Fabel

Abstract

This is a helpful resource book for the study of fable. As the back cover declares, Der Band ermöglicht eine umfassende Beschäftigung mit dem Komplex Fabel anhand primärer Texte. It has three major sections. The first deals with Themen der Fabelforschung. This section includes some eleven different definitions of fable, the literature-sociological place of fable, the Death of the Fable, animal metaphor in fable, the history and teaching of fable, fable's readership -- children or adults?, significant writers of fable (Aesop, Phaedrus, La Fontaine, and Lessing), and this book's own critical method. A second major section takes five major subjects and offers comparative chronological texts on those five: WL, FC, OR, LS, and Magen und Glieder. Up to fourteen different texts are given for each of those five. By the way, I noticed in this section a nice redoing of OR by Jean Anouihl. The dead oak says to the smug reed Ich bin immer noch eine Eiche (94). The third section moves chronologically through nine historical periods and a fabulist in that period: Boner, Steinhowel, Luther, Ertl, von Kronau, Willamov, Braun, Pfeffel and Fischer, Hey and Heine. Last sections here deal with Kafka and contemporary fables. Do not confuse this book with Leibfried's other book of the same title, published by Metzler; of it I have a second edition from 1973. I had to check Wikipedia to make sure that a man wrote two books with the same name in different publishing houses! My question of this fine book is about its intended audience. Could this be a textbook for an Oberstufe class in the Gymnasium?