Asterix and the Goths

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Asterix and the Goths ( French original title: Astérix et les Goths ) is the third volume in the Asterix series by Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny . In it, the heroes Asterix and Obelix travel to Germania , where the druid Miraculix was abducted by the Visigoths - who represent a caricature of the Germans . In 1963 it was first published in Pilote magazine. In 1965 a first German translation with the title Siggi und die Ostgoten appeared in the magazine Lupo Modern of the Kauka Verlag , but the content was alienated , the second, now known version in 1970 as the seventh volume of the album edition of the series by Egmont Verlag. Compared to other volumes in the series, Asterix and the Goths is much more political and can be seen as support for the division of Germany .

action

The druid Miraculix is ​​accompanied by Asterix and Obelix to the meeting of the Gaulish druids in the Karnutenwald , which is not only a social get-together, but also a competition. On the way, Asterix, Obelix and Miraculix meet his friend Spürnix, who also takes part in the meeting of the druids. Shortly before their destination, they are stopped by a Roman patrol who is looking for the invaded Goths, but lets them pass when they can prove that they are actually druids. Since only druids are allowed to enter the forest, Asterix and Obelix say goodbye to the two druids and wait at the edge of the forest.

In the meantime, the Visigoths sought by the Romans have secretly penetrated the Karnutenwald under the guidance of rhetoric and are following the competition from hiding in the bushes. You have in mind to kidnap the winner of the competition and with his help to conquer Gaul and, last but not least, the entire Roman Empire . The druid Florix manages to grow many beautiful flowers with just a few drops of his magic potion; Barometrix throws a little of his powder into the air, and it's already raining; Praktifix has found a way to turn a potion into powder that, when packed in a sack, takes up less space than a pot, which he has also turned into a powder, and Spürnix has invented a potion that he can use to keep french fries intact with his bare hands from the deep fryer. However, the absolute highlight of the event is Miraculix 'magic potion, which gives superhuman powers. That is why he wins and receives the “golden menhir” as a prize. As he is packing up his things for departure, he is attacked by the Goths, taken prisoner and kidnapped.

When Miraculix does not return, the companions decide to enter the forest and look for him. You come across Spürnix, who is also amazed at Miraculix's disappearance. When they see a Gothic helmet lying on the ground, they have to realize that Miraculix has been kidnapped. Therefore Asterix and Obelix decide to leave for the land of the Goths.

After leaving, Asterix and Obelix are stopped by the Romans who, since Asterix is ​​still wearing the helmet, mistake them for Goths. Asterix and Obelix beat up everyone and flee, but the Romans are now looking for them, which makes things difficult. They consider them to be Goths disguised as Gauls, which is why the Gauls have to disguise themselves as Romans to camouflage themselves. The Goths, on the other hand, can travel unhindered through Gaul with their human prey and cross the border there. Asterix and Obelix finally cross the border to Germania , where Miraculix is ​​kept locked up in a cage by the chief choleric. In order not to attract attention, they dress up as Gothic warriors.

Meanwhile, Cholerik, the leader of the Goths, with the help of the translator Holperik, wants to ask whether the druid is ready to brew him the magic potion. Holperik, who fears for his life, translates his strict “no” as “yes” and mentions an invented period of a few days. Seeing that this will sooner or later be discovered, he decides to flee at night, travel to the Roman border and settle in Gaul. However, he is caught by a Gothic patrol.

In order to find Miraculix, Asterix and Obelix have meanwhile joined a troop of Gothic soldiers and so end up in a Gothic barracks. During the night they try to flee from there in order to continue their search. There they are discovered by the same patrol that has just arrested Holperik. All three are thrown into the dungeon. However, they manage to escape from there, taking Holperik with them. From this they find out where Miraculix is. When they come across soldiers nearby, Holperik draws their attention to the Gauls. Obelix beats up the Goths first, but then Asterix develops a plan and they surrender. They are led to choleric, where they finally see the kidnapped Miraculix again. He reveals to the Goth chief that his translator lied, because Miraculix is ​​fluent in the language of the Goths. Cholerik, in his rage at the decision to execute all four of them the next day, locks them back in the dungeon. Miraculix brews his magic potion for Holperik on the pretext of wanting to enjoy a Gallic soup one more time before her death.

When the translator is to be quartered the next day, it turns out that the horses are not strong enough. Holperik overthrows Cholerik from the throne, makes himself boss and now wants to have Cholerik executed in agony with the Gauls. As their tasks have been completed, Asterix and Obelix now want to go back to Gaul, but Miraculix believes that enough confusion must first be created so that the Goths are concerned with themselves and the attacks on their neighbors, especially Gaul , stop. They decide to play off the Goths among themselves. Miraculix first supplies choleric with a magic potion, who then declares war on Holperik, both of which begin to set up an army against the other. Miraculix is ​​looking for other suitable candidates and provides them with the magic potion, which triggers a larger and longer conflict among the Goths, the so-called "Asterixin Wars".

The three Gauls then return unmolested to their village, where they have already been thought dead because Spürnix brought them the terrifying news. A big festival is then held under the stars for the returnees.

Political content

This volume parodies several clichés of the French about the Germans , especially their ( Prussian ) militarism , striving for power, cruelty and cleanliness. The small German states and the division of Germany are interpreted as the (only) useful way to tame the belligerent neighbor. The Goths wear spiked bonnets for illustration and in the French-language original version swastikas can be seen in a speech bubble and on a flag. In addition, the Goths "speak" in Gothic script , which is considered to be typically German and which was the standard script in Germany until 1941 ( normal script decree ). The distinction between Eastern and Visigoths and their changing position in Europe during the migration period is mentioned satirically.

André Stoll took a critical look at the album in his book "Asterix - The Trivial Epos France: Visual and Language Artistry of a Best-selling Comics" (1974). The volume corresponds to the "patrotic consciousness" of France regarding "external enemies", in this case "the Germans". The Goths panorama shifted to a “barbaric antiquity” is composed of “grotesquely exaggerated clichés”. This corresponds to the image that was spread after the cession of Alsace-Lorraine (1871) “with interruptions and changing accents by the official educational and information media (analogous to the propaganda machine on the other side of the Rhine)”. Stoll also attaches importance to the term “Goths”. While the English name, “Bretons”, emphasizes old ethnic similarities, conversely the term “Goten” for Germans replaces the more positive term “Germanen” (“cousins ​​germains”). Since the Wisigoten replaced the Romans as invaders and occupiers, this name implies exactly the opposite in the patriotic consciousness of the French.

In the comic, especially the “barracks courtyard scenes” that Asterix and Obelix experience in costumes, Stoll sees an “allegory of the condensed development of German militarism from Bismarck to Hindenburg , Hitler and to the disaster of 1945 in the vision of a“ battle between the two vanquished »Is prophetically brought to its completion."

André Stoll sees numerous sources of inspiration for the “burlesque-martial kaleidoscope” in this volume, especially in the French propaganda of the First World War . He sees the “malicious revenge campaigns” of the comic grenadiers Croquignol, Ribouldingue and Filochard through the Germany of the First World War, drawn since January 21, 1915 in the weekly newspaper L'Epatant by Louis, as the “most direct thematic template for the Goths expedition of the two heroes” Forton for the amusement of the front line fighters and the rear.

Albert Uderzo also said that since the Second World War was not long ago when it was released, a correspondingly anti-German view still shaped this album.

Remarks

References within the series

The volume is linked to the previous volume Die Goldene Sichel : There Miraculix mentions that the druid meeting will take place soon, here the time has come.

In the two previous volumes, figures appear who are very similar in appearance to the Goths: two Teutons at the beginning of Asterix the Gauls and two barbarians at the end of The Golden Sickle .

The Goths as a people have again guest appearances in the later adventures The Battle of the Chiefs , Asterix as Legionnaire and Asterix in Italy , although their portrayal is no longer negatively connoted. In The Daughter of Vercingetorix , the Adrenaline character wears Gothic clothing that she likes better than Gallic clothing.

Although the meeting in the Karnutenwald takes place annually, Miraculix presents his magic drink, which he must have invented a long time ago, to the clearly surprised other druids for the first time.

In this comic, the french fries already exist. However, they are only invented by the Belgians in the later volume Asterix .

Anachronisms

The occurrence of French fries is an anachronism , as potatoes were not native to Europe at the time , but were only introduced in the course of the discovery of the New World.

Historical

The Goths, who stand here for the Germans , actually had no part in German ethnogenesis. In late antiquity they settled on the other side of the Danube , where there were repeated battles with the Romans. The areas of Germania bordering on Gaul were settled by other tribes, so the Gauls were not neighbors of the Goths, as shown in the comic. With the Gothic , originally a disparaging term for what is now called the architectural style, a connection between German and Gothic was created in the Renaissance. The German script used in this volume is also known colloquially as Gothic script, Gothic is used for this in English .

The meeting in the Karnutenwald is already mentioned by Gaius Iulius Caesar in his work The Gallic War .

publication

The story was published in Pilote issues 82 to 122 from May 18, 1961 . Astérix chez les Goths was first published in 1963 by Dargaud as volume 3 of the series.

A falsifying translation in the Lupo Modern magazine under the title “Siggi and the Ostrogoths” became a political issue, since, based on the German-German division, the Visigoths were all too obviously rewritten as West Germans and the Ostrogoths as East Germans: They spoke with the Saxon dialect , addressed each other as “Comrade”, and red font was sometimes used instead of the Fraktur font.

The translation led to a political debate and to the fact that the comic was submitted to the Federal Inspectorate for Writings Harmful to Young Persons. Finally, Uderzo and Goscinny also became aware of the abuse, which led to the Dargaud publishing house terminating the contract with Kauka at the instigation of Goscinny.

The freed-up rights were acquired by Egmont-Verlag, which began publishing the Asterix albums in a new translation in 1968. In 1970 “Asterix and the Goths” appeared for the first time as the seventh volume of the German edition, which differed numerically from the original (France: Volume 3).

Like the entire series, the volume has been translated into a number of other languages ​​around the world.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gothic, Germanic, German: The image of the Goths in "Asterix and the Goths". yellowcomic.com, 2014, accessed September 29, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Germans were militarists at Asterix. Deutsche Welle , October 29, 2009, accessed on September 29, 2015 .
  3. ^ "Asterix - The Trivial Epos France: Visual and Speech Artistry of a Besteller Comics", André Stoll, Dumont-Verlag , 3rd expanded edition of 1977, page 149
  4. ↑ a b c "Asterix - The Trivial Epos France: Visual and Speech Artistry of a Best Seller Comics", André Stoll, Dumont-Verlag, 3rd expanded edition of 1977, page 150
  5. ↑ Le livre d'Astérix le Gaulois, Olivier Andrieu, Les Éditions Albert René, 1999, pp. 94-95
  6. ↑ Marco Muetz: Lupo Modern - Asterix Archive - Library - Collectors. Retrieved October 13, 2017 .
  7. ^ Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Stuttgart, Germany: Comic translations: When Asterix was called Siggi . In: stuttgarter-nachrichten.de . ( stuttgarter-nachrichten.de [accessed on October 13, 2017]).
  8. ^ Matthias Heine: Comic history: The Kauka effect . In: THE WORLD . March 21, 2005 ( welt.de [accessed October 13, 2017]).