Grausame Komik

In Wilhelm Busch’s (1832–1908) world-famous illustrated stories, animals are tortured to death, mutilated and drowned, gagged, set on fire, and shot. They are usually portrayed as evil and deceitful, and their agonizing deaths are intended to produce a particular kind of humor. For several generatio...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Theresa Heyer
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Presses universitaires de Strasbourg 2025-07-01
Series:Recherches Germaniques
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/rg/13385
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849394576428630016
author Theresa Heyer
author_facet Theresa Heyer
author_sort Theresa Heyer
collection DOAJ
description In Wilhelm Busch’s (1832–1908) world-famous illustrated stories, animals are tortured to death, mutilated and drowned, gagged, set on fire, and shot. They are usually portrayed as evil and deceitful, and their agonizing deaths are intended to produce a particular kind of humor. For several generations, Busch’s illustrated tales of animal abuse have made children laugh. From today’s perspective, however, the notably animal-hostile jokes in Busch’s work are ethically difficult to justify. How can this childlike joy in cruelty be ethically evaluated, and how should grotesque literature that has entered the literary canon be approached from an ethical standpoint today? This article addresses these questions by drawing on various approaches to schadenfreude and the literary grotesque
format Article
id doaj-art-c5a6712dc05d4eb1ae9acf261420e5e3
institution Kabale University
issn 0399-1989
2649-860X
language deu
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Presses universitaires de Strasbourg
record_format Article
series Recherches Germaniques
spelling doaj-art-c5a6712dc05d4eb1ae9acf261420e5e32025-08-20T03:39:57ZdeuPresses universitaires de StrasbourgRecherches Germaniques0399-19892649-860X2025-07-0120456910.4000/147v8Grausame KomikTheresa HeyerIn Wilhelm Busch’s (1832–1908) world-famous illustrated stories, animals are tortured to death, mutilated and drowned, gagged, set on fire, and shot. They are usually portrayed as evil and deceitful, and their agonizing deaths are intended to produce a particular kind of humor. For several generations, Busch’s illustrated tales of animal abuse have made children laugh. From today’s perspective, however, the notably animal-hostile jokes in Busch’s work are ethically difficult to justify. How can this childlike joy in cruelty be ethically evaluated, and how should grotesque literature that has entered the literary canon be approached from an ethical standpoint today? This article addresses these questions by drawing on various approaches to schadenfreude and the literary grotesquehttps://journals.openedition.org/rg/13385Busch (Wilhelm)animal crueltyschadenfreudeFliegende Blätterillustrated tales
spellingShingle Theresa Heyer
Grausame Komik
Recherches Germaniques
Busch (Wilhelm)
animal cruelty
schadenfreude
Fliegende Blätter
illustrated tales
title Grausame Komik
title_full Grausame Komik
title_fullStr Grausame Komik
title_full_unstemmed Grausame Komik
title_short Grausame Komik
title_sort grausame komik
topic Busch (Wilhelm)
animal cruelty
schadenfreude
Fliegende Blätter
illustrated tales
url https://journals.openedition.org/rg/13385
work_keys_str_mv AT theresaheyer grausamekomik