Fool literature
Fool's literature is a popular, satirical literature called, which has a description of human weaknesses through caricatures and exaggeration, and in which fool figures are carriers of time and moral criticism. In addition to Sebastian Brant's influential verse satire Narrenschiff ( 1494 ), Erasmus von Rotterdam's Praise of Folly ( 1509 ) , as well as the Schildbürger and Till Eulenspiegel ( 1515 ) should also be counted.
Derivation of the term in literary research
In today's research, fool's literature refers to literary works which - similar to the iconography in medieval Psalter manuscripts of Psalm 52 - deal with the juxtaposition of a wise king with a secular counterpart. Analogous to the visualization of wisdom (Latin sapientia ) with foolishness (Latin stultitia ), King Solomon and a secular person are in dialogue in the early foolish literature . While the king is embodied by David in the psalter paintings , the secular figure in fools' literature from the late 12th century onwards corresponds to that of Psalm 52 in iconography: the fool in all his "diversity" as an unbelieving man who disdains God.
While the fool's literature has been attested since the 11th century , the fictitious figure of the fool was named Markolf or Morolf , who appeared as a parodist of the wise king , early on - with the change to the godless . The figure of Markolf enjoyed great popularity in German, French and English literature until the end of the Middle Ages, whereas the fool itself did not play a major role in literature outside of the “Markolf tradition”. Occasionally it appears in so-called Exempla , sometimes the court jester motif is also made a topic. He comes across more often in carnival games of the 15th century .
With the equation of the fool with sin (death, distance from God), the fool appears for the first time in an image sheet from the middle of the 15th century, in which he holds banners in his hand as a representation of the seven vices , which have a certain literary character (so-called " Eight fools picture sheet ").
Well-known works of fools literature
Suddenly known - and thus the most important symbolic figure of the late Middle Ages - the figure of the fool became known through Sebastian Brant's German-language ship of fools (1st edition 1494 ). The work, which denounces all sorts of stupidities, vices and evils, partly satirical and partly doctrinal, can be called a “bestseller” of the 15th and 16th centuries ; several translations into numerous European languages as well as into Latin attest to this.
The “ship of fools” Brants was then used in sermons, especially Johann Geilers von Kaysersberg , to warn of viciousness and the distance from God. Thomas Murner , who wrote some works of fools as early as the second decade of the 16th century , a few years later designed the fool as a personification of the Lutheran Reformation ( From the great Lutheran fool (1522)). He wanted to express that the followers of Luther all correspond to the Insipiens , the unbelieving fool of Psalm 52.
Erasmus of Rotterdam encountered in his work of 1509 Moriae Encomium immersive Stultiae Laus (dt. " Praise of Folly ") in more at ease-cheerful way the fool phenomenon, which is reflected in the well-known almost nightly farces of Hans Sachs and others continues.
The best-known version of Till Eulenspiegel was also created at the time of the Ship of Fools, even if the material possibly dates back to the late 14th century , but certainly into the 15th century .
The late effects of Brant and his contemporaries can even be traced back to the writings of the baroque preacher Abraham a Sancta Clara , while in 1708 a mirror of fools appeared, which presented Kaysersberg's Narragonian shipping .
The satire for fools CENTI-FOLIUM STULTORUM In QUARTO or Hundred Fools of Fools, in FOLIO by Johann Christoph Weigel, marked a high point in Baroque fools' literature in 1709, not least because of the numerous copperplate illustrations.
The work Wol schliffener Narrenspiegel by Wahrmund Jocaserius was published in 1710. In it, for example, Jacoserius mocks the quackery practices of doctors.
literature
Primary literature
- Erasmus of Rotterdam : Praise to folly. With many coppers based on the illustrations by Hans Holbein and an afterword by Stefan Zweig . Diogenes, Zurich 1987, ISBN 3-257-21495-2 (Also: In the translation by Lothar Schmidt and with pen drawings by Gabriele Mucchi . Faber & Faber, Leipzig 2005, ISBN 3-936618-60-7 ).
- Sebastian Brant : The Ship of Fools . With all 114 woodcuts from the print Basel 1494 (= Reclams Universal-Bibliothek 18333). Edited by Joachim Knape . Study edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-15-018333-2 .
- Sebastian Brant : The Ship of Fools. After the first edition (Basel 1494) with the additions of the editions from 1495 and 1499 as well as the woodcuts of the German original editions (= reprints of German literary works. NF vol. 5). Edited by Manfred Lemmer. 4th enlarged edition. Niemeyer, Tübingen 2004, ISBN 3-484-17105-7 .
- Heinrich Wittenwiler : The Ring (= Reclams Universal Library 8749). Early New High German / New High German. Translated into New High German from the text by Edmund Wießner and edited by Horst Brunner. Revised and bibliographically supplemented edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-15-008749-X ( online ).
- Thomas Murner : conjuring fools. With a letter by Murners in handwriting printing (= Thomas Murners Deutsche Schriften. Vol. 2). Edited by M. Spanier . de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 1926.
- Thomas Murner : From the great Lutheran fool (1522) . Edited, translated and commented by Thomas Neukirchen. Heidelberg 2014 (Supplement to Euphorion 83).
Secondary literature
- Ulrich Holbein : Unholy fools . 22 images of life. Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2012, ISBN 978-3-86539-300-5 .
- Ulrich Holbein: Holy fools . Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2012
- Ulrich Holbein: Holy fools . Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2012
- Ulrich Holbein: Narratorium . 255 images of life. Ammann Verlag , Zurich 2008, ISBN 978-3-250-10523-7 .
- Barbara Könneker : The nature and change of the fool's idea in the age of humanism. Brant, Murner , Erasmus. F. Steiner Verlag, Wiesbaden 1966 (at the same time: University, Frankfurt am Main, habilitation paper).
- H. Wyss: The fool in the Swiss drama of the 16th century. Dissertation Bern 1959.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Friedrich v. Zglinicki : Uroscopy in the fine arts. An art and medical historical study of the urine examination. Ernst Giebeler, Darmstadt 1982, ISBN 3-921956-24-2 , p. 150 f.