Molwanîen. Land of the defective smile
The book of Molwanîen. Land of the damaged smile ( English original title: Molvanîa: a Land Untouched by Modern Dentistry ; literal translation: Molvanîen: a country untouched by modern dentistry ) by Australian authors Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Rob Sitch is a parody of a travel guide . It was published in 2004 by Hardie Grant; the German translation was published in 2005 by Heyne Verlag . The parody became an international bestseller . The International Tourism Exchange in Berlin honored the German edition with a special prize as part of the “ITB Book Awards 2006”.
content
Presented in the style of a professional travel guide, the book provides tourist information and background information about the fictional country of Molwanîen, a post-communist Southeast European state. The detailed description reveals Molwanîen immediately as ailing, ugly country with eccentric, dumb inhabitants; for this purpose all common negative stereotypes about the countries of the Balkans and the former Eastern Bloc are used . The attempt to make Molwanîen palatable as a holiday destination fails miserably: With every advertised “sight” (the smog-shrouded capital Lutenblag with its Stalinist architecture , “one of the world's oldest nuclear reactors still in operation ”, etc.) the travel guide only reveals the country always further than a single tourist nightmare.
Actions on the subject of "Molwanîen"
- The highlights of the Molwanîen project were the appearance at the International Tourism Exchange 2005 and the attempt to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest . The "national star" Zladko "Zlad" Vladcik was supposed to appear here in 2004 with the techno- ballade Elektronik - Supersonik and in 2005 with the dark rock song "I Am The Anti-Pope" / The Conclave .
- The Condor airline contributed its part to the Molwanese level of awareness by offering 10,000 free flights to Molwanîen on April 1, 2005 and issuing deceptively real online tickets . The April Fool's joke was resolved a day later.
Molwanîen with other authors
- In 2006 the book Bilanzblüten in Molwanîen was published. The struggle for perfect accounting in an unknown country under the pseudonym Sebastian Hakelmacher at Libelle Verlag. In the book, the actual circumstances of accounting in modern companies are distorted beyond recognition and satirized.
- In 2009 the issue of the magazine Oldtimer-Markt (4/2009) reported on the registration of a rocket-propelled vehicle in Molwanîen. The author describes the approval process in this country in order to avoid the strict regulations in Germany. The article is about the annual April Fool's joke .
literature
- Cilauro, Gleisner and Sitch: Molwanîen. Land of the defective smile . Heyne, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-453-12013-2 .
- In March 2007 a new edition of the Molwanîen travel guide was published. Land of the defective smile . This contains additional information and bears the inscription on the front page: "Now even more damaged!"
Related literature
- Phaic Tǎn. Land of the convulsive smile (2006) by the same authors describes a fictional country in Southeast Asia in the same way
- San Sombrèro. Caribbean, Carnival and Cockroaches (2007) by the same authors describes a fictional country in Central America in the same way
Web links
- Molwanîen
- Molvania / Phaic Tan / San Sombrèro (English)