Der gelehrte Narr: Gelehrtensatire seit der Aufklärung by Alexander Košenina (review)

Abstract

MLRy 99.3, 2004 729 For a profoundly academic book, this volume has a remarkably high entertainment value. In part this flows from the inventiveness and exuberance of medieval lore, with Noah's drunken goat, Jacob's courtly love, and Potiphar's ambiguous sexuality providing memorable images, but it also stems from the author's dry humour, which commands the reader's enthusiasm. As a result, this is certainly a study which will be enjoyed by the non-specialist. But with quotations in a dozen medieval vernaculars, it is nevertheless a demanding read, and its importance lies in the clear definition of the 'popular Bible' which gradually crystallizes out of the narratives. Apart from the price, and the fact that in the Hebrew and Yiddish citations the letter resh (1) has been rendered as daleth (1) throughout, it is hard to find fault with this valuable contribution to our understanding of medieval thought. University of Regensburg Graeme Dunphy Der gelehrte Narr: Gelehrtensatire seit der Aufkldrung. By Alexander Kosenina. Gottingen: Wallstein. 2003. 487 pp. ?49. ISBN 3-89244-531-1 (hbk). The philosopher or scholar has been a figure of fun for as long as philosophy and scholarship have existed. When Thales, absorbed in the contemplation of the heavens , failed to watch his step and tumbled into a ditch, he presented not only a gratifying comic spectacle to the bystanders, but also a lesson in the apparent shortcomings of the life of the mind. The world at large, suspecting the scholarly profession of being a particularly brazen conspiracy against the laity,has always relished the opportunity of mocking its pretensions, and has therefore been grateful to those, from Aristo? phanes and Lucian to David Lodge and Laurie Taylor, who have punctured them most effectively. But as these examples show, derision, in its literary form at least, is a commodity that is best supplied by those who themselves, by education and professional standing , have at least one foot in the enemy's camp. Satires on scholarship are almost invariably written by the learned and are documents of internal dissent and division within the educated world. In the battle of the books, the laity will impartially enjoy the discomfiture of either side. For the combatants, only the defeat of the opposition will do: no one hates a scholar like another scholar. Alexander Kosenina tackles a vast subject. Geographically, the German-speaking countries are his primary interest, though the literature of other nations is generously included. Chronologically, he concentrates on the period from about 1700 onward. One of his claims is indeed that there is a special flowering of Gelehrtensatire in the Enlightenment. There are good reasons for this. It is the age of common sense and worldly pragmatism. Its ideal is the all-round 'virtuoso' or gentleman scholar. The more specialized branches of learning tend to get short shrift from the literati. Kosenina finds especially rich pickings in the late Aufkldrung; it is a pleasing aspect of his book that Nicolai, Lichtenberg, and Jean Paul feature prominently it it. In the nineteenth century,there appears to be less material, though Freytag, Heyse, Fontane, and Raabe do get honourable mention. Things pick up again in the most recent period, with authors as differentas Thomas Bernhard and Dietrich Schwanitz to the fore. Kosenina proceeds with a loose systematization, examining first'auBere Erscheinungsformund Charakteristikader Gelehrten', then their 'spezifische Interessen und Arbeitsweisen', and lastly' Formen [ihrer] institutionellen Organisation'. These broad sections are further subdivided. The chapter headings provide a useful checklist of the deformities which have been the target of satire over the centuries. A particularly instructive opening chapter studies the pervasive image of scholars as apes or fools ('Bilder: Affige Professoren, gelehrige Affen und Narren'). Physical ailments and 73 o Reviews shortcomings, bibliomania, abstruse topics of research, the apparatus of scholarly works, and of course academic conferences are among the other topics surveyed. The greatest virtue of the book is the sheer wealth of material Kosenina has unearthed . He discusses approximately 180 works. The bibliography is a valuable source of reference in its own right. Of course one can always think of works that he has overlooked: his discussion of the desiccated scholar in Heyse's...