Diplomarbeit

A CENTURY AFTER BUFFALO BILL AND KARL MAY – THE LEGACY OF THEIR VISIONS OF NATIVE AMERICANS IN GERMAN-SPEAKING EUROPE DIPLOMARBEIT zur Erlangung des Magistergrades (Mag.phil.) an der Kultur- und Gesellschaftswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg Fachbereich Geschichte Gutachterin: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Angela Schottenhammer eingereicht von CHRISTOPH GRUBER Salzburg, Oktober 2017 Abstract This diploma thesis investigates the visons of American Indians in German-speaking Europe from the late 1800s until today. Buffalo Bill and Karl May can be considered one of the major shapers of the visions that are still predominant today. In particular, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows and May’s novels about the Apache chief Winnetou have significantly contributed to ste- reotypical images. Literature and the conducted non-probability sample study showed Karl May’s portrayal of his American Indians has never ceased to exist as the prevailing perception of Native Americans. The study, consisting of 24 open and closed questions and a sample size of 201 respondents, found that Winnetou (44.28%) and the Apache people (74.63%) are the best known Native Americans and tribes. 90.05% stated that Native Americans lived in teppees and that they had fight due to defensive causes; the overall perception of American Indians tends to be positive. The majority has heard of Karl May (88.60%) and is aware of his influence on the image of Native Americans (87.20%). 78.50% have heard of James Fenimore Cooper and 82.10% of Buffalo Bill. Films/TV are the most frequently sources (92%) for knowledge about American Indians, and the Winnetou films have mostly contributed to this knowledge (72.70%). ‘Long hair’ was the most frequently named appearance descriptor (38.31%). Finally, a tendency towards a decline in interest in American Indian books and films could be observed. Kurzfassung Diese Diplomarbeit untersucht das Bild der Ureinwohner Nordamerikas im deutschsprachigen Raum vom Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts bis heute. Buffalo Bill und Karl May haben das Indianer- bild, das bis heute noch am weitesten verbreitet ist, geprägt wie kaum jemand anderer. Insbeson- dere Buffalo Bills Wild West shows und die Karl Mays Bücher über den Apachen-Häuptling Winnetou lieferten einen maßgeblichen Beitrag zu der stereotypischen Wahrnehmung der Urein- wohner Amerikas. Wie die Literatur sowie die durchgeführte non-probability sample Studie zeigte, hat die Mays Darstellung von seinen Indianern nie an Dominanz verloren. Die Studie bestand aus insgesamt 24 offenen und geschlossenen Fragen und wurde von 201 Teilnehmer durchgeführt. Es wurde in der Studie aufgezeigt, dass Winnetou (44,28%) der bekannteste Indi- ander ist und die Apachen (74,63%) der bekannteste Indianerstamm ist. 90,05% der Befragten gaben an, dass Indianer früher in Tipis lebten und das sie vorwiegend zur Verteidigung kämpften. Ebenso wurde eine positive Tendenz gegenüber der Ureinwohner festgestellt. Die Mehrheit (88,60%) hat von Karl May gehört und ist sich dessen Einfluss auf die Wahrnehmung von Indi- anern bewusst (87,20%). Im Vergleich dazu, haben 78,50% von James Fenimore Cooper gehört und 81,10% von Buffalo Bill. Film/Fernsehen waren die meist genannten Wissensquellen mit 92%, die Winnetou-Filme haben mit 72,70% ihren größten Beitrag zu dem erworbenen Wissen geliefert. „Lange Haare“ (38,31%) war das häufigste Attribut bei dem Erscheinungsbild der Ur- einwohner. Des Weiteren, wurde eine sinkende Tendenz des Interesses an Indianerbüchern und Filmen festgestellt. Acknowledgements Writing these thank yous means I have successfully overcome laziness, lame excuses, and late nights of watching Game of Thrones and other series. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my adviser, Dr. Angela Schottenhammer, for her guidance and support but also giving the opportunity to work on this thesis on a topic which I have been interested all my life. Diese Diplomarbeit möchte ich meinen Eltern widmen und mich für ihre bedingungslose Unter- stützung und ihr Vertrauen bedanken. Bedanken möchte ich mich auch für all die von Ihnen mir ermöglichten Auslandsaufenthalte, welche mich doch sehr geprägt haben. I would also like to thank my friends, colleagues and all those who helped me and provided insightful comments and suggestions. I also wish to thank all the participants in my study, who fed me with data and thus facilitated the case study. A special thanks to my girlfriend – without you, this thesis would have been completed months later, at the best of times. Contents Introduction………………………….………………………………………………………… 1 1. Name Controversy………………………………………………………………………... 3 1.1. Indian, American Indian, and Native American…………………………………….. 3 1.2. Redskin……………………………………………………………………………… 7 1.2.1. Etymology of redskin……………………………………………………......... 8 1.3. Etymology of Indian…………………………………………………………...…....12 1.3.1. Indianer……………………………………………………………………… 14 1.4. Note on terminology in this thesis………………………………………………….. 14 2. Stereotypes……………………………………………………………………………….. 15 3. Perception and Creating the ‘Right’ Image..................................................................... 21 3.1. Native Americans discovering Germany………………………………………….... 23 3.2. Völkerschauen and Buffalo Bill……………………………………………………. 26 3.2.1. Völkerschauen………………………………………………………………... 27 3.2.2. Buffalo Bill…………………………………………………………………… 37 3.2. Karl May……………………………………………………………………………. 47 4. Empirical Study………………………………………………………………………... 62 4.1. Hypotheses…………………………………………………………………………. 62 4.2. Method……………………………………………………………………………… 63 4.2.1. Participants and procedure…………………………………………………... 63 4.3. Results……………………………………………………………………………… 66 4.4. Discussion of results………………………………………………………………... 86 4. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………... 91 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………... 94 Appendices…………………………………………………………………………………... 104 Appendix A: Results……………………………………………………………………104 Appendix B: Questionnaire German…………………………………………………... 119 Appendix C: Questionnaire English…………………………………………………… 125 List of Figures 1 Mitic as Winnetou 23 2 Brice as Winnetou 23 3 Herbig as Winnetou 23 4 Tehuelches 32 5 Buffalo Bill newspaper advertisement 39 6 Buffalo Bill together with Sitting Bull 41 7 Karl May 48 8 Karl May as Old Shatterhand 51 9 Hitler cartoon 60 10 Gender 64 11 Age 64 12 Nationality 65 13 Highest level of education 65 14 Have you heard of Karl May? 75 15 Do you think Karl May has influenced the perception of Native Americans? 76 16 Do you know any Winnetou films or books? 77 17 Have you ever watched any Winnetou films or read any Winnetou books? 78 18 Have you heard of James Fenimore Cooper? 79 19 Have you heard of Buffalo Bill? 80 20 Sources of acquired knowledge about Native Americans 81 21 Movies, books, and entertainment media 82 22 Frequency of watching and/or reading Native American movies/books 83 23 Last time of watching a Native American movie or reading a Native American 84 book 24 A respondent’s drawing for question 20 87 25 A respondent’s drawing for question 20 88 26 A respondent’s drawing for question 20 88 List of Tables 1 Associations with Native Americans 67 2 Tribes 68 3 Famous Native Americans 69 4 How Native Americans lived 70 5 Character traits 71 6 Causes to fight – defensive 72 7 Causes to fight – offensive 72 8 How Indians live today 73 9 Native American words 74 10 What respondents would like to know more 85 11 What Native Americans look like 86 Introduction Wenn man doch ein Indianer wäre, gleich bereit, und auf dem rennenden Pferde, schief in der Luft, immer wieder kurz erzitterte über dem zitternden Boden, bis man die Sporen ließ, denn es gab keine Sporen, bis man die Zügel wegwarf, denn es gab keine Zügel, und kaum das Land vor sich als glattgemähte Heide sah, schon ohne Pferdehals und Pferdekopf.1 If only one was an Indian, always ready, and on the galloping horse, crooked in the air, repeatedly shivering briefly above the quivering ground, until one let loose of the spurs because there were no spurs, until one threw away the reins because there were no reins, and barely saw the land in front of oneself like a flattened meadow, without the horse’s neck or the horse’s head.2 This poem, Wunsch, Indianer zu werden (“The Wish to become Indian”), consisting of only one sentence, was written by the German poet Franz Kafka (1883-1924) after Buffalo Bill and his troupe left Germany on his second Europe tour. Kafka highlighted the two-century old and seemingly never-ending enthusiasm and gave of a summary of what many Germans wished: to become an America Indian. It represents the German vision of American Indians – a romantic image of freedom and adventure.3 Since the poem was published in 1913, the poet might have been inspired not only by Buffalo Bill Wild West shows but also by Carl Hagenbeck’s Völker- schauen, Hans Stoch-Sarrasani’s circuses or Karl May’s Winnetou, respectively. In this present diploma thesis, I will examine in three theoretical chapters the cause of stere- otypical representations of Native Americans from the 19th and 20th century; furthermore, I will also outline the image of American Indians in German-speaking Europe based on my empirical study. In the first chapter, I will discuss the most appropriate terms to address Native Americas and will provide an etymological overview of the terms redskin and Indian. The second chapter is concerned with what stereotypes are, how they develop, how tourism impacts on them but also the Indian’s involvement in the tourist industry. In the third chapter, I will investigate Carl

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