Till Eulenspiegel Research Articles

Functions and specificity of metaphorical complexes in D. Kehlmann’s novel «Tyll»

The article is devoted to the analysis of the linguistic representation and functional features of the metaphorical complexes death and movement in the German-language novel discourse. The research was based on the novel «Tyll» (2017) written by the modern German writer D. Kehlmann. The novel tells about the character of German medieval legends Till Eulenspiegel portrayed as vagabond and artist, placed in the landscape of the Thirty Years’ War. The relevance of the research is due to the lack of systematic studies of the novel metaphor and its dominant role in the process of meaning generation in literary texts at the «new turn of the century». The author used an integral approach to the problem under study. The initial theoretical premise of the study is the recognition of the serious cognitive potential of metaphor, realized in the process of artistic cognition. As a result of the research, it was found that the metaphorical complex death is embodied by D. Kehlmann in the novel by sequence of figurative rows that create a metaphorical connection between the arrival of the harbinger of death Till Eulenspiegel and the onset of War. The author suggests considering the process of formation of the metaphorical complex movement in a series of text fragments created with the participation of verbs with semantics of movement, spatial prepositions and adverbs of repetition. Attempting to characterize the rhythmic specificity of the novel text under study, the author comes to the conclusion that the main method used by D. Kehlmann is justification of rhythmic expectation. The rhythm of the text is consistent with the conceptual dance of the main character through subjectively ranged gradation rows with an ascending increment of semantic and emotionally expressive significance, which determine the author’s modality. Metaphorical complexes death and movement have prognostic and compositional functions. The results obtained confirm the metaphoricity of the novel under study and the necessity to analyze other metaphorical complexes as part of the central novel metaphor as an important category of modern German literature.

Concert ouverture “In the South (Alassio)” by Edward Elgar: summation of own experience and foreshadowing of upcoming innovations

Statement of the problem. Creativity of many composers includes the works proving crucial for understanding evolution of the artist’s individual style. Usually, the scholars’ attention is drawn to the works that become a result of stylistic evolution and that become popularity amongst the audience and the performers. At the same time, it is of no less importance to study the works that became milestones on a path to upcoming achievements, especially if there are heritage lines leading to them from the previous works. This is a situation with E. Elgar’s concert ouverture “In the South (Alassio)”: on the one hand, it summarizes composer’s achievements in this genre, on the other, it is the last composer’s step before creating his First Symphony. Apart from this ambivalence of the status, the work demonstrates the process of mediation of extremities, that can be traced on the levels of genre, structure, harmonic means and approach to extramusical. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. In the studies devoted to E. Elgar’s creativity as a whole or his symphonic compositions, the role of the Ouverture in the indicated evolutionary aspect is not considered, which determines the scientific novelty and relevance of the presented research. The purpose of the study is to reveal intersection points between concert ouverture “In the South (Alassio)” with the composer’s past and future creative achievements. Based on a historical-biographical approach, the history of the Ouverture’s origin is highlighted in view of its place in the artist’s creative evolution; a comparative method was used to juxtapose “Alassio” with other works of the composer; structural-compositional, genre and stylistic, intonation types of analysis were applied to examine the sheet music text of E. Elgar’s composition in detail. Results and conclusion. The study concludes that this concert ouverture is tightly integrated both in the context of development of E. Elgar’s symphonic style and into late-Romantic symphonysm as such. This work becomes the last composer’s preparatory step prior to his First Symphony as it contains germs of its multiple innovations: in harmony, structure and orchestration. Connection between “In the South” and general symphonic context is seen at multiple levels: genre attribution (the work defined by the author as “concert ouverture” has the features of symphonic poem, genre much more relevant for that time); harmonic language (freedom of tonal structure and modulations, juxtaposition of far chords; passages whose key cannot be defined etc.); specifics of themes and thematic development (multi-thematicism, inclusion of “picturesque” episode, intonation links between the themes). But originality of “Alassio” does not allow to regard is as an epigone imitation of late-Romantic symphonic style, but makes us understand it as a new step of this instrumental tradition. At the same time, it is possible to define more traditional traits at each of these levels: despite all the diversions from the sonata-form it is not fair to conclude that it is changed by another structure or is combined with it; three out of four themes of principal part, except for “Nobilmente”, are purely diatonic both in melody and harmony; programmatic approach does not lead to a large number of illustrative episodes, as it was done later by R. Strauss in “Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks” or “Don Quixote”, or later by E. Elgar himself in “Falstaff”.

Solomon and Marcolf: Vernacular Traditions, ed. Jan M. Ziolkowski, with the assistance of Edward Sanger and Michael B. Sullivan. Cambridge, MA, and London: Department of the Classics, Harvard University Press, 2022, xxvi, 515 pp., 28 b/w and color ill.

The trickster figure can be found in literature from around the world, operating always as a clever, mocking, and provocative character. He is a rogue who tends to tell the truth although the authorities do not want to hear it. In the western world, especially in Germany, there were, above all, Pfaffe Amîs (Priest Amîs) by The Stricker (ca. 1220–1240) and Till Eulenspiegel, probably by Herman Bote (first printed in 1510). Another noteworthy trickster was Marcolf whose seemingly foolish but in reality smart sayings regularly counter comments or opinions by King Solomon. Although the latter is famous for his wisdom as already described in the Old Testament, Marcolf, Marcoul, Morolf, Melkólfr, Marolfus, or Bertoldo, among other adaptations, opposes him and can demonstrate that conditions are different, that people operate poorly or evilly, or stupidly. The original narrative might have emerged somewhere in northwestern Europe around 1200, but since the tree of the many different versions is so complex, many of the questions pertaining to authorship and dating are hard to answer. Ziolkowski and Margaret Ziolkowski first give full credit to two early scholars who shed much light on this matter, John Mitchell Kembole (1807–1857) and Aleksandr Veselovskii (1838–1906).

The Continuation of the Middle Ages in the Early Modern Print Period. With an Emphasis on Melusine and Till Eulenspiegel

The Continuation of the Middle Ages in the Early Modern Print Period. With an Emphasis on Melusine and Till Eulenspiegel

Touring the Screen: Cinematic Resonances of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes

Touring the Screen: Cinematic Resonances of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes

Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in the American Midwest

Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in the American Midwest

Daniel Kehlmann’s Tyll: Historical Fiction for the Information Age

ABSTRACT This essay focuses on Daniel Kehlmann’s Tyll, a historical novel about the legendary jester, Till Eulenspiegel, set in the Thirty Years War. Kehlmann’s work is about the making of meaning in an era in flux. He brings a postmodern awareness to the premodern world, infusing ethics and affect into questions about the nature of knowledge and the writing of history. His characters interpret ambiguous evidence and spin truth in tales that have real-life consequences. The result is postmodern melodrama, historical fiction for the age of information.

EULENSPIEGEL IM KRIEG: DER NARR UND DIE ERZӒHLTRADITION IN DANIEL KEHLMANNS ROMAN TYLL

AbstractDaniel Kehlmann's novel Tyll (2017), which places its protagonist in the Thirty Years War, proves the astonishing topicality of pre‐modern Till Eulenspiegel. The starting point of this article is the observation that in literature, rogue characters like the jester are often linked to socio‐historical crises. To examine this nexus more closely, this character will be analysed at different levels: in relation to the picaresque novel, in intertextual readings of similar characters and motifs in Kehlmann's work, and in Tyll’s auto‐reflexive discourse on narration. Tyll shares his status as a social outsider and his absolute will to survive with the Spanish pícaro and the German ‘Schelm’. But in contrast to those, this jester is not mocked. Rather, he himself is the one who mocks others in Kehlmann's gloomiest novel so far, personifying a threat to any social structures. His transgressive actions give rise to reflections on the normative basis of society. At the same time, Kehlmann's Tyll, whose protagonist is placed in a world full of conflict, physical violence, and socio‐economic constraints, can also be read as a meta‐commentary on the powers and limits of narration.

"Till Eulenspiegel": a síntese épico-dramática na comédia de Luís Alberto de Abreu

Till Eulenspiegel é a quinta comédia escrita por Luís Alberto de Abreu para o projeto Comédia Popular Brasileira da Fraternal Cia de Arte e Malas-Artes. O presente artigo localiza Till no contexto desse projeto e apresenta a influência das ideias de Bakhtin sobre cultura popular, de Bergson sobre a mecânica do riso e da estrutura dramática da commedia dell’arte na obra. Analisa ainda a exploração dos recursos narrativos do teatro épico desenvolvida pelo autor, sobretudo a partir da coexistência dos valores aristotélicos e brechtianos na “máscara tripla”.

“Auch ein Wir kann allein sein”: Gattungskonventionen des historischen Romans neu gedacht bei Elena Messner, Clemens J. Setz und Lydia Haider

In spite of the lagging theoretical interest in historical fiction, the literary production of historical novels continues to be extremely rich among younger representatives of Austrian literature. Till Eulenspiegel by Clemens J. Setz, Das lange Echo by Elena Messner, and rotten by Lydia Haider att est to an ambiguous relation not only to the poetics of postmodern historiographic metafiction (per Linda Hutcheon) but also to its critical reinterpretations. This article analyzes the core features of these works—the self-reflective meta-level of paratexts, the language shaped by deconstructivist impulses, and the skepticism toward historical knowledge—in order to demonstrate to what extent the selected works apply an innovative approach to generic traditions and to what extent they prefer certain canonized forms of historical narrative. Even though a strong claim is made for the revision of the canon in terms of youth literature (Setz), of the elite literary canon (Messner), and the cultural memory of the Holocaust (Haider), the three examples solve these questions in differing ways.

Intertextuality in Daniel Kehlmann’s Novel Tyll

Intertextuality in Daniel Kehlmann’s Novel Tyll Marc J. Schweissinger Abstract This article examines intertextuality in the novel Tyll, by Daniel Kehlmann, from 2017. The Name Tyll refers to the old medieval figure Till Eulenspiegel. Eulenspiegel, a real-life character became popular through folk songs of the 15th and 16th centuries in Germany, but Kehlmann creates a historical novel, placing his Tyll in the Thirty Years‟ War (1618–1648), a war tormenting central Europe. Kehlmann employs literary borrowings from the original rough farce and Charles De Coster‟s world-famous version of the 19th century, The Legend of Ulenspiegel and Lamme Goedzak. But while De Coster presented his Till as a freedom fighter for the Protestant Netherlands against Catholic Spanish oppression, Kehlmann pictures an entirely different character. Moreover, in contrast to the rough farce, Kehlmann equips his Tyll with an individual biography. Tyll, suffering from childhood trauma, runs away from home and becomes a travelling artist. Caught up by the whirlwind of the Thirty Years‟ War, unprotected by law, Tyll turns from an able trickster similar to the character from the popular folk song into a fool for the so-called Winter King of Bohemia, Frederick V. Kehlmann creates an intertextual riddle, shifting back and forward in time, deliberately full of flaws and conceptual loopholes. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/ijll.v7n1a16

Comedy Ballet as Social Commentary:Till Eulenspiegel(1916)

In 1916, during the American tours of the Ballets Russes company, Vaslav Nijinsky created a choreography to Richard Strauss's tone poem Till Eulenspiegels lustische Streiche, nach alter Schelmenweise, in Rondo Form (1894–1895). Only performed during the tour, the work was long deemed a failure or an indication of the choreographer's approaching insanity. Tracing the reviews and other contemporary materials, this article asks what can be known of a past performance and rehearsal practice – and what our interpretations of the past reveal of present-day concerns and assumptions about dance as an art form.

Twisted Eulenspiegel: An Educational Approach To Role Playing In The Narrative Contexts

The theoretical framework of this study combines the concepts of role playing, storytelling and perspective taking in the creation of an interactive virtual environment, in order to assess and train the ability of students in primary and secondary level to take the point of view of the characters of a narrative. In order to develop this sense of “role” in an interactive virtual environment, we relied on the Vladimir Propp's work on morphology of fairy tale. With regard to the identification of literary material, we have focused attention on the cycle of stories of Till Eulenspiegel. The research path provides a virtual reconstruction of the world of Till, through interactive 3D animation that represents the scenario of the tales: a medieval town in which we developed an objective view, a vision of the entire district in Third Person Camera, and a subjective view, in First Person Camera, centered on the point of view of the character. Students will, therefore, deconstruct and reconstruct the original story, basing on the answers which they give to Till Eulenspiegel, becoming in turn deuteragonists or antagonists, villains or donors, helpers or false heroes.. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p1118

Daily Chicken

Literature is a significant agent in the transmission of culture. Through literature expected behavior and patterns of life are passed on from generation to generation. The anticipated power of children's literature is even stronger. Socializing the target audience has always been one of its main aims. Consequently, books for children are governed by dominant social, cultural, and educational norms. This article explores the reciprocity between cultural transmission and the transmission of literature. It examines adaptations of international literary classics in their capacity of cultural intermediaries between old masterpieces and young audiences. Focusing on ways of transmitting family ideologies to children, the repository of Dutch adaptations of "Reynard the Fox," "Till Eulenspiegel," "Robinson Crusoe," and "Gulliver's Travels" serves as a case study.

"A Famous and Most Miraculous Prophecy": An Annotated Translation of a Middle Dutch Trickster Poem

Abstract Een schoone ende wonderlijcke prognosticatie (1560) is one of many Dutch texts dealing with the trickster Till Eulenspiegel, known as "Tijl Uilenspiegel" in the Low Countries and "Owlglass" in England. The poem differs from most Eulenspiegel literature in two key respects. First, it treats the figure as a narrator rather than a character, and second, it seems designed for performance rather than simple recital. We offer here an English translation of this remarkable piece, lightly annotated throughout.

"A Famous and Most Miraculous Prophecy": An Annotated Translation of a Middle Dutch Trickster Poem

Een schoone ende wonderlijcke prognosticatie (1560) is one of many Dutch texts dealing with the trickster Till Eulenspiegel, known as "Tijl Uilenspiegel" in the Low Countries and "Owlglass" in England. The poem differs from most Eulenspiegel literature in two key respects. First, it treats the figure as a narrator rather than a character, and second, it seems designed for performance rather than simple recital. We offer here an English translation of this remarkable piece, lightly annotated throughout.

Laughter as the Ultimate Epistemological Vehicle in the Hands of Till Eulenspiegel

One of the most fundamental experiences in human life is laughter, which carries numerous functions. Through a critical reading of a selection of tales about Till Eulenspiegel in this sixteenth-century chapbook, we can detect an epistemological function of laughter through which representatives of virtually every social class becomes the object of laughter insofar as they all reveal shortcomings and vices. But the laughter triggered by Eulenspiegel does not destroy or hurt badly; instead it invites the entire audience to join and to look into the mirror, which is, of course, also part of the protagonist’s name. Contrary to many other interpretations, this reading then suggests that the author (Hermen Bote?) pursued a similarly sarcastic-humorous attitude about the conditions of his time as many contemporaries (Brant, Montanus, Kirchhof, Lindener, etc.) and suggested to his listeners/readers to laugh with him as the best strategy to deconstruct the mask of illusion and thus to establish a basis for critical reflections about themselves and their society.

Framing Till Eulenspiegel

Strauss's Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (1895) may be read as the composer's credo of a new, antimetaphysical musical modernism that resonated with aspects of Nietzschean philosophy. In the immediately preceding years Strauss had taken a decisive philosophical-aesthetic turn away from the metaphysical assertions of Schopenhauer and Wagner and toward a more individualistic, palpably material conception of music. As was recognized by some writers of that period, the provocations and unstoppable laughter apparent in the tone poem could be understood as brash dismissals of one "sacred" tenet of the institution of art music after another. The seemingly gemutlich wit represented by Till (a metaphorical stand-in for Strauss himself) masked a more subversive agenda: on the one hand, a mocking of the metaphysical pretensions that then underpinned the art-music enterprise; on the other, the proclaiming of a new aesthetic staging itself as exhilaratingly emancipated from the overly inflated "Spirit of Gravity" still dominating that cultural sector of the musical world. These subversions are perceptible not only in the piece's program but also in its local musical details and overall formal construction. Several larger issues are at stake in such considerations. Strauss's personal move away from the metaphysics of music provides one of the earliest, most urgent alarms from within the high-prestige cultural system that its fundamental axioms were now corroding away, no longer sustainable by authoritarian fiat, in a rapidly modernizing and secularizing world. In turn, this suggests that such a reframing of Strauss's (and others') projects could encourage historians to approach the separate subhistories of musical modernism with a more problematized complexity and nuance. Finally--as all commentators on Till Eulenspiegel have noted--a significant part of the piece's impact resides its flamboyant, high-technical compositional display (a leading sign of its "modernism"). From this perspective the requisite framing is grounded in our recognition of its brazenly confrontational dialogue with established musical styles and practices. Non-normative formal patterning and architectonic layout are substantial components of Strauss's (Till's) musical subversion. In the reading proposed here, Till Eulenspiegel is processed as a radicalized sonata-rondo deformation with telling hermeneutic and social connotations, some of whose essential clues are located in the piece's prologue and epilogue. I interweave this analytical interpretation with remarks about the concept of sonata (and sonata-rondo) deformations as applied to music of the late nineteenth century.

Jenische, Sinti und Roma in der Schweiz by Helena Kanyar Becker (review)

MLR, 100.4, 2005 1159 Changing Notions of Money and Language in German Literature from i$og to igs6. By Regina Angela Wenzel. (Studies in German Language and Literature, 32; Bristol German Publications, 12) Lewiston, Queenston, and Lampeter: Mellen. 2003. x + 262pp. ?69.95. ISBN 0-7734-7058-1. The best aspect of Regina Wenzel's adapted doctoral thesis is, as appropriate to the genre, the close analysis of texts: chapters on the role of money and financial termi? nology in Fortunatus, Till Eulenspiegel, Nathan der Weise, Kabale und Liebe, Faust II, Der griine Heinrich, Von morgens bis mitternachts,and Der Besuch der alten Dame. These reflect and extend the state of scholarship in these areas and should be read carefully by anyone interested in these works. Beyond that, doubts set in. The theory of Chapter 1, that as money and language are both systems of negotiation whose usefulness depends on mutual trust (in the genuineness of the currency, the truth of the utterance), therefore there must be parallels in their literary treatment, is surely correct, and leads to useful insights about, for instance, the project of realist writ? ing (p. n)?though it would still have been useful, here, to go back to Christopher Prendergast's remarks in The Order of Mimesis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986). But it does not follow that the same texts that exemplify changing no? tions of money are also good instances of changing awareness of language: those two developments have differentrhythms,however well Wenzel argues for their coming together, for instance, in Keller, or however sharply she observes Leibniz's analogy of the functions of money and of words (p. 97). In effect,therefore, Wenzel in her central chapters limits herself to half her sub? ject, money, with occasional forays into the other, language. Even this lacks a certain dimension, promised by Martin Swales in his preface: the systematic consideration of magic alongside money and language?few German writers to this day can conceive of prosperity except as the result of, if not actual magic, at least far-fetched coincidences, or else sharp practice. A reading of Simplicissimus could have added much to this theme and filled a chronological and thematic gap, with its transition from a superstitious world where treasures are guarded by uncanny spirits, via the easy-come-easy-go attitude of the soldier living on booty, to a world of commerce where judicious investment is the condition of profit. Die Insel Felsenburg would also suggest a shiftto Aufklarung values, and there is more to the (short) nineteenth cen? tury than can be dealt with by a chapter on Der griine Heinrich and short passages on Soll und Haben and Buddenbrooks. Though Wenzel ends on a note of Kulturpessimismus ?'The belief ofthe Enlightenment in at least some universal values seems to have collapsed irrevocably in our post-modern times' (p. 258)?she is only restating a timeless complaint which she has traced back to the late Middle Ages (p. 29). Some theorists of values, notably Pierre Bourdieu (not mentioned here) with his system of differentkinds of capital, would disagree. The volume is well presented as one expects of the publisher (Wenzel should prob? ably share this praise, forproviding perfect camera-ready copy). Notes at the ends of chapters?though surely an oddity now that footnotes magically arrange themselves without human intervention?help to overcome the disadvantage ofthe lack ofa bib? liography. Cardiff University Alfred D. White Jenische, Sinti und Roma in der Schweiz. Ed. by Helena Kanyar Becker. (Basler Beitrage zur Geschichtswissenschaft, 176) Basel: Schwabe. 2003. 185 pp. SwF 48; ?33.50. ISBN 3-7965-1973-3. Helena Kanyar Becker'sjenische, Sinti und Roma in der Schweiz represents an impor? tant contribution to German cultural studies, being the firstvolume to deal with the 1160 Reviews history and culture of Switzerland's 35,000 Yenish (or 'White Gypsies') and Sinti, 2,500 Travellers, and some 30,000 immigrant Romanies from south-eastern Eur? ope. Becker's aim is to highlight their history of abuse and persecution, and increase understanding of their culture and traditions. The authors are all active in the field of Yenish, Romany, and minority rights,and there is a...

Changing Notions of Money and Language in German Literature from 1509 to 1956 by Regina Angela Wenzel (review)

MLR, 100.4, 2005 1159 Changing Notions of Money and Language in German Literature from i$og to igs6. By Regina Angela Wenzel. (Studies in German Language and Literature, 32; Bristol German Publications, 12) Lewiston, Queenston, and Lampeter: Mellen. 2003. x + 262pp. ?69.95. ISBN 0-7734-7058-1. The best aspect of Regina Wenzel's adapted doctoral thesis is, as appropriate to the genre, the close analysis of texts: chapters on the role of money and financial termi? nology in Fortunatus, Till Eulenspiegel, Nathan der Weise, Kabale und Liebe, Faust II, Der griine Heinrich, Von morgens bis mitternachts,and Der Besuch der alten Dame. These reflect and extend the state of scholarship in these areas and should be read carefully by anyone interested in these works. Beyond that, doubts set in. The theory of Chapter 1, that as money and language are both systems of negotiation whose usefulness depends on mutual trust (in the genuineness of the currency, the truth of the utterance), therefore there must be parallels in their literary treatment, is surely correct, and leads to useful insights about, for instance, the project of realist writ? ing (p. n)?though it would still have been useful, here, to go back to Christopher Prendergast's remarks in The Order of Mimesis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986). But it does not follow that the same texts that exemplify changing no? tions of money are also good instances of changing awareness of language: those two developments have differentrhythms,however well Wenzel argues for their coming together, for instance, in Keller, or however sharply she observes Leibniz's analogy of the functions of money and of words (p. 97). In effect,therefore, Wenzel in her central chapters limits herself to half her sub? ject, money, with occasional forays into the other, language. Even this lacks a certain dimension, promised by Martin Swales in his preface: the systematic consideration of magic alongside money and language?few German writers to this day can conceive of prosperity except as the result of, if not actual magic, at least far-fetched coincidences, or else sharp practice. A reading of Simplicissimus could have added much to this theme and filled a chronological and thematic gap, with its transition from a superstitious world where treasures are guarded by uncanny spirits, via the easy-come-easy-go attitude of the soldier living on booty, to a world of commerce where judicious investment is the condition of profit. Die Insel Felsenburg would also suggest a shiftto Aufklarung values, and there is more to the (short) nineteenth cen? tury than can be dealt with by a chapter on Der griine Heinrich and short passages on Soll und Haben and Buddenbrooks. Though Wenzel ends on a note of Kulturpessimismus ?'The belief ofthe Enlightenment in at least some universal values seems to have collapsed irrevocably in our post-modern times' (p. 258)?she is only restating a timeless complaint which she has traced back to the late Middle Ages (p. 29). Some theorists of values, notably Pierre Bourdieu (not mentioned here) with his system of differentkinds of capital, would disagree. The volume is well presented as one expects of the publisher (Wenzel should prob? ably share this praise, forproviding perfect camera-ready copy). Notes at the ends of chapters?though surely an oddity now that footnotes magically arrange themselves without human intervention?help to overcome the disadvantage ofthe lack ofa bib? liography. Cardiff University Alfred D. White Jenische, Sinti und Roma in der Schweiz. Ed. by Helena Kanyar Becker. (Basler Beitrage zur Geschichtswissenschaft, 176) Basel: Schwabe. 2003. 185 pp. SwF 48; ?33.50. ISBN 3-7965-1973-3. Helena Kanyar Becker'sjenische, Sinti und Roma in der Schweiz represents an impor? tant contribution to German cultural studies, being the firstvolume to deal with the ...