True Stories (Loriot)

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True stories are a series of drawings by the German humorist Loriot . Between April 1955 and September 1959 116 episodes appeared under the title A true story with the subtitle Erlagen von Loriot in the illustrated world view . In 1959, parts of the series were published in the book True Stories . In addition, some episodes are also contained in other collected works by Loriot.

content

The True Stories consist of two to six images, usually three or four. They tell complete stories, whereby as a rule neither the location nor the perspective of the subject is changed in the pictures. The pictures are surrounded by a frame with rounded corners, which is decorated at the top and bottom in the Biedermeier style. An enamel sign with the inscription “A true story” is drawn over two tendrils, and beneath the two tendrils are the words “A lie from Loriot”. Two tendrils can also be seen in the lower part, between which two naked putti with the bulbous noses typical of Loriot are drawn.

Typical of True Stories are absurd ideas that contradict the viewer's expectations. An example of this is the episode of the lighthouse keeper's replacement on April 27, 1957. First you see a man in a boat who seems to want to push his oar off a small island with a lighthouse. In the next picture, however, you can see that he has repelled the island with the tower and the guard. In the third picture she is already far from the mainland. Other stories play with the so-called cunning of the object , which would later become a basic element of Loriot's comedy. In the episode Through the Flower ... from July 6, 1957, a man can be seen who wants to pluck the flower of a water lily for his beloved. In doing so, however, he has to struggle with the leaf and stem mesh, in which he is completely wrapped at the end. The woman has now moved away from the pond and can only be seen small in the background.

Except for the title, the stories usually contain no text. Only in later publications in Loriot's collective works were some sub-texts added. From the point of view of the German scholar Stefan Neumann, who wrote his dissertation on Loriot's work, these texts increase the comic effect of the story significantly or even create it in the first place. For example, a factual and dry text was added to the story Durch die Blume ... Describes water lily as a "particularly beautiful specimen of the Nymphaea alba from the Nymphaeaceae family " and acts as a comical contrast to the love drama depicted.

publication

Loriot worked since December 1953, initially as a freelance artist for which the publisher & Th. Martens Co. biweekly magazine worldview . In May 1954 he signed a permanent contract with the publisher and from October 1954 also drew for Quick, which was published there . Between August 1954 and March 1955, Loriot's first series appeared in Weltbild with the Liebsam family . Immediately after the series ended, the April 2, 1955 issue began publishing True Stories . 116 episodes appeared in the following three and a half years. With the last episode on September 12, 1959, Loriot's collaboration with Weltbild magazine ended after the focus of his work had already shifted to Quick , which appeared weekly and was much more widespread. He continued to draw for her until September 1970.

The last episode of the True Stories was designed as a special farewell to Loriot from the series and the worldview . It depicts a magician who makes a man disappear, but is then no longer able to bring him back. Below the drawings is a message from Loriot to his readers. In it he reports that he made himself available for a magic trick at a charity event, which worked extremely well. However, due to a memory gap, it is no longer possible for the magician to restore the old state. Therefore Loriot had to say goodbye to the readers until further notice. Loriot had already used this equation of the bulbous-nosed man with the person of the draftsman in another work for Die Weltbild in 1956 and later took it up more often.

In 1955, the Diogenes Verlag , which had already published Loriot's book On the Dog in 1954 , expressed interest in publishing a book edition of True Stories . Loriot initially wanted to reject the offer due to his exclusive contract with Th. Martens & Co., but received permission for publication from the publisher of Weltbild . However, the book True Stories did not appear until 1959. In it, the titles of some drawings were changed. A year later, Italian, Dutch and Swedish editions were also published. Some True Stories are contained in various other Loriot publications, some of which have been given subtexts.

rating

Stefan Neumann does n't see the true stories consistently at a high level. Although he highlights some episodes due to their grandiose absurdity in everyday situations, episodes predominate in terms of numbers in which the comedy does not arise or only emerges convulsively. In addition to the long running time and Loriot's concentration on the work for Quick , the reason for this is also the missing text. This eliminates a main aspect of Loriot's comedy, the interplay between image and text.

Book editions

  • True stories made up by Loriot . Diogenes, Zurich 1959.
  • Loriot is really born . De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam 1960 (Dutch).
  • Sanna berättelser ur livet . Folket i Bilds, Stockholm 1960 (Swedish).
  • Storie vere inventate da Loriot . Baldini & Castoldi, Milan 1960 (Italian).

literature

  • Stefan Neumann: Loriot and the comedy. Life, work and work of Vicco von Bülow . Scientific publishing house Trier, Trier 2011, ISBN 978-3-86821-298-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Stefan Neumann: Loriot and the high comedy. 2011, p. 124.
  2. ^ Stefan Neumann: Loriot and the high comedy. 2011, pp. 125-126.
  3. ^ Stefan Neumann: Loriot and the high comedy. 2011, p. 125.
  4. ↑ a b c Stefan Neumann: Loriot and the high comedy. 2011, p. 127.
  5. ^ Stefan Neumann: Loriot and the high comedy. 2011, p. 107.
  6. ^ Stefan Neumann: Loriot and the high comedy. 2011, p. 137.
  7. ^ Stefan Neumann: Loriot and the high comedy. 2011, p. 128.
  8. ^ Stefan Neumann: Loriot and the high comedy. 2011, pp. 134-136.
  9. ^ Stefan Neumann: Loriot and the high comedy. 2011, p. 148.
  10. ^ Stefan Neumann: Loriot and the high comedy. 2011, p. 126.
  11. ^ Stefan Neumann: Loriot and the high comedy. 2011, pp. 127–128.