The actor and theater operator Dieter Hallervorden made fun of the criticism of dealing with historical representations of other cultures using the example of Winnetou. “I think we live in a kind of sensitivity cult, where other people want to dictate to us which slalom we have to circumnavigate alleged faux pas in the future,” said the 86-year-old in Berlin. “I take it as patronizing.”
A debate is currently raging about cultural appropriation and racism. It came about after the Ravensburger publishing house announced in mid-August that it would stop the delivery of two children’s books for the film of the same name, “The Young Chief Winnetou” and remove them from the program.
In an Instagram post, Ravensburger wrote that user feedback showed “that we hurt the feelings of others with the Winnetou titles”. A number of users of the social media platform then expressed their incomprehension and accused the company of censorship or giving in to criticism. But there was also support for the decision.
If one followed that, Goethe’s “Faust” would actually have to be banned, said Hallervorden. “Because the way Faust approaches Gretchen is not only out of date, it’s downright misogynistic.” And with Walt Disney: “Talking ducks – isn’t that a bitter injustice to a certain species of animal?” he teased. He can only recommend everyone not to take the topic seriously and “to have a good time about it”.
Within a few days more than 4000 people signed a petition from the Karl May Society and the Karl May Foundation. The open letter is entitled “Is Winnetou done?” and lists a number of arguments for dealing with historical accounts. The adventure author deserves a differentiated view, it says.
Karl May (1842-1912) has Saxon roots. He was born in Hohenstein-Ernstthal and died in Radebeul. His work has been translated into more than 30 languages and published in around 50 countries around the world.
