Fictional character

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A fictional character is a fictional character or person that almost all the attributes of a living person can possess. Often the fictional character is characterized by the fact that his environment takes him for a real person.

Fictional characters

Art characters in the theater

A fictional character does not arise from its mere assignment to the field of art. According to Werner Esser, it must also stand at a certain distance from reality, i.e. reflect it in some way. In the “systematic and historical status, the fictional figure only has the task of marking the place of the truth particles in the seemingly apparent of art, without, however, naming them.” The “ Commedia dell'arte ”, “Commedia all'improviso” or “ Commedia Maschere “, in the following summarized under the term comedy style, describes the professional craft of impromptu theater from the 16th to the 18th century, which had its origins in Italy and quickly spread throughout Central Europe.

In the comedy style, the fictional character in interaction with the actor serves to create and at the same time subvert the level of fiction. Fiction is to be distinguished from reality, both of which belong to reality (“in the sense of: everything that works is real”). In the theater , these realities are recognizable as a so-called “double place”, which is made up of the level of reality, in which the audience and actors come together, and the level of fiction, in which “characters appear, are shown or represented.” In the comedy style, the fictional level according to Gerda Baumbach through the "theatrical representation" and is undermined again "in the form of playful ritual actions". The fictional character can thus enter the level of reality, but also the actor as a civil person can enter the level of fiction. Through the jumping back and forth of actor and fictional character between reality and fiction and the accompanying, also intended indistinguishability of the two levels, the playing field of the comedy style is created. As a result, "the roles only exist temporarily and virtually". The fictional character, Maschera (Italian for "mask") or body mask is neither the actor as a civilian nor a role that he embodies. It is more of a basis with which the actor can slip into different roles. The fact that a distinction can still be made between the civil person, the artificial figure and the role is precisely "the basis of play". That is why the costumes of the roles are usually made in such a way that the fictional character underneath remains recognizable. One used hats, dresses or certain attributes belonging to the role . The fictional character itself is characterized by a feature that remains visible in every costume. This detail can manifest itself in the form of a mask, face painting or some other recurring stylistic device. In the case of the harlequin , for example, it would be the black mask that keeps the fictional character in front of our eyes, or in the case of the character of the tramp in Charlie Chaplin's films with his mustache, a stick and the bowler hat on his head. Art figures are often related to real events and personalities, for example nobles or deities. In this way, mocking criticism could also be made. In addition, knifers such as the harlequin can also assume roles of different genders.

The fictional character often also contains a mythical figure, for example a demon. This becomes clear with the Trickster . Thus the fictional character “comes from another reality, from the then and there of the other. The fictional character and her ancestor are real, too, but not realistic. "

Theater roles are also accepted by fictional characters. Over the years, our perception of various theater roles has been so much shaped by clichés that it is easy for the fictional character to literally “change his socks”. So the fictional character can represent a tragic hero with uniform and sword at one moment and then throw himself in a pompous baroque dress and mime a lady-in-waiting in love. The first thing that influences our perception here is logically the costume and the props that are used for this. Much more important, however, are still the posture and the way the fictional character moves and gives. Baumbach also differentiates between an artificial figure and an artificial person. The art person is the actor as an artist and not as a civil person. If the actor has a stage name, for example, his dual identity (actor and fictional character) becomes a threefold identity (actor, fictional person, fictional character). Even if the actor appears in public under his real name, this new identity can arise - as is the case with today's Hollywood stars, who are not only defined by their acting, but also by their appearance or their style of clothing. Nevertheless, this is not a fictional character because this identity does not exist for the stage or the film set, but for the media and the public.

Over the centuries, many fictional characters were found in the field of theater and film. These include the clown Grock , the figure of the tramp Charlie Chaplin, Kasperle or Totò .

Jean Soubeyran as a harlequin, 20th century
Mr. Ellar as Harlequin, 1822/30

One of the most famous fictional characters in the theater is the harlequin . "The harlequin, under whatever name and in whatever context he appears, is always an artificial and an artistic figure, which has the function of making human reason sensual and vivid in the polyvalence of existence." It gives people the ability to deal with the world in an ironic, satirical and humorous way and to gain a life-sustaining superiority in it. It allows people to laugh about everyday or critical topics and thus view them from a new perspective.

The figure of the harlequin first appeared in the 12th century and was taken up again as a servant figure in the Commedia dell'arte of the Renaissance. He was sometimes recognizable by his patchwork costume with a diamond pattern and his black mask or black face. Based on this, the harlequin was able to slip into various other roles with the help of props, additional costumes and his acting technique and still be perceived as the figure of the harlequin.

With the modern age, the portrayal of the harlequin also changed. "He no longer had the quick cheerfulness of his Renaissance ancestors. His grimaces were twisted with gloom and his jumps had lost the pertinent. The music he played did not sound funny: it was as if the strings were out of tune, but nobody noticed it because the pounding of the rhythm drowned out everything, this pounding that was barbaric and machine-like at the same time. The jokes sought the grotesque. Wherever wisdom had once mixed with the jokes, the absurd grinned from suddenly torn holes. ..) So the nonsense was made profane and the laughter that had hardly been born died on the lips. Nevertheless: the laughter has not died down. The desire for fun has only changed its expression. "

Cabaret fictional characters

In contrast to the actor in the theater, the fictional character can act not only on the stage, but in all aspects of life. So she has her own name, age, biography, etc. It is part of the standard program of many cabaret artists to portray different characters who mostly exaggerate representatives of a certain group of people and caricature them in cliché . If these characters are not only part of the cabaret program, but also act in public, as in the case of Atze Schröder or Horst Schlämmer , one can speak of an artificial character. Actor Christian Ulmen also likes to test his environment with various fictional characters, the most famous of which are nerd Uwe Wöllner and pop singer Knut Hansen.

Often times, when these fictional characters appear on television, the entertainment value is that television viewers are aware of the character's artificial character while fooling the filmed audience. At the same time, the fictional character can specifically unmask the public's social behavior and prejudices, as Sacha Baron Cohen repeatedly demonstrates with his fictional characters, such as the anti-Semitic Kazakhs Borat or the gay Austrian Brüno .

Medial art figures

Plaque on the home of Sherlock Holmes at 221b Baker Street , London

Even cartoon characters , superheroes and characters from computer games such as Lara Croft , if they outgrow to artificial characters beyond their original medium. These fictional characters remain virtual, but through media presence they can achieve the same level of credibility and awareness as other pop culture figures, especially when this type of culture is conveyed through secondary experience. Examples are computer-animated pop stars like Kyoto Date and T-Babe, but also comic characters like the band Gorillaz . They have their own fan clubs, give interviews and have biographies, just like real figures in pop music. A well-known fictional character from literature is Sherlock Holmes , who at the time of its creation was taken by many people for a real fellow citizen.

Use in companies

Companies often use artificial characters as advertising characters . They appear both in time-limited campaigns (e.g. Robert T-Online 2000-03 for Deutsche Telekom ) and very long-term, such as since 1972 Mr. (Günter) Kaiser for the Hamburg-Mannheimer , who after decades of service Has become part of the corporate identity . They are also used to personalize anonymous business processes. For example, in mass correspondence with customers, some companies avoid the loveless closing formula "This letter was created automatically and is also valid without a signature" by signing a fictitious employee (e.g. Susanne Goldmann at the pay TV station Premiere ).

Self-presentation

Many pop stars present themselves as a fictional character that they completely abandon in private life. German rappers like Sido and Bushido like to serve the gangster myth known from the American rap scene, but privately lead a bourgeois life as family fathers. Internet stars like lonelygirl15 or Alemuel also came out as fictional characters after they had already achieved great fame and their authenticity had been questioned. The reason for the transformation into a fictional character can be marketing reasons, but also the artist's need for privacy.

Legal

copyright

Since a fictional character is an imaginary person, he does not enjoy the same legal protection as ordinary people. However, as a creative creation, it is subject to copyright law. This can lead to problems if a fictional character has several intellectual parents, as in the case of Pumuckl , where an intense legal dispute broke out between his graphic and literary mother over whether Pumuckl was a sexual being and whether he could have a girlfriend. In the judgment, the freedom of expression of the graphic artist Barbara von Johnson took precedence over the copyright of the author Ellis Kaut .

Fan art

In the area of ​​tension between copyright and freedom of expression, fan fiction also takes place, which mostly revolves around media art figures. Costumes worn by fans of certain fictional characters at a convention can also be a violation of copyright or trademark law , even if this is usually not punished. The use of artificial characters on websites, for example by Pumuckl on an unofficial fan page, has already resulted in expensive warnings.

Personal rights

The personality rights of the performer of a fictional character can include the right to anonymity. So the actor of the fictional character Atze Schröder sued the Weser-Kurier for naming his real name and was right. However, in 2007 he withdrew a corresponding lawsuit against Wikipedia, where his real name also appeared temporarily.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. Werner Esser: The physiognomy of the artificial figure or reflections. Forms of self-reflection in modern drama. Carl Winter Universitätsverläg Heidelberg, 1983. p. 11.
  2. Ibid., P. 12
  3. See Esrig, David: Commedia dell'arte. A visual history of the art of the spectacle. Nördlingen: Delphi, 1985, p. 19
  4. ^ Baumbach, Gerda: actor. Historical anthropology of the actor. Vol. 1. Acting styles. Leipzig: Universitätsverlag, 2012. p. 238
  5. Baumbach 2012, p. 200
  6. Baumbach 2012. p. 246
  7. Baumbach 2012. p. 256
  8. Baumbach 2012. p. 215
  9. Baumbach 2012. p. 216.
  10. Baumbach 2012. Fig. 95
  11. Baumbach 2012. p. 218 f.
  12. Baumbach 2012. p. 220
  13. Baumbach 2012. p. 251
  14. Baumbach 2012. p. 257
  15. Baumbach 2012. p. 224
  16. Baumbach 2012. 257
  17. Ränsch-Trill, Barbara: Harlequin. On the aesthetics of laughing reason. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 1993. p. 9.
  18. Ränsch-Trill p. 16
  19. Melchinger, Siegfried; Jäggi, Willy (Ed.): Harlekin. Picture book of jesters. Basel: Basilius Presse, 1959, p. 154
  20. ^ Süddeutsche Zeitung (September 14, 2006): Good bye, lonelygirl15 , accessed on June 20, 2013.
  21. See copyright protection for fictional characters - from Odysseus to Lara Croft
  22. "Pumuckl's girlfriend": The author is also subject to the main proceedings
  23. Warned Pumuckl Fanpage ( Memento of the original from March 26, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.schwenkworld.de
  24. ^ Regional court: Newspaper publisher is only allowed to report on the comedian "Atze Schröder" under his pseudonym
  25. Atze Schröder against Wikipedia