Fabeln
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Authors
Seliger, Dirk
Issue Date
2002
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Abstract
This is a small paperback about 4⅛" x 5⅞". Its 81 pages before eight pages of advertisements contain 26 fables. I had at first a negative impression as Seliger's preface articulated three features of fables. As he writes, they (1) are generally about animals; (2) contain an encrypted message; and (3) contain a clearly formulated teaching at the end. My negative reaction came because I object to all three features. I recognize that his first and third are spoken of as only "frequent" while the second "always" happens. For me, fables do not always have animal characters and a clearly formulated teaching, and not necessarily at the end. Where he speaks of an "encrypted message," why not speak rather of a polyvalent metaphor? Might a fable be told most of all to invite the hearer to formulate its impact and to apply it to his or her own situation? The good news is that Seliger responds to the three with his own approach, which does just those things. Though he deals only with native animals, he does not formulate morals but rather invites the reader to find and formulate his or her own. I tried the first five fables and found them good. They follow familiar turns in fables: arguing your case one way gets you out of one scrape only to find yourself in another. One kind of building may well include inviting the factors that will undo your work. Intervene in someone else's fight and you may yourself get eaten. Trample on an enemy, and you may find yourself stuck in the holes you have created. Clever new fables!
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Publisher
Amicus Verlag Föritz