How a German publisher is forced to give into social media outrage

Germany, and particularly the German Democratic Republic, has always had an uneasy and controversial relationship with one of their most beloved – and undoubtedly most read – authors, Karl May. Right now, all over the country, they are up in arms about his best-known protagonist, Winnetou. Or, to be more precise: About how a woke and mindful society should be treating him and his writings.

“Winnetou” who? You might well say if you did not grow up in Germany. But for many generations of Germans, this fictional hero through whose veins pulsates pure Apache blood, is the embodiment of a long-lasting fascination by Germans with the Wild West. Winnetou made his first appearance in 1875, and has captivated young readers ever since. In fact I would go so far as to say that he instilled the love of reading in many young folk and made them into avid readers. And there have been numerous films, notably in the 1970 (“Winnetou” and “Der Schatz im Silbersee” were my own first cinematographic experiences). I remember that all the kids at the time were enamoured with Pierre Brice, a French actor who played the charismatic Winnetou, and to a lesser degree with Lex Barker, his German blood-brother – both shining knights in fringed Wild West leather gear who were out to do good and fight against injustice. Now, many voices demand to ban these films on the TV channels (I wonder what they ARE going to broadcast on Christmas Day instead …?)

The two opposing camps are the “Winnetou killers” and the “racists”. There is talk of “woke hysteria”, “cancellation culture” and of “burning the hero of our childhood”, with many prominent politicians outing themselves as Winnetou fans and coming to his defense – and then being vilified by their opponents. It’s really quite scary.

So what are the reasons for this outbreak of controversy and Ravensburger Verlag having to withdraw their two children’s books which were  meant to be companions to a new film about the young Winnetou, chief of the Apaches? What are the accusations? The answer is: Racism, cultural misappropriation, falsification of facts, distortion of history and ignoring the nasty truth of what really happened during the colonialization of North America in the 19^th century. Romanticizing the genocide against the native peoples. Propagation of clichés, misrepresentation of another culture. The cited stereotypes include portraying the indigenous people as noble, but savage nevertheless, as living in tipis, killing bison, shooting poisoned arrows, wearing feathers on their head (sometimes very little else), shrivelling the skulls of their dead enemies, and shouting Woooowoooowoooo, and saying “Uff”. “The history of the indigenous peoples is being trivialized”, the accusers say. Old Shatterhand, a German colonist and Winnetou’s noble blood brother is a tall blond Aryan that knows no evil, a true good knight, deeply in love with Winnetou’s beautiful sister (who dies prematurely), while if we look further he is a colonial exploiter, a surveyor for the railway company, taking possession of the land with total disregard for the livelihoods of the native population.

Some journalists have called the forced withdrawal of these books by Ravensburger Verlag “Winnetou’s second death”. The first one refers to the fact that in the German Democratic Republic until 1982 Karl May’s books were not exactly forbidden, but not re-printed and therefore impossible to get hold of. I remember distinctly packaging up dozens of my copies and sending them along with foodstuffs and Levy jeans to family friends in Dresden in the mid 70s, praying the would not be confiscated at the border. The fact that Karl May was held in disregard was ironical, since he was born in Saxony, but the regime considered him an imperialist, a fascist and a racist (and the fact that Hitler was a great May admirer didn’t help).

It is important to note that Karl May (1842-1912) was not an anthropologist, or a historian. He had absolutely no first-hand experience of anything outside his native Saxony; in fact he spent considerable periods of time in prison (for petty crimes) and was unable to travel. The only time he set foot on American soil was in his old age, when he had written his books, and was already famous. And he did not venture further west than New York. He wrote fat novels about fictitious travels (in the style of quasi-autobiographical experiences), fuelled by an extraordinary lust for adventure and a hugely fertile imagination. On top of that he had an uncanny ability to write in an engaging way, making phantasies become real and allowing his readers to truly immerse themselves in the narrative, identifying with the heroes.

His writings are not scientific studies of how the First people in North America lived, and of their interactions with the colonists in the 19th century, and they must not be seen as such. They were the expression of a fanciful vision of a world whose big advantage it was that it was not Germany. It was not meant to be a real place – in fact it might best be seen as a Utopia, or a planet full of aliens. A world that did not have to deal with the sad realities and the constraints of European politics, social misery and the straitjacket of the Prussian Empire under Kaiser Wilhelm. Karl May simply provided a wonderful escape from a heavily industrialised, capitalist society and the grim reality of his own and his readers’ everyday lives.

His was a stylised world, full of snippets of half-truths and elaborate descriptions of imaginary landscapes, cultures and people. And his success was truly phenomenal. Generations of German readers have loved him and his protagonists – and want to continue to do so. And his imagination did not confine itself to the Wild West. He also wrote books about the Middle East (his protagonists here are Hadschi Halef Omar and Kara Ben Nemsi), about Mexico, and there is a complicated saga about an aristocratic family somewhere in Central Europe … May is beyond any question one of the most influential German writers of all time, with more than 200 million copies of his 70 books sold (half of them in German). Translations exist in over 30 languages, including Latin and Esperanto.

But if we now know that his depictions of the way of life of the American indigenous population was fantastical and romanticizing, they did create a huge enthusiasm in the population at large for the indigenous culture of the North American continent. When US troops occupied Germany after WWII they were surprised to see that thanks to Karl May “Cowboys and Indians” was a familiar concept to German children. And there were those who took up studies in anthropology to do serious research, on the basis of this fascination.

Be all that as it may, here we are, in August 2022, with a long-established children’s books and games publishers being accused of propagating cultural stereotypes, idolizing false images of the noble savages and ignoring the brutal reality inflicted on them by white men.

Those of us who grew up with the books and were looking forward to having a fever in the winter so as to be allowed 2 days at home in bed, we know that Karl May was not a racist, that he portrayed many Indians as heroes who had superior knowledge of their environment and skills and values that outshone those of the white men. And the settlers are depicted as the greedy villains.

Scott Roxborough, a media journalist covering the international film and TV industry, in his very balanced article points out: “German society does not lack for racism but, thanks in large part to Karl May, Native Americans are held in near-universal regard, even if the image the average German has of Indigenous people bears little relation to reality.” And he concludes by saying: Looking to Karl May and Winnetou expecting an authentic picture of Native experience is like reading Hansel and Gretel for tips on child rearing.”

I wholeheartedly agree. Surely, we have come a little way and have a wider perspective and more enlightened sensibilities than the readers around the turn from the 19^th to the 20^th century. And with what’s currently going on in the world we have serious issues to tackle and serious arguments to consider, and actions to be taken. There are plenty of things to be mindful about, and woke, if you like. This particular outrage that’s engulfing Germany right now really is a shitstorm in a teacup.

References:

https://www.zeit.de/news/2022-08/26/woowoowoowoo-ist-karl-may-rassistisch

https://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.cancel-culture-mhsd.94d7459f-6f15-4323-bc6c-c6b758105099.html

https://www.dw.com/en/publishers-withdrawal-of-winnetou-books-stirs-outrage-in-germany/a-62907190