Who comforts Toffel?

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Who comforts Toffel? (Original title: Vem ska trösta Knyttet? ), Also known under the title Who should comfort Lillan? or Knütt finds a friend , is the second picture book by the Finnish-Swedish writer Tove Jansson . It was published in 1960. It is written in verse and takes place in the fictional world of the Moomins , which, however, does not appear in this book.

action

Little Toffel is lonely and is afraid of many things: of the dark, of the loud Hemul and the evil Morra. He has no one to comfort him. When he can no longer stand it at home, he sets off on his own. He meets people everywhere who are loud, happy and enjoy life, but he is too scared to be noticed and talk to them. Toffel retires to the beach, where he finds peace, but again suffers from his loneliness. He finds a message in a bottle with a message from a girl named Miffel. She is lonely like Toffel, and like him she is very afraid of the Morra who is up to mischief near Miffels. Toffel decides to overcome his fear in order to save Miffel. He builds a boat, rows across the sea and wanders through the dark forest and mountains until he finds the Morra and courageously chases it away. So Miffel is finally freed from her fear. Toffel would like to tell Miffel about his adventurous journey. But he's too shy to speak to her, so he writes her a letter. After Miffel has read the letter, she hugs Toffel, and the two of them travel home together, knowing that they will never have to be alone again.

characters

Who comforts Toffel? is Tove Jansson's first book to be set in the Moomin world without the Moomin family playing a role. Only a few unspecified Moomin figures can be seen in a picture in the background. With the Schnupferich, the Mymla and the little Mü, three key characters of the Moomin books are mentioned in the story. Tooticki can also be recognized in the illustrations, a friend of the Moomins, who appeared for the first time in the winter in the Moomin Valley that had appeared three years earlier . In Who Comforts Toffel? For the first time, a character outside the Moomin family takes center stage. Jansson pursued this concept in the collection of stories, Stories from the Moomin Valley , published three years later . Toffel is very similar in character and appearance to Homsa Toft, one of the protagonists of the last Moomin novel Autumn in the Moomin Valley - even if the names of the two characters (Knyttet and Toft) do not resemble each other in the Swedish original.

In the most recent German translation, the characters are sometimes named differently, for example the Schnupferich is called Snufkin as in the English translations . The names of the main characters - Lillan and Gillan in the first translation - were renamed Toffel and Miffel , based on the English version .

History and themes

Tove Jansson wrote the book when she finished drawing the Moomin comics , which had recently been a stressful time for her. She wanted to relax and get away from the Moomins. That explains the absence of the Moomin family in this story.

According to Jansson's own account, she was inspired to write this book by a letter from a boy. He had written to her that he was small and scared and that no one paid any attention to him and signed it with the nickname Knyttet . Jansson chose this name for her main character and wanted to give her - on behalf of the child - an opportunity to show courage and find a like-minded person.

Fulfilling the wish for a girlfriend and partner is the central theme of the book. Like the most recently published novel Winter in the Mumintal , this picture book is also dedicated to Jansson's partner Tuulikki Pietilä . In the first version, both Toffel and Miffel were female. Jansson changed Toffel to a boy before the release, creating a more traditional gender relationship. It is not known what prompted Jansson to make this decision. Nevertheless, the book is occasionally interpreted as a love story between two women.

In order to overcome his loneliness, Toffel has to find the courage to face others and make himself known. Jansson processed this topic again in The Invisible Child from Stories from the Moomin Valley .

layout

In contrast to Jansson's first picture book Moomin, how will it go on? hat Who comforts Toffel? no punched holes to look through. The illustrations are two-dimensional and consist of clear, single-colored areas, mainly in the basic colors red, yellow and blue or black. The white contours give the impression of a silhouette technique. Tove Jansson was engaged in abstract painting around this time , which influenced the design of this picture book. The text is written in cursive and gives a personal impression. In some translations, including the German version, the cursive script was not transferred and the text was converted to print.

Publication history

Like Jansson's first picture book, Moomin, what's next? who was also Who comforts Toffel? a sales success and received excellent reviews. It was first translated into German by Gertrud Rukschcio in 1977 and was published under the title Who should comfort Lillan? . The Benziger publishing house insisted on a prose translation on the grounds that children would not appreciate rhyming verse. Jansson was reluctant to allow this decision. The new translation by Oliver Müller was published by Leiv Verlag in 2009 and is a verse poetry. The new title is based on the English title ( Who will comfort Toffle? ) And has the subtitle A fairy tale from the Mumintal . In 2017 another new translation by Birgitta Kicherer was published by Arena Verlag under the title Die Moomins. Knütt finds a friend .

Adaptations

Who comforts Toffel? has been adapted as a play many times. Jannson received numerous inquiries from professional and amateur theaters shortly after the book was published and was generous with the rights.

Tove Jansson created 13 additional illustrations for a television adaptation. The script adaptation was written by Johan Hagelbäck , who also directed. The 23-minute short film was broadcast in Sweden in 1980. In 1975 Disney approached Tove Jansson for the film rights for Wer comfortet Toffel? to acquire, but Jansson had refused.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Philip Ardagh: A friend in need. In: The Guardian . November 1, 2003, accessed October 15, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Tuula Karjalainen: Tove Jansson. The biography. From the Finnish by Anke Michler-Janhunen and Regine Pirschel. Urachhaus, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-8251-7900-7 , pp. 241–244.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Boel Westin: Tove Jansson. Life, Art, Words. The Authorized Biography. From the Swedish of Silvester Mazzarella. Sort Of, London 2014, ISBN 978-1-908745-45-3 , pp. 339-346.
  4. ^ Tuula Karjalainen: Tove Jansson. The biography. From the Finnish by Anke Michler-Janhunen and Regine Pirschel. Urachhaus, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-8251-7900-7 , p. 244.
  5. ↑ Michael Sollars, Arbolina Llamas Jennings: The Facts on File Companion to the World Novel. 1900 to the Present. Facts On File, New York 2008, ISBN 978-0-8160-6233-1 , p. 400.
  6. ↑ Maria González Davies; Riitta Oittinen: Whose Story? Translating the Verbal and the Visual in Literature for Young Readers. Cambridge Scholars, Newcastle 2008, ISBN 978-1847185471 , p. 11.
  7. ↑ Riitta Oittinen: Translating for Children. Garland, New York 2000, ISBN 978-0-8153-3335-7 , p. 102.
  8. ^ Boel Westin: Tove Jansson. Life, Art, Words. The Authorized Biography. From the Swedish of Silvester Mazzarella. Sort Of, London 2014, ISBN 978-1-908745-45-3 , p. 404.
  9. ↑ Vem ska comforts Knyttet? in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  10. ^ Boel Westin: Tove Jansson. Life, Art, Words. The Authorized Biography. From the Swedish of Silvester Mazzarella. Sort Of, London 2014, ISBN 978-1-908745-45-3 , p. 475.