The tsar's courier

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Title page of the original edition by Jules Férat
Original drawing by Jules Férat

The Tsar's Courier (also Michael Strogoff ) is a novel by the French author Jules Verne . The novel was first published in 1876 by the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel under the French title Michel Strogoff . The first German-language edition appeared in 1876 under the title Der Courier des Czar . The English title of the novel is Michael Strogoff .

The book is considered by critics to be one of Jules Verne's best works. In contrast to the otherwise very sober, technically heavy works by Verne, it is characterized by a lively style and a vivid depiction of the landscape.

action

The action takes place in Russia . It tells the story of the Siberian Michael Strogoff, an officer who serves the Tsar as a courier . When the telegraph connections were interrupted as a result of an uprising by the Tatars in Siberia , Strogoff received the order from the Tsar to bring a dispatch to Irkutsk . The news is intended to warn the Grand Duke , the tsar's brother, about the traitor Ivan Ogareff. Ogareff wants to take revenge on the tsar's brother because he personally demoted him when he was still an officer. Now Ogareff and his army of outlaws have teamed up with that of the Tatar prince Feofar Khan.

Strogoff is an athletic Siberian, of outstanding physical strength and character, and he is a brave soldier who has not forgotten his simple roots. He dearly loves his mother and his fatherland. Because of the raiding predatory Tatars, Michael Strogoff cannot travel on an official mission, but only incognito as a merchant (cloth merchant) Nikolaus Korpanoff. Strogoff sets out on the dangerous route through Siberia by train, by steamboat, by horse and carriage and on foot. On the way he meets the young Nadja Fedor from Riga, who is also on her way to Irkutsk. She wants to stay with her father, who lives there in exile. In addition, Strogoff made the acquaintance of two war correspondents, the British Harry Blount from the London " Daily Telegraph " and the French Alcide Jolivet from Paris , who are also on their way to Siberia to report on the Tatar rebellion. Strogoff has one adventure after another to go through, and the fact that Ogareff knows what he is doing makes things even more dangerous for him.

The Tatar cavalry army invades the vast plains of Western Siberia. By chance they succeed in capturing Strogoff's mother. The devious gypsy Sangarre, who is the lover and helper of the traitorous Ogareff, becomes suspicious. Strogoff, who is also in the camp, is identified when his mother is tortured by whipping. He reveals himself and is presented to the leader of the Tatars. Passed out Nadja, who has since discovered her love for Michael, has to watch together with Michael's mother as Strogoff is blinded by a glowing sword . The Tatars seize Strogoff's legitimation, and Irkutsk seems to be lost. The tormented and humiliated Strogoff escapes and with Nadja as his guide he takes the long way east again.

Ogareff sneaks into the besieged city of Irkutsk as Strogoff. He is waiting for the right moment to kill the tsar's brother and open the city to the Tatars.

Meanwhile, Strogoff and Nadja reach the city and Nadja discovers Ogareff. Ogareff wants to kill Nadja so that she doesn't reveal his camouflage. But Strogoff puts Ogareff to fight and can defeat him. Strogoff wasn't blind at all. The tears he shed for his desperate mother protected him from the scorching heat of the glowing sword. After victory, he can reveal his true identity and carry out his mission.

Characters

The male figure of Michel Strogoff , an officer in the elite troops of the Tsar's couriers, is a clichéd hero, characterized by "the courage of the real hero, the courage without anger", self-confidence, intelligence, determination and the iron discipline with which he controlled his emotions. It is the punch line of the novel that his tears as an expression of this emotionality finally save him.

The journalists Harry Blount and Alcide Jolivet provide a sense of humor. They have a "heartfelt dislike" for each other and tend to work against each other, but support each other after their capture by the robber gang and decide to work together from now on. Alcide Jolivet is always in a good mood, is particularly polite and humorous towards women, although his jokes are more often at the expense of Harry Blount. Harry Blount embodies the typical British in an exaggerated form: instead of being elegant, he is stiff and awkward, instead of being fair he is ice cold and unemotional. He is always over-correct. They are the caricatures of a British and a French.

Michael Strogoff and his attempt to travel undetected over a distance of 5,523 km through the areas occupied by the robbers create tension. He has to endure a lash from Iwan Ogareff, for which he later retaliates. In order to be able to carry out his mission, he has to accept this humiliation, later deny his mother, allow himself to be captured by the villains and endure a blinding.

Historical background

Verne's novel is set against the backdrop of Russian expansion in Central Asia. Between 1865 and 1868, the tsarist empire gradually brought the previously independent Islamic khanates and emirates in the area of ​​today's Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, etc. under control and founded the General Government of Turkestan . The Emirate of Bukhara remained de facto independent, but became economically and politically dependent on Russia. The pejorative collective term "Tatars" for the various Muslim Turkic peoples ( who had nothing in common with the real Tatars ) should not have made the Russian rule more popular. This opposition is embodied in the novel by Feofar Khan, who is referred to as "the head of the Tatar Khanate Bukhara".

Edits

Poster for the world premiere by Michel Strogoff , 1880

Together with Adolphe d'Ennery , Jules Verne reworked his novel into the play Michel Strogoff , which premiered on November 17, 1880 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris .

In the 20th century, the book was then filmed several times:

literature

  • Heinrich Pleticha (ed.): Jules Verne manual . Deutscher Bücherbund / Bertelsmann, Stuttgart and Munich 1992.
  • Volker Dehs and Ralf Junkerjürgen: Jules Verne . Voices and interpretations of his work. Fantastic Library Wetzlar, Wetzlar 2005.
  • Volker Dehs: Jules Verne . Jules Verne. A critical biography. Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf 2005. ISBN 3-538-07208-6

Web links

Commons : Michael Strogoff  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Michel Strogoff  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ogene-taschenbuecher.de ( Memento from February 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), Inducks .
  2. ↑ ogene-taschenbuecher.de ( Memento from July 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), Inducks