{"id":6608,"date":"2020-09-11T04:13:54","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T08:13:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/?page_id=6608"},"modified":"2024-03-13T07:06:27","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T11:06:27","slug":"vi-buchbesprechungen-karl-corino-tieffluggebiet","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/archive\/glossen-45-2020\/vi-buchbesprechungen-karl-corino-tieffluggebiet\/","title":{"rendered":"VI. Buchbesprechungen: Karl Corino. Tieffluggebiet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Moved to Glossen 48<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Karl Corino. Tieffluggebiet: <\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n

<\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gedichte in Ehinger Mundart<\/em>. <\/strong><\/h1>\n

<\/h2>\n

T\u00fcbingen: Edition Brennhessel, 2019, 164 pages.<\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n

Gabriele Eckart, Cape Girardeau, Missouri<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

As is well known, the dispersion of identity in Germany as a result of globalization has brought about a corresponding need to find one\u2019s own regional identity. As recent scholarship, above all by Peter Pabisch, has shown, this is true in regions all over Germany, Austria, and Switzerland — exemplified by waves of new \u201cMundartliteratur\u201d representing almost all German dialects.<\/p>\n

Karl Corino (internationally famous as a Robert Musil scholar) recently published a volume of poetry written in East Franconian dialect under the title Tieffluggebiet<\/em> \u2013 meaning an area where airplanes fly very low. In 110 poems, the poet is reclaiming his Franconian identity by exploring the local life of the Franconian village Ehingen in its entirety, which includes the dialect. By describing village life, Corino is attempting carefully to acquire a specific Franconian perspective in looking at the world.<\/p>\n

A valuable addition to the collection of poems are photographs of the village and its inhabitants during different historical periods and an essay titled \u201cVom literarischen Volksverm\u00f6gen des ostfr\u00e4nkischen Dialekts.\u201d In this wonderful text, the author describes how he remembers growing up in this dialect and learning other languages (including standard German) only afterward, a process that entailed his translating things back into the dialect if he wanted to understand. Looking back, the author emphasizes that regarding certain words the dialect had a superior ability \u201czur doppelten Abbildung\u201d compared to standard German as, for instance, the verb \u201csorfa\u201d for scuffing one\u2019s shoes. Still today, living away from where East Franconian is still spoken, the author is amazed by its astonishing ability to depict certain circumstances of daily life as well as states of consciousness. His favorite stanza that he remembers when he feels blue is: \u201cUnd wenn i an mei<\/em> Elend denk \/ und an mein linka Fua\u00df, \/ nocht steigt mer ds Herz in Kemich nauf \/ und werd mer voller Rua\u00df\u201d (146). In detail, Corino also demonstrates how the dialect mirrors social and economic circumstances and their changes over time. A good example is how viperous Franconian sayings about the uselessness of old farmers whose death is wished for by their families have been disappearing since there is retirement pay and material security for old people. However, as Corino notes, the world view still conveyed by some of these doggerel verses found in Ehingen has touches that are politically incorrect from today\u2019s point of view, as, for instance, derogative references to Jews.<\/p>\n

Corino\u2019s poems are organized in eleven chapters. Chapter I, titled \u201cTieffluggebiet,\u201d is perhaps politically most relevant. The poems in this part describe the villagers\u2019 reaction to the noise made by Starfighter airplanes. As Corino explains in the essay:<\/p>\n

Meine mittelfr\u00e4nkische Heimat war lange Jahre Tieffluggebiet, in der die Bundeswehr in 50 oder 60 Metern Flugh\u00f6he f\u00fcr k\u00fcnftige Flugeins\u00e4tze das Heranhuschen \u00fcber Waldwipfeln und das Unterfliegen des gegnerischen Radars probte \u2013 eine h\u00f6llische L\u00e4rmbelastung f\u00fcr Mensch und Tier mit z. T. erschreckenden Folgen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The noise stopped only after German reunification when the drill grounds were moved to the new L\u00e4nder in East Germany. Sarcastically, Corino notes: \u201cMeine Texte h\u00e4tten den Betroffenen aus der halb bet\u00e4ubten Seele sprechen k\u00f6nnen, so man sie nicht ins Mecklen- oder Brandenburgerische h\u00e4tte \u00fcbersetzen m\u00fcssen.\u201d One of the poems reads: \u201cDie Silberfuchsweibli fressa \/ wenn\u2019s immer so knallt \/ ihr eichne Junga \/ ratzabutz \/\/ I wart blo\u00df drauf \/ dass d\u2019 Leit des \/ mit ihre Kinder \/ grad aso toa<\/em>\u201d (9).<\/p>\n

In part II, titled \u201cWaldsterben,\u201d the poet mirrors ecological circumstances that seem to be something new to the farmers in Ehingen; employing black humor, he reflects on the health of the \u201cBemm\u201d (trees) and the villagers\u2019 concerns about it. Besides the black humor, most poems in the volume are characterized by a strong onomatopoeic charm. The most touching poems are based on the daily life of the poet\u2019s mother, daughter of an innkeeper and later wife of a farmer, who continued living in the village long after Corino had moved away. According to my judgement, the ten poems about her hands (collected in part III titled \u201cDie grenne Hend\u201d) are the most convincing in the volume. In his essay, Corino also discusses the question of what happens to your dialect after you stopped speaking it, missing sound shifts and other linguistic changes; does it not petrify? \u201cSpreche ich als Landfl\u00fcchtiger innerlich wom\u00f6glich ein versteinerndes Ehingerisch?\u201d The author\u2019s question remains unanswered.<\/p>\n

In fact, \u201cHerbschtkatza,\u201d about cats born in late fall is my favorite poem; these cats are usually in poor health and useless at a farm as mousers. Looking at them, the poet is wondering about himself and his brother who were born in November and December. The last stanza reads: \u201cAber bo da Leit is des ja was \/ ganz anders selbscht wenn sie \/ abkatza mea<\/em>ssa ihr Lebtach\u201d (57). The verb \u201cabkatza\u201d means \u201cto travail\u201d or \u201cto slave away\u201d; the text draws its charm from the interplay of the words \u201ckatza\u201d and \u201cabkatza\u201d; translated into standard language it would be much less attractive. As a native speaker of Vogtl\u00e4ndisch (a dialect with similarities to Franconian), I had no problems giving meaning to most words. Nevertheless, a short glossary in the end of the book would have improved its value for non-Franconian readers. Regarding the letters printed in Italics in some words, as for instance in \u201cmea<\/em>ssa,\u201d Corino explains \u201ckursiv gesetzte Laute m\u00fcssen leicht nasaliert ausgesprochen werden.\u201d With the help of this difference in pronunciation, Franconians can differentiate immediately between words that are written identical.<\/p>\n

In 2011, Corino had received the prestigious Nikolaus-Lenau-Preis for his volume of poetry In Bebons Tal<\/em>, written in standard German. As the writer points out in his essay, these poems also contained a few Franconian expressions and existential concerns that are typical for this region. Interestingly to him, professors of German studies in the US when reviewing Bebons Tal<\/em> did not seem to understand this intermingling of idioms and concerns to a degree that Corino has been wondering: do they not understand the clash of civilizations inside of Germany, namely \u201cden von agrarischem Mittelalter, das in Franken bis in die 1950er Jahre dauerte, und von postagrarischer Moderne\u201d (157)? In Tieffluggebiet<\/em>, this clash is the leitmotif, reflected in all chapters of the volume and forming a red thread.<\/p>\n

For scholars of German studies who are specializing in literature written in dialect, Corino\u2019s volume is a valuable source of information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Moved to Glossen 48 Karl Corino. Tieffluggebiet:   Gedichte in Ehinger Mundart. T\u00fcbingen: Edition Brennhessel, 2019, 164 pages. Gabriele Eckart, Cape Girardeau, Missouri   As is well known, the dispersion of identity in Germany as a result of globalization has brought about a corresponding need to find one\u2019s own regional identity. As recent scholarship, above […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4340,"featured_media":0,"parent":6396,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6608","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4340"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6608\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}