Die Fabel: Das Vergnügen der Erkenntnis
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Authors
Liebchen, Wilfried
Issue Date
1990
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Type
Book, Whole
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Abstract
As the opening T of C shows, this book's 202 pages split near the middle. After a short inroduction the first half of the book presents texts, organized into these groups: Parabeln, Epische Fabeln, Gleichnisse, Rhetorische Fabeln, Rhetorische Fabelketten, and Epigramme. In the second half of the book, Liebchen presents his criteria for these categories. Here he presents three principles of the fable, and then in several sections shows the errors and confusions he believes people get into by not using these principles. In the introduction, Liebchen points out that fables give pleasure, that fables introduce the Aha! moment, that adults do not feel themselves addressed by fable today and that people are confused about exactly what fable is. We need, then, to attend to the form of fable. My question about Liebchen's good fable texts is: Did he create them all? In the second half of the book, before offering his three principles of fables, Liebchen disagrees with the oft-stated theory that fables are indirect, self-protective speech. Fabulists suffer for what they say/write. Here are the three principles: First is das Prinzip des Mittels: fables' actors are lower creatures. Their characters are already known: So fable depends on three Verfremdungseffekte: 1.The effect of quick characterization. Brevity is important: fable makes a complex case comprehensible. 2. The second effect is reduction of feelings by creating a distance between us and the characters. We are not taken with pity and fear over the characters; we rather understand the consequences they have prepared for themselves. We have the feeling of being superior to them. 3. Everyday stuff is pushed into the realm of the special (des Besonderen). So we get unusual characters in an unusual place dealing with our everyday issues. Second is das Prinzip des Zweck, which is Verstehen. A good example is Liebchen's fable about good advice. A clever fox gives a naïve dog this advice: Never accept advice. Now, should the dog accept that advice? Third is das Prinzip des Ziels, which is Erkenntnis, in deren Folgschaft ein verändertes Verhalten steht. Fable goes beyond simile in wanting not just understanding but also a change in behavior. Fable changes nothing, but for one who is willing to think, it can help change. Fable has suffered through its misuse for moral doctrine. Simile does not have the Ziel of either fable or parable. It is not there to change behavior. Parable uses only one of the three Effekts: des besonderen. It does not try to create distance by using animals or try to create a sense of superiority. Liebchen uses The Prodigal Son as a favorite example of parable. The book uses four illustrations from various sources, listed on 201.
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Citation
Publisher
Fabel-Verlag Gudrun Liebchen
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Identifier
7883 (Access ID)