|
Conceptual aspects of the
Project
"The Calender-Stories from our book in English Translation"
*
Johann Peter Hebel, teacher, headmaster, and eventually Lutheran
Prelate, contributed a handful of pieces each year to the Baden Rural
Calendar from 1803 to 1807. The first edition was in 1803, and the
fourth reprint came out in 1808, the same year in which he was also
appointed Headmaster of Karlsruhe Grammar School. In 1806, Baden became
a Dukedom, with the former Margrave, and then Elector, Karl Friedrich,
being elevated to the position of Grand Duke under the auspices of the
French occupation. During this intense, fast-moving period of history,
Karl Friedrich, a benevolent autocrat, instigated many social changes,
including freeing his serfs in 1783 and emancipating his Jewish subjects
in 1809. In 1807, he appointed Hebel as the sole editor and author of an
almanac to replace the loss-making, ineffective Baden Rural Calendar.
The Grand Duke’s aim was to raise the literacy level of his subjects,
particularly those landworkers and servants who had little, if any,
schooling. Since the Bible and the almanac were the only two books in
many people’s houses, Hebel was given a project with vast potential. His
replacement almanac, The Rhineland Family Friend, or the New Calendar,
which he edited and wrote from 1808 to 1815, and once more in 1819,
gained an immense readership, not only fulfilling his brief, but going
beyond it. A skilled communicator, Hebel successfully wrote for a wide
audience with varying reading skills. His reinvigorated almanac, The
Rhineland Family Friend which he urged the Baden church authorities to
undertake, demonstrates awareness of the readership. Innovatively, Hebel
insisted that more narrative pieces be included, and carefully arranged
the text and illustrations to best engage his readers. His persona, the
Rhineland Family Friend, who narrates the stories, provides an
overarching framework, addressing the reader directly. Despite offering
moral interpretations, this Friend does not sermonise. Hebel’s use of
multi-voiced dialogue, refracted through this persona, gives the almanac
narratives a strong oral quality. He stipulated that these narratives
should range from “jokes to executions, and from murderous deeds to
something meaningful, something outlandish, something strange or
something puzzling.” His almanac narratives exceed this list, to include
parables; retellings of fables and fairy tales; stories with
journalistic, topical or historical interest; and stories which invert
the socially accepted status quo. Several stories feature the pranks of
rogues and tricksters, told through engaging, lively dialogue and absurd
humour. Their protagonists are types drawn from folkloric tradition, who
escape punishment as they outwit the establishment and the rule of law.
Given Hebel’s status as Prelate, this comedic, carnivalesque subversion
appears unexpected, particularly because these folkloric stories omit
moral guidance. However, his omission of moral guidance is intentional.
It not only appeals to and entertains his readers, but frees them to
form their own interpretation allows him to mock the shortcomings of
authority. In stark contrast, in The Rhineland Family Friend is the
anecdote, “A Secret Beheading”, an account of an execution made even
more horrific by the absence of explanations. The poignant, highly
acclaimed “Unexpected Meeting” fulfils Hebel’s stipulation for
“something meaningful” in the almanac; the many misunderstandings of
“Kannitverstan” render it “outlandish” and “strange”, while “The Two
Postilions” is so concise as to be “puzzling”.
*
The calendar stories presented here, translated into English, follow the
chronological order of the stories and thus offer
English-speaking readers the opportunity to read these stories in full
in their own language, as I assume that not all of these “Hebel
enthusiasts” are sufficiently proficient in German.
The translations were created using the free version of the translation
software “DeepL,” manually reviewed, and corrected where necessary, and
should adequately capture the “Hebel tone” of the stories in English as
much as possible.
|
|
