Stranger in a strange world

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Stranger in a Strange Land (original title Stranger in a Strange Country ) is a science fiction - novel by Robert A. Heinlein in 1961. In it, the story of Valentine Michael Smith is told, a man who by Martians on Mars was raised and now returns to earth as a young man. It is told how he experienced the initially strange earthly culture - and how he changed it. The title of the novel is taken from the book Exodus of the Old Testament .

The book was a bestseller and reached a wider readership than other science fiction works of its time. In it treated subjects like sexual liberation and libertarianism recording found in the developing counterculture of the 1960s in the United States and suggested, among other things, the development of precursors of Polyamory - subculture with at.

Large parts of the novel consist of monologues by Dr. Jubal Harshaw , a writer who helps Smith find his way around the world. The character of Jubal Harshaw serves Heinlein as an alter ego , in his speeches he explains many aspects that are typical of Heinlein's worldview as expressed in his books. However, Harshaw is by no means always right, and his mostly pragmatic positions are often enough contrasted by the strange and mystical views of Smith. The name Jubal itself comes from the Bible; there he is a descendant of Cain and the forefather of all musicians.

At the request of the publishers, the novel was initially published in a version shortened by a quarter (German title A Man in a Strange World ), in which, among other things, "offensive", ie sex scenes, had been deleted. It was not until 1991 that the unabridged version of Heinlein's widow was published from his estate. In 1962, the abridged version was awarded the Hugo Award in the category of best novel ("best novel") and in 1987 the Prometheus Award . There is no agreement among critics as to which version is the better. In 2012 the US Library of Congress added the novel to its list of "Books That Shaped the United States."

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The novel takes place in the USA after World War III ; the world is ruled by the World Federation of Free Nations.

After an unsuccessful first expedition to Mars, a second finds a survivor or the descendants of two expedition members: Valentine Michael Smith. Raised by the Martians on Mars, he is sent to earth by the "Old Ones", so to speak, the "elders" of the Martians who exist as spirit beings.

Since the dense atmosphere and the high gravity of the earth are a challenge for Michael (Mike), he is initially taken to Bethesda Hospital, where he is shielded from the public and women; the Martians are unisexual, so Smith is alien to human "bipolar sexuality". But soon he meets the first woman: The nurse Gillian (Jill) Boardman smuggles into his room out of curiosity. At the innocent encounter she gives him a glass of water to drink and thus becomes his first female "water brother"; on Mars, water is very rare and valuable. The "sharing water" is accordingly a ritual of fraternization.

Shortly thereafter, Jill tells reporter Ben Caxton about her experience. Ben suspects dark machinations behind the shield of the "Martian". For one thing, Mike, as the de facto heir to the entire first expedition to Mars, is incredibly wealthy; on the other hand, according to a precedent in the colonization of the moon, at least in theory he is the legal owner of Mars. According to Ben, it is unclear whether an earthly court would recognize the Martians' tenure. After all, there is also a precedent for this in the colonization of the Americas, which the Vatican granted the European Catholic powers as property without taking into account any rights of living residents. Jill helps Ben wiretap Mike's room; in fact, attempts are being made to get him to sign a dubious document. This fails because, as is usually the case when he does not understand something, he withdraws into a kind of protective rigidity. On "Stereotank" (the television for the novel), Jill and Ben watch a short interview with Mike, but Jill realizes that the person shown is not the real Smith.

Ben is now trying to be admitted to Smith on behalf of the public. He succeeds, but shortly afterwards he is kidnapped by government security forces. Jill has premonitions and kidnaps or frees Mike; but already in Ben's apartment the two are arrested by arrogant and brutal security forces. When the men point a gun at Jill, Mike "disappears"; he "turns" her out of the world. Jill manages to reach out to Mike Jubal Harshaw, a famous writer, doctor, and attorney who has advanced over the years, whom Ben wanted to seek help on the matter.

Despite his sarcastic and intellectually aggressive nature, Jubal quickly assumes a kind of fatherhood with Jill and soon also with Mike. He tries to make people understand Mike. At the same time intelligent and naive-looking, Mike often brings him to the edge of despair. While he is quick to accept that cannibalism is very natural to Mike - eating friends who have died is a mutual honor on Mars - he cannot believe that his absolute certainty about survival after death is more than deeply ingrained cultural beliefs. The discussion about God leads Mike, who has to learn to use English properly, to the expression "Thou art God", an approximate translation from Martian, which says that everyone is God, which means for Mike: "one who groks" ( deeply understands).

After Jubal demonstrates Mike's problems with the Earth Government by making the Chief Secretary of the World Federation the advocate of his rights, Mike explores the culture of the people, including religion and the Fosterite Church of the New Relevation, a very influential mega-church, encourages sexuality, gambling and alcohol consumption (also in the church building) to be joyful, but persecutes the purchase of products not approved by it.

Mike has already kissed all the women in Jubal's household (in addition to Jill, three "secretaries", to whom Jubal dictates his ideas one after the other) and has shown his talent. After exploring his sexuality with Jill, he changes physically, becoming more masculine and more certain. It is implied that he impregnates all four women. Then he goes out into the world with Jill to get to know people. Among other things, they move through the country as a magical number with a circus. Since Mike doesn't use tricks and doesn't understand how to give the "customers" what they want, their number is deleted. From that time, the two of them are Patricia Paiwonski, an over-sexualized woman tattooed all over her body. Among her tattoos, which she likes to show with enthusiasm, is also the path of enlightenment of Saint Foster and the tattoo of Foster's kiss when she is admitted to the narrowest ring of the enlightened of the Fosterites, above one of her breasts. Mike kisses her on the other breast and tattoos this kiss on Patricia's skin with his paranormal abilities. Shortly thereafter, the trio founded the Church of All Worlds, which is similar in many aspects to the Fosterite Church. In addition to the aspects of the sexual sharing of the body and the general and joyful availability within the inner circle, in addition to the show (Mike learned the lesson from his circus days) learning the Martian and Martian ideals is the focus of the Church of all Worlds.

Ben visits Jill in the inner circle of the church, into which he is admitted as the "first called". However, it is not easy for him there; he seems to be getting used to the general lack of clothing and the emphasis on sexual closeness - Mike's enlightenment leads to a general rejuvenation and toning; There seem to be no more attractive bodies in the real church - but when Jill and Mike want to introduce him to the last circle together, he tries to escape and goes to Jubal.

Jubal convinces him that he fled for fear of the new and open; Ben, who first criticized the Church of All Worlds, goes back and becomes part of the inner circle.

Soon the central church with the "nest" of the inner circle will be destroyed; Mike had teleported all members out of the danger zone beforehand. Jubal goes to the inner circle's retreat, where he is sexually introduced into the inner circle by Dawn, a kind of Jill double; however, all nest members do him every conceivable honor anyway; he is considered a "father", equal to Mike. Mike and Jubal meet. Mike explains that his church, based not on faith but on learnable practices, wants to change the world; the outer circles and the "church show" serve to select those among the "customers" who can become part of the inner circle; those that are genetically unsuitable will become extinct in time. He is concerned, however, because he has noticed that the Martian "Old Ones" have retrieved their experiences on earth from him and are now considering whether to destroy humanity (as they have already done with other rational beings in the solar system ). However, since the Martians proceed very slowly, Mike and Jubal are certain that the Martians can no longer become dangerous to humanity after the time required for a decision has elapsed. Mike now declares the time has come. He goes in front of the house where an angry Fosterite mob is waiting and killing him because he lets this happen. His last words to the mob are "Thou art God". The inner circle is not surprised and comments on the event as the best "blow-off" of all time.

Jubal goes to his room and wants to end his life with poison; but Mike comes to him as a spirit and tells him that his time has not yet come. The rest have now prepared part of Mike's body for a communal dinner. Jubal and some of the inner circle return to Jubal's house to plant a new nest.

Importance and influence of the novel

Like other influential works of literature, Fremder in a strange world was able to coin a new word - at least in the English- speaking world: " to grok ". In the novel, it is an expression from Martian which literally means "drink", in a figurative sense in the novel it means something like "fundamentally understand", "love" or "be united with". The term “grokking” probably entered the hippie scene through Ken Kesey and was used at times to express a state of empathy or harmony with a person or situation. It is also used by science fiction fans and hackers and there is also an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary . In the German language, the word has not been able to establish itself on a broad basis, but it is also well known in (German-speaking) hacking circles.

A central theme of the second novel half is to show the founded by Smith "Church of All Worlds" ( "Church of All Worlds" ), a mystery cult , the pagan elements and aspects of the revival movement with para psychological combines training and instruction in the Martian language. In 1968, a neo-pagan group actually founded a Church of All Worlds, largely inspired by the novel . This religious community follows the ideas of the novel in many ways and is still part of the neo-paganist scene in the USA.

With Strangers in a Strange World , Heinlein specifically wanted to question the accepted norms of moral behavior. He uses the protagonist Smith, who is completely unaffected by the conventions of human societies, to address concepts such as religion, monogamy , money and the fear of death. Heinlein himself wrote that he had withheld the publication of the novel for ten years until social developments enabled a positive reception of the book. However, Heinlein's portrayal of women in this novel is also often criticized, who largely subordinate themselves with satisfaction. In addition, one of the protagonists expresses the view that women are often partly to blame for rape. The hero of the story also recognizes homosexuality as a "wrongness" and describes heterosexual sex between the given sexes, also with a view to reproduction, as the great strength of humanity.

The novel also contains an early description of a water bed , an invention that was actually only developed in 1968.

expenditure

First editions of both versions in English:

German first editions of both versions:

Remarks

criticism

“This novel perfectly captured the spirit of the campus rebellions, the spirit of optimism of the youth and their revolt against established values ​​and mendacious morals, and with its message of free love and tolerance it became a cult book of the hippie movement, Michael Smith's saying" Thou Art God "to the winged word. Heinlein also surprised with cynical comments on abuses in American society and with the sometimes avant-garde style in which he wrote this work. An excellent book that still offers the same reading pleasure today as it was when it was first published ... "

- Hermann Urbanek on the complete German new edition 1996 : Wolfgang Jeschke (Ed.): Das Science Fiction Jahr 1997 , Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich, ISBN 3-453-11896-0 , p. 782.

literature

  • Hans-Peter Rodenberg: Robert A. Heinlein: Stranger in a Strange Land. In: Hartmut Heuermann (Ed.): The science fiction novel in Anglo-American literature. Interpretations. Bagel, Düsseldorf 1986, pp. 220-235. ISBN 3-590-07454-X .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ After Moses killed an Egyptian, he fled Egypt and married Zippora . Exodus 2:22 NIV : ( Ex 2.22  EU ) "When she gave birth, he called him a son , Gershom (Ödgast) and said guest I am in a foreign land ." ( King James Version ( Ex 2:22  KJV ): " I have been a stranger in a strange land. " )
  2. ^ Books that Shaped America . 2012.
  3. ↑ "I had been in no hurry to finish it, as that story could not be published commercially until the public mores changed. I could see them changing and it turned out that I had timed it right. " Heinlein, Expanded Universe , p. 403.