Tartarine from Tarascon

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Alphonse Daudet (1898)

Tartarin von Tarascon is a literary figure of the French writer Alphonse Daudet (1840–1897) and the title character of the novels:

  • The wonderful adventures of the Tartarin de Tarascon ( Aventures prodigieuses de Tartarin de Tarascon ) (1872)
  • Tartarin in the Alps ( Tartarin sur les Alpes ) (1885)
  • Port Tarascon. The last adventures of the famous Tartarin ( Port-Tarascon. Dernières Aventures de l'illustre Tartarin ) (1890).

History of origin

The first novel The Marvelous Adventures of Tartarin of Tarascon appeared in book form in 1872. It had previously been published as a serial novel in a newspaper, with the title character still bearing the name "Barbarin". However, since a long-established family called Barbarin lived in Tarascon and they felt offended by Daudet's stories, the author changed the name to "Tartarin" while the book was going to print. Even earlier, on June 18, 1863 , the lion hunter appeared at Le Figaro Chapatin . In this story Daudet has already sketched out the character and plot of the Tartarin.

The wonderful adventures of the Tartarin of Tarascon

The first part of the Tartarin cycle is also the most famous. The novel is written in a tone of mocking exaggerated admiration for the "heroic" Tartarine. Daudet constantly ironically calls the “brave, little pensioner” “big man”, “devil guy”, “the intrepid, incomparable Tartar”. But he's just a boor and saber-rascal, a mouth-watering hero who has hardly ever got out of his hometown and only experiences his adventures in his imagination. But “the southerner doesn't lie, he succumbs to deception.” Daudet describes Tartarin as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza rolled into one - torn between a thirst for adventure and plaintive comfort.

One day a rumor arises that he will go lion hunting. “Most of all in town, however, Tartarin was surprised to hear that he was about to go to Africa. But there you can see what vanity can do! ”During the crossing he becomes seasick , as well as when riding a camel; he accidentally shoots a small donkey, is betrayed by an impostor and finally has the longed-for hunting success: he kills an old, tame and blind lion. The people of Tarascon give him a triumphant welcome on his return home .

background

The archetype of Tartarin was Daudet's cousin Henri Reynaud, who accompanied the writer on a journey of several months through Algeria in the winter of 1861/62 . Another role model was Jules Gérard, the “lion killer” whom Daudet mentions by name both in The Wonderful Adventures of Tartarin of Tarascon , as well as in the Chapatin story. Charles-Laurent Bombonnel, a then well-known French adventurer and panther hunter, “Le Tueur de Panthères”, is even included in the plot; ironically - and in contrast to Tartarin - as a small, bald, old man with an umbrella: "the right notary from the country."

With the show-off Tartarin, Daudet addresses the widespread view in northern France that the southern French are not too specific about the truth. He also parodies the literary fashion of the hunting novels in The Marvelous Adventures of Tartarini of Tarascon and also points out that there were no longer any wild lions in Algeria at that time. This fact makes the martial hunting enterprise of the "hero from Tarascon" appear even more absurd.

reception

  • Tartarine from Tarascon has become a popular book in France, and the title character already during Daudet's lifetime the epitome of the show-off: "[...] when I hear you say:" He is a Tartar ... "I then tremble, tremble in the pride of a father, who is hidden in the crowd while one celebrates his son. "
  • The cocky southern French "caught in the lens of the small humorous, [...] whose imagination triumphs over all setbacks."

Film adaptations

  • In 1908 the silent film Tartarin de Tarascon by Georges Méliès was made as a short film.
  • Raimu can be seen in the title role of the 1934 film Tartarin de Tarascon . Raymond Bernard wrote the script and directed.
  • Another film adaptation dates from 1962, with Francis Blanche as Tartarin and Michel Galabru .

literature

  • Alphonse Daudet: Tartarin from Tarascon . 1st edition. Insel, Frankfurt am Main and Leipzig 1974, ISBN 3-458-31784-8 .
  • Alphonse Daudet: Letters from my mill . Reclam-Verlag, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-15-003227-X .
  • Alphonse Daudet: Master Tales . Manesse Verlag, Zurich 1959, ISBN 3-7175-1088-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alexander Teuchert: Epilogue to Alphonse Daudet: The miraculous adventures of Tartarin of Tarascon . 1951, p. 139-146 .
  2. ↑ Alphonse Daudet: Master narratives . 1959, p. 236 .
  3. ↑ Alphonse Daudet: Tartarin of Tarascon . 1974, p. 31 .
  4. ↑ a b Alphonse Daudet: Tartarin von Tarascon . 1974, p. 37 .
  5. ↑ Alphonse Daudet: Letters from my mill . 1999, p. 192 .
  6. ^ Herbert Meier: Karl May and Jules Gérard, the "lion slayers" . 1993, p. 207–221 ( karl-may-gesellschaft.de [accessed on November 28, 2010]).
  7. ^ Herbert Meier: Karl May and Jules Gérard, the "lion slayers" . 1993, p. 207 ( karl-may-gesellschaft.de [accessed on November 29, 2010]).
  8. ↑ Alphonse Daudet: Tartarin of Tarascon . 1974, p. 119 .
  9. ↑ Alphonse Daudet: Master narratives . 1959, p. 323 .
  10. ↑ Alphonse Daudet: Lexicon of world literature . 1984, p. 221 .
  11. ↑ Alphonse Daudet: Tartarin of Tarascon . 1974, p. 2 .
  12. ↑ Ödön von Horváth: The eternal philistine . 1930 ( projekt-gutenberg.org ).

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