Author: Sagarra, Eda

Source: Austrian Studies, Volume 15, Number 1, 1 December 2007 , pp. 53-64(12)

Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association

Abstract:

Nestroy's one-act play and penultimate farce, Häuptling Abendwind oder das gräuliche Festmahl (1862) offers the modern reader an early satire on European colonial mentality. Its particular focus on the notion of a `civilizing' mission to native peoples lends itself to a reading informed by modern post-colonial insights. Predicated, as was his French model, Vent du soir (1857), on the Atreus legend, Nestroy's text abounds in often absurd intertextual allusions, while his drastic subversion of the received wisdom of a `hierarchy of races' finds a parallel in his witty reversion of the hierarchy of gender, the `naïve' South Sea islander Atala proving more than a match for her sophisticated `discoverer' and lover, Arthur.

German
Nestroys Einakter und vorletzte Posse Häuptling Abendwind oder das gräuliche Festmahl (1862) bietet sich dem modernen Leser als frühe satire der europäischen kolonialen Mentalität dar. Der besondere Fokus auf die Vorstellung einer `zivilisierenden' Mission an einheimische Völker eignet sich für eine Lesart des Textes, die sich an postkolonialen Theorien ausrichtet. Da die Posse wie deren französische Vorlage Vent du soir (1857) auf der Atreus-Legende basiert, enthält der Text eine Fülle von oft absurden intertextuellen Anspielungen. Gleichzeitig findet Nestroys drastische Subvertierung akzeptierter Vorstellungen einer Hierarchie der menschlichen Rassen ein Gegenstück in der komischen Umkehr der `Hierarchie der Geschlechter': die `naive' Südseeinsulanerin Atala erweist sich als weitaus gewiefter als ihr affektierter `Entdecker' und Liebhaber Arthur.

Keywords: Nestroy; Häuptling Abendwind oder das gräuliche Festmahl; satire; colonial mentality; Vent du soir; Atreus legend; intertextual allusions; Nestroy; Häuptling Abendwind oder das gräuliche Festmahl; Satire; kolonialen Mentalität; Vent du soir; Atreus-Legende; intertextuellen Anspielungen

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Trinity College Dublin

Publication date: 2007-12-01

More about this publication?

• Austrian Studies is an annual journal reflecting sustained interest in the distinctive cultural traditions of the Habsburg Empire and the Austrian Republic. By publishing a wide range of articles in English, together with a selection of book reviews, it aims to make recent research accessible to a broadly based international readership.
  
  The focus is on Austrian culture from 1750 to the present. Literature is considered in relation to psychology, philosophy, political theory, music, theatre, film, and the visual arts. 'Austrian' includes German-language culture of former areas of the Habsburg Empire, such as Prague and the Bukovina, as well as the work of people of Austrian origin living abroad. Austrian interactions with other linguistic and ethnic groups -- the Jewish communities of Austria-Hungary, for example -- are also taken into account.
  
  Each volume of Austrian Studies has a coherent but broadly conceived theme, and reviews of the most important recent publications in the field of Austrian studies. Each volume also includes a number of substantial review essays devoted either to keeping readers up to date with major cultural debates and events, or to areas of scholarship in which activity has been particularly intense.

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