Seite 21 - Leseproben

Aus: The Language of the Victors: The
Americanization of the German Language
and German Identity after 1945
German Historical Institute, Washington,
March 20, 2003
"It became springtime in the German country .. when from the south,
out of the valleys a pompous ragged procession of voters moved here,
carrying two old panels.//Rotten of pricks the wood was/and the
inscription very faded,/and it was something like/liberty and
democracy."
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the beginning of a poem by Bertolt
Brecht, entitled Freiheit und Democracy 'Liberty and Democracy'. The
German version of the quoted verse reads as follows:
"Frühling wurd's im deutschen Land. .. als von Süden, aus den
Tälern,/herbewegte sich von Wählern/pomphaft ein zerlumpter Zug,/der
zwei alte Tafeln trug.//Mürbe war das Holz von Stichen/und die
Inschrift sehr verblichen,/und es war so etwas wie/Freiheit und
Democracy."
Brecht published this poem in 1948, the year of his return into the
Soviet occupied zone, the zone, where his intellectual orientation
paralleled the government. Today, I can not translate the poem in
its entirety: It deals with Germany's post- war atmosphere.
Churchmen, industrialists, teachers, doctors, scientists,
journalists, honourable citizens, politicains, traders, jugdes,
artists, musicians, master poets, SS, Nazi-women, informers - not
only do they claim innocence, but they also call for, yes, insist on
Freiheit und Democracy, which is not only the title, but also the
refrain of this long ballad.
".. For defense industry/liberty and democracy .. also for
chemicals/liberty and democracy. .. The SS .. she as well needs
liberty, liberty and democracy .."
(".. Für die Rüstungsindustrie/Freiheit und Democracy. .. auch für
die Chemie/Freiheit und Democracy. .. Die SS .. Freiheit braucht
auch sie,/Freiheit und Democracy ..")
Now, why does Brecht use the German word Demokratie in the English
version democracy? Not for - so to say - technical reasons of meter
or rhyme: Demokratie and democracy have the same, that is, four
syllables and the same ending /e/. What Brecht does here is: He