiener Stadtrechtsbuch 98 Wirnt von Grafenberg 98 Wittgenstein, Ludwig 15 Witting, George 205 Wolfdietrich A 88 Wolfram von Eschenbach 83, 88, 96, 99 Wordsworth, William 36, 37, 48, 117 Worthington, Sam 74 Wynkyn de Worde 90 Wyss, Johann-Rudolf 205 What is the meaning of a „bestseller“ for the history of literature? How do we define it in the first place, and what consequences does the success on the book market have for the literary evaluation of a text? What is the relationship between quantity and quality? Many literary scholars shy away from doing research on „bestsellers“, but the question regarding the formation of a literary canon is closely connected with this issue. How do we evaluate the quality of a text in the first place? The topic of the „bestseller“ forces us to examine more closely the relationship between the reading public, literary scholarship, and the book market. On the one hand we have to examine the sales strategies for a book, on the other we have to consider what intentions a literary text might pursue first of all, and how we as literary scholars have to engage with the text critically. From this results also the challenge to re-investigate the foundation of literary scholarship and to take note of premodern and modern „bestsellers“ in their social-historical and mental-historical relevance, without ignoring the textual aesthetics. ISBN 978-3-8233-6938-7 Popular Fiction Studies 2