Struwwelpeter 

Struwwelpeter in a children's book from 1917.

Der Struwwelpeter (1845) is a popular German children's book by Heinrich Hoffmann which has been translated into English. It comprises ten illustrated and rhymed stories, mostly about children. Each has a clear moral that demonstrates the disastrous consequences of misbehavior in an exaggerated way. The title of the first story provides the title of the whole book. Literally translated, Struwwel-Peter means Shaggy-Peter.

Contents

History

Hoffmann, a Frankfurt physician, wanted to buy a picture book for his son for Christmas in 1844. Not impressed by what the stores had to offer, he instead bought a notebook and wrote his own stories and pictures. Hoffmann was persuaded by friends to publish the book anonymously as Lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder mit 15 schön kolorierten Tafeln für Kinder von 3-6 Jahren (Funny Stories and Jocose Pictures with 15 Beautifully Coloured Panels for Children Aged 3 to 6) in 1845. It was not until the third edition in 1858 that the book was published under the title Struwwelpeter.

Struwwelpeter has been translated into several languages. The first English translation appeared in 1848. Mark Twain's English translation of the book is called "Slovenly Peter."

In 2006, Fantagraphics Books published the first completely digital version of Struwwelpeter, reinterpreted and illustrated by Bob Staake.

Stories

Nikolas, as he is about to dunk three boys in his inkstand. Illustration from a 1917 edition.
  1. "Struwwelpeter" (Shaggy Peter) describes a boy who does not groom himself properly and is consequently unpopular.
  2. In "Die Geschichte vom bösen Friederich" (The Story of Cruel Frederick), a violent boy terrorizes animals and people. Eventually he is bitten by a dog, who goes on to eat the boy's sausages while he is bedridden.
  3. In "Die gar traurige Geschichte mit dem Feuerzeug" (The Dreadful Story of Pauline and the Matches), a girl plays with matches and burns to death.
  4. In "Die Geschichte von den schwarzen Buben" (The Story of the Inky Boys), Nikolas (that is, Saint Nicholas1) catches three boys teasing a dark-skinned boy. To teach them a lesson, he dips the three boys in black ink, to make them even darker-skinned than the boy they'd teased.
  5. "Die Geschichte von dem wilden Jäger" (The Story of the Wild Huntsman) is the only story not primarily focused on children. In it, a rabbit steals a hunter's rifle and eyeglasses and begins to hunt the hunter. In the ensuing chaos the rabbit's child is burned by hot coffee.
  6. In "Die Geschichte vom Daumenlutscher" (The Story of Little Suck-a-Thumb), a mother warns her son not to suck his thumbs. However, when she goes out of the house he resumes his thumb sucking, until a roving tailor appears and cuts off his thumbs with giant scissors.
  7. "Die Geschichte vom Suppen-Kaspar" (The Story of Kaspar who did not have any Soup) begins as Kaspar, a healthy, strong boy, proclaims that he will no longer eat his soup. Over the next five days he wastes away and dies.
  8. In "Die Geschichte vom Zappel-Philipp" (The Story of Fidgety Philip), a boy who won't sit still at dinner accidentally knocks all of the food onto the floor, to his parents' great displeasure.
  9. "Die Geschichte von Hans Guck-in-die-Luft" (The Story of Hans Look-in-the-Air) concerns a boy who habitually fails to watch where he's walking. One day he walks into a river; he is soon rescued, but his portfolio drifts away.
  10. In "Die Geschichte vom fliegenden Robert" (The Story of Flying Robert), a boy goes outside during a storm. The wind catches his umbrella and sends him to places unknown, and presumably to his doom.
Zappel-Philipp. Illustration from the 1845 edition.

International curiosities

In one English version of "The Story of the Inky Boys" Nikolas is Tall Agrippa.

In the same version there are more differences - for instance "The Story of the Wild Huntsman" is now "The Story of the Man Who Went Out Shooting." In "The Dreadful Story of Pauline and the Matches" (or "...Harriet and the Matches" in this version) the cats are not named. In other versions they are - the original German was "Minz" and "Maunz." Also in this version, "The Story of Kaspar who did not have any Soup" becomes "The Story of Augustus Who Would Not Have Any Soup."

Stage adaptations

Shockheaded Peter (SHP) is a musical entertainment based on Struwwelpeter, created by Julian Bleach, Anthony Cairns, Julian Crouch, Graeme Gilmour, Tamzin Griffin, Jo Pocock, Phelim McDermott, Michael Morris and The Tiger Lillies (Martyn Jacques, Adrian Huge and Adrian Stout). SHP combines elements of pantomime and puppetry with musical versions of the poems. Generally, the songs closely follow the text of the poems, but there are significant differences, tending towards giving the songs a much darker tone than the poems. Whereas the children in the poems only sometimes die, in the musical they all do. Commissioned by the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds and the Hammersmith Lyric in West London, the show debuted in 1998 in Leeds before moving to London and subsequently to world tours.

In 2006 a new production of the tales, called Struwwelpeter - In English! was taken to the 60th Edinburgh Festival in August. The production used a variety of magic, mime, physical theatre, and black-comedy to recreate the tales. The show had a sell-out run and is returning in 2007 for a second run of the sell out show.[1]

Psychological interpretation

Apart from Struwwelpeter, other descriptions, especially "Fidgety Philip" (Zappelphillip) and John-Look-in-the-Air (Hans-Guck-in-die-Luft), are strongly believedby whom? to describe persons with Attention Deficit Disorder. In Germany, a person with ADD Syndrom is sometimes referred to a "Zappel-Philipp"".

Influence and references

Further reading

Notes

  1. ^ Martina Eberspächer 2002. Der Weihnachtsmann: Zur Entstehung einer Bildtradition in Aufklärung und Romantik, p. 74 ff., in German; also in Mark Twain's translation Slovenly Peter "Nikolas" is translated as "Saint Nicholas".

External links

Sister project Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Struwwelpeter