Die Sprachlosigkeit in Kroetzs Stallerhof and Geisterbahn

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Scientific Essay from the year 2000 in the subject German Studies - Modern German Literature, grade: very good, University of Nottingham (German Department), language: English, abstract: When Staller in Kroetzs play Stallerhof says `Die Red bleibt eim weg1, having a serious word with Sepp about his ill-advised relationship with Stallers under age daughter Beppi, then this seems to be symptomatic for all the characters in the play, who, to some degree, all seem unable to express themselves and at times even appear completely speechless. Consequently, most striking in Stallerhof and, to less extent, Geisterbahn is not what people say, but what they do not say. And this is probably more you would think of in the first place.In the opening scene of the first act we are introduced to Stallerin and Beppi, the latter reading aloud a postcard from her aunt. Beppi is struggling with her reading and receives a smack in the face from her mother when she misreads dialectal `mir instead of `wir. Beppis mothers rage is both, an irony in itself and totally inappropriate in this situation. First of all, it is the mother herself who only speaks dialect at home, naturally using `mir instead of High German `wir for this is one of the most obvious features of Bavarian dialect, and it seems only logical that her slightly handicapped daughters language behaviour is a mere representation of her parents for they serve as her model.

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