<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">L O W L A N D S - L - 13 April 2007 - Volume 05</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">==============================</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">==============================</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
=============</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">From: </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 104, 28); font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
Marcel Bas <
<a href="mailto:marcelbas@gmail.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">marcelbas@gmail.com</a>></span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
Subject: LL-L "Demographics" 2007.04.12 (05) [E]</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" dir="ltr">Hi Reinhard,</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" dir="ltr">You wrote:<br></p>
<blockquote dir="ltr" style="margin-right: 0px; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<p>>Marcel, as you may have noticed, any age can do with a Till Ulenspeghel. How can you tell you're dealing with one? <span style="font-style: italic;">
Uul</span> (owl) >stands for "clever," and the "speghel" (mirror) is held up for everyone to see him- or herself. </p></blockquote>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" dir="ltr">In
secondary school my teacher told me that Till Eulenspiegel's 'surname'
derives from German (so she meant High German) 'eurer Spiegel'. But
since this character is so deeply 'verwurzelt' in the Lowlands and the
'L' has a better origin here, I believe your explanation is more valid.
</div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" dir="ltr">I
really like it that you compare Borat with Tijl Uilenspiegel. The way
he makes fun of -- for example -- uninformed anti-islamic rodeo
visitors (I think that scene is the 'baddest' scene of the whole film)
is simply great. At the same time I feel embarrassed watching it,
whereas <em>these</em> people are supposed to feel like that, because they are unaware, and... </div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" dir="ltr">Anyway, this Sascha Baron Cohen just knows how to arouse so many mixed feelings, and that is surely a fantastic job.
</div>
<blockquote dir="ltr" style="margin-right: 0px; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<p>>Uncomfortable? Yep! That's the idea. And that doesn't only go for Americans. <br></p></blockquote>
<p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" dir="ltr">You're right. It also goes for Yankees, Southerners, Mid-Westerners and West-Coast people! :P</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" dir="ltr">Enjoy your weekend!</p><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<p dir="ltr">Marcel.</p>
----------</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><font style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" size="2">From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
sassisch@yahoo.com
</a>><br>Subject: Satire<br><br>Yakshemash again, Marcel!<br><br><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">> </span></font><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">
In
secondary school my teacher told me that Till Eulenspiegel's 'surname'
derives from German (so she meant High German) 'eurer Spiegel'.</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Oh, sure! That's what you'd call "well-informed."
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Actually, some people believe that the name is at least in part based on </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
uul d'n speygel</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> ("wipe the behind," "mirror" being used for "arse" in some Low Saxon and German dialects, much like "moon" is associated with it in English -- so a bit like "shine the moon," if you will).
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">>
I
really like it that you compare Borat with Tijl Uilenspiegel.</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">OK, so he may seem to go a tad too far at times, and I would have preferred it had he used a fictitious former Soviet republic (because I don't like direct put-downs). But remember that some people need to get clubbed over the head to get the meaning.
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">It is quite clear to me that Sacha Baron Cohen ...</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<ol style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><li>has carefully thought out this character and has rehearsed his persona so well that he carries off the lingo, mannerisms, mindset and everything else very consistently and with great acting skill (often finding it hard to come out of that character), and ...
</li><li>not coincidentally follows in what from a Lowlands angle we might want to call the "Ulenspeghel" tradition.</li></ol><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">(By the way, before the movie, Borat was featured in the British TV shows by Ali G., another one of Sacha's personae, and I find some of those skids even better, though some of them would be too hardcore for US censors.)
<br><br>I believe there is a definite Eurasian string of satirical traditions between the Low Countries and China that may very well be linked and may in fact include the medieval court jester tradition: pranksters that get away with cutting social comments by cleverly satirizing while playing "dumb." I can think of three prominent versions right now (apart from its traces in Rhenish carnival traditions):
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><ol style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Till Ulenspeghel</span><br>(a.k.a. Dyl Ulenspegel, Thijl Uylenspeghel, etc.) tends to be attributed to Middle Saxon tradition but has spread to other parts of the Continental Lowlands and then came to be translated into German (Till Eulenspiegel). The predominant hypothesis is that Ulenspeghel was born in Brunswick in 1300 and died in Mölln in 1350, traveled through several regions, not only throughout the Lowlands but also through Bohemia. However, there is no proof that this person ever existed.
<br><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>Example </span>(<a href="http://www.pitt.edu/%7Edash/fart.html#furrier" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/fart.html#furrier</a>):<br><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier"> It was mid winter when Till Eulenspiegel arrived at Ascherleben. Times
were hard, but finally he found a furrier who was willing to take on an
apprentice, and he was put to work sewing pelts. Not being accustomed to
the smell of the curing hides, he said, "Pew! Pew! You are as white as
chalk, but stink like dung!"<br></a><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier"> The furrier said, "If you don't like the smell, then why are you a
furrier's apprentice? It's a natural smell. It's only wool."<br></a><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier"></a><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier"> </a><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier">Eulenspiegel said nothing, but thought, "One bad thing can drive another
bad thing away." Then he let such a sour fart that the furrier and his
wife had to stop working.</a><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier"></a><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier"><br> </a><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier">The furrier said, "If you have to fart like that, then go out into the
courtyard. There you can fart as much as you like."<br></a><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier"></a><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier"> </a><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier">Eulenspiegel answered, "A fart is more natural and healthier than the
stench of your sheep pelts."</a><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier"><br></a><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier"> </a><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier">The furrier said, "Healthy or not, if you want to fart, then go
outside."<br></a><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier"> </a><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier">Eulenspiegel said, "Master, it would do no good, because farts don't like
the cold. They are used to being in a warm place. That's why if you let
a fart it always rushes for your nose. It goes from one warm place to
another."<br></a><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier"> </a><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier">The furrier said nothing, for he could see that Eulenspiegel knew nothing
of the furrier trade and was a rogue at that. And he sent him on his
way.</a></li><li><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier"></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hershele Ostropolyer</span><br>(a.k.a. Hershel of Ostropol), the Eastern Ashekenazi (Yiddish language) equivalent of Ulenspeghel. He was particularly ruthless in his treatment of the rich and influential, Jews and Christians alike. He is said to be based on a real 19th-century Ukrainian character, but he may very well be invented also. I don't doubt one bit that the Hershele Ostropolyer tradition, which was particularly popular in the late 19th century, strongly influenced the development of Ashkenazi satire, for instance the American tradition that peaked in Jewish Vaudeville skids and left traces in television shows such as
<span style="font-style: italic;">The Seinfeld Show</span>, also Euro-Israeli brands such as that of Hungarian-born Ephraim Kishon.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">
</span>Example </span>(<a href="http://www.pitt.edu/%7Edash/fart.html#furrier" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/fart.html#furrier</a>):<br> During the feast of Passover, Hershele once sat across from
a self absorbed rich man who made derogatory remarks about Hershele's eating
habits.<br> "What separates you from a pig,
is what I'd like to know," the man said derisively.<br> "The table," Hershele replied.
<br><a name="111eca290b456746_furrier"></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">[</span><font style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" size="2"><font size="1"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font size="2">My note: In the Yiddish version, "What separates
..." is is based on a Hebrew phrase the youngest child must ask during the Seder ceremony: </font><font style="font-style: italic;" size="2">Mah ni</font></span><font style="font-style: italic;" size="2"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" lang="ZH-CN">
</span></font><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font style="font-style: italic;" size="2">shtanah halaylah hazeh mekhol
haleylot?</font> (</span></font><span dir="rtl" style="font-size: 12pt;" lang="HE"><font size="2">מה נשתנה<font size="2"> </font></font><font size="2">הלילה הזה מכל הלילות?</font></span><font size="1"><span dir="rtl" style="font-size: 12pt;" lang="AR-SA">
</span></font><span dir="ltr"></span><span dir="ltr"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span dir="ltr"></span><span dir="ltr"></span><font size="2">)</font><font size="2"><font size="2"> </font>'What (separates =) distinguishes
this night from all the (other) nights?"]</font></span></font></li><li><font size="2"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font size="2"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Nasreddin<br></span></font></span></font>(Persian <span dir="rtl" lang="AR-SA">
ملا نصرالدین</span><span dir="ltr"></span><span dir="ltr"></span><span dir="ltr"></span><span dir="ltr"></span>,
Arabic نصرالدين, Kurdish <span style="font-style: italic;">Melayê Meşûr</span>,
Turkish <span style="font-style: italic;">Nasreddin Hoca</span>, Azeri <span style="font-style: italic;">Molla Nasredin</span>, Turkmen <span style="font-style: italic;">Nasrettin Hoca</span>, Uyghur, Uzbek
<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(Molla) </span>Nasirdin (Hoja)</span>, etc.) is believed to be in part based upon a Sufi that roamed
about what is now Turkey,
but we can't be sure if he was Turkish, Central Asian or Persian. With his
puzzling responses he angers especially the supposedly wise and pious, and he
seems to enjoy targeting religious institutionalists that, from many a Sufi's point of view, have
gotten bogged down in status and tradition to the detriment of originality springing from down-to-earth love. This tradition has spread throughout the
Islamic world and beyond.<span style=""> </span>(The Uyghur
tradition was adapted in China
proper under the popularized name 毛拉 <span style="font-style: italic;">Maola</span>.)<span style=""><br> </span>Example (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasreddin">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasreddin</a>):<span style="">
<br> </span>Nasreddin sat on a
river bank when someone shouted to him from the opposite side:<span style=""><br> </span>"Hey! how do
I get across?"<span style=""><br> </span>"You are
across!" Nasreddin shouted back.</li></ol><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">So, yes, I think Borat is at least indirectly relevant to our focus.</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Regards,</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Reinhard/Ron</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">