"Forgery of history!" wailed a mentally ill German. whereupon the publisher - in a sloppy way - immediately got their act together and included the Winnetou volumes. In other words, the Germans (also) started virtual book burning. Again.
It is true that they did not (yet) attack the original works, but the recently written fairy tale of the child Winnetou, but it is an old lesson that you have to start somewhere. It's easier to continue.
By the way, nowadays it is not fashionable to read Karl May's adventure novels (or, unfortunately, anything else), so many people have no idea what and how the excellent German author wrote. True, his works did not besiege the literary greatness of "War and Peace", did not take me to the heights of "Magic Mountain", did not even terrify me with the unsurpassed evil and cynicism of Cipolla from "Mario and the Wizard". May's books entertained while teaching and taught while entertaining.
He was not a master of characterization, with him everything was white or black, good or evil. Charm? On the contrary, like in fairy tales, we don't have to think about which character we can identify with. Of course, with the good.
And who is good? Well, not the white man - respect for the exception. On the contrary, what is the crime of the natives (Indians), namely that they attack farms, slaughter the people living there, or even steal the horses of the enemy tribe, is also the crime of the whites. You don't even have to think about it, the author's analysis is clear. The whites who immigrated to America deprived the Indians of their land, their country, sometimes because they snatched property from other people's property (which the law helped the land grabbers to do at the time), sometimes they were chased away by the hordes of those looking for gold. They exterminated (almost completely) the "bread of the Indians", i.e. the bison, the wild mustangs were rounded up, and the traders trapped them wherever they could and got the copperskins used to the "fiery water". In the end, they built a "path for the fiery horse", a railway, so that the train could take even more white people there, from which, of course, the Indians had to flee again...
So let's agree that Karl May outlined the process that led to the almost complete extermination of the indigenous people in a simplified, i.e. comprehensible, way. Of course, this was not revealed in the translation of the "socialist Winnetou", i.e. Tivadar of Színnai, because it completely lacks the introduction, in which the author laments the copperskins condemned to death, and the religious parts promoting faith in God are completely missing, instead there is "Uff, Comrade Winnetou! And those who today object to the author's "historical unreliability" are unable to understand that this is not a history textbook.
Some people think so. A vile lunatic (or more) comes along and bans Winnetou, saying it "doesn't portray it authentically", i.e. it falsifies history.
Well done, German publisher! Just continue on the familiar path of Nazism! Here is the new enemy, the novel! Fire with all! Today it's Winnetou, tomorrow it's Hamlet (because it's not authentic if a ghost whispers to the protagonist), then Jules Verne will come, because the story of Captain Nemo lacks historical authenticity. Of course, let's not forget everything that is Russian, because Putin is at war...
By the way, Karl May and his works may offend the sensibilities of very stupid progressives in other ways. His novels are deeply permeated by the aforementioned faith in God. He does not preach about religion, but teaches through the actions of the main character. This is as dangerous as possible! What is Old Shatterhand religious about? What does it mean that you try to adjust all your actions to God's will? This is the fluke itself, the corruption of youth! Eventually, they take his example and become believers. Scandal! Scandal!
Oh, and not a single LGBTQ person in any of his books! Shame! At least two Indian warriors could love each other warmly, then the order of the world would be restored.
I remember we didn't get to read Winnetou's story in Cursed for quite some time. I myself was one of the lucky exceptions, because the father of one of my classmates had the pre-war edition. Not the socialist version published later – with the complete omission of the parts referring to faith – but the translation by Lola Kosáryné Réz. My friend lent it to me - if I remember correctly, for three days - as if he was doing something forbidden.
Do we deserve to have to hide again if we want to read a Karl May book!?
Author: Jr. György Tóth
(Cover image: konyvesmagazin.hu)
