JoLIE 2:2/2009

 

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HUMOUR VERSUS DOMINATION –

MECHTILDE LICHNOWSKY, A FEMALE KNIGHT AGAINST WINDMILLS?

 

 

Anne Martina Emonts

University of Madeira, Portugal

 

 

 

Abstract

 

There is nothing more serious than speaking about humour. Different senses of humour have separated cultures, for example the cultures of women and men, depending on the Erkenntnisinteresse of a specific research area. However, a common sense of humour has also unified people.

Humour in the forms of satire and caricature, has always been the strongest weapon to attack power. Mechtilde Lichnowsky (1897-1958), a multi-talented and intercultural character, aristocrat and enemy of any kind of domination, was a public figure and a well-known writer on the eve of World Wars I and II. Despite her importance, she has been overlooked in the literary canon because she used humour as a weapon in such a form, at that time considered inappropriate for an aristocratic Lady.

In my brief paper, I shall present a relevant œuvre in the European cultural context which has divided but also unified opinions.

 

Key words: Power; Gender; Humour; Satire; Caricature; Interculturalism.

 

 

References

 

Dario Fo (n.d.) Wikipedia, Die freie Enzyklopädie. Retrieved 6. January 2008, from http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dario_Fo&oldid=39120234.

 

Kraus, K. (1922, December). Die Fackel.

 

Jelinek, E. (2004, November 8). Ich renne mit dem Kopf gegen die Wand und verschwinde [Gespräch mit Rose-Marie Gropp und Hubert Spiegel anläßlich der Verleihung des Nobelpreises für Literatur 2004]. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 261, P.35f.

 

Lichnowsky, M. (1921). Geburt. Berlin: Erich Reiss.

 

Lichnowsky, M. (1924). Der Kampf mit dem Fachmann. Wien, Leipzig: Jahoda & Siegel.

 

Lichnowsky, M. (1949). Worte über Wörter. Wien: Berglandverlag.

 

Lichnowsky, M. (1954). Geburt. Esslingen: Bechtle Verlag.

 

Timms, E. (2005). Karl Kraus, apocalyptic satirist. The post-war crisis and the rise of the Swastika. Yale: Yale University Press.

 

 

How to cite this article: Emonts, A. M. (2009). Humour Versus Domination – Mechtilde Lichnowsky, A Female Knight Against Windmills? Journal of Linguistic and Intercultural Education – JoLIE, 2(2), 85-92. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29302/jolie.2009.2.2.10

 

 

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