GLC PROJECT REPORT

Topic:

"Winnetou"
and the (Mescalero) Apaches

by

Silke-Katrin Kunze

4. Semester - Englisch / Französisch Lehramt Gymnasium

Résumé

When I was a teenager I read several of those books written by Karl May that are set in the "Wild West." I was very impressed, not only by the "Winnetou" trilogy but also because I knew Karl May never went there. - During his 16 months of travel around the Middle East in 1899 - 1900, he had made the "mistake" of visiting towns and places he had once written about. Not expecting the contrast in differences between his writings and the reality he must have found there, May returned very disappointed. Thus, during his four months of travel to North America in 1908 he preferred to stay away from states and places he had once described. - Ever since then I have wondered about the accuracy and truth of his writings, which I now was given the chance to investigate by visiting a particular state, one he has also used for several of his plots, Arizona.

Of course, such a visit needs preparation, and so I contacted a friend from my hometown′s American sister city, Sierra Vista, Arizona, to help me with the organization. Before I crossed the ocean by plane on January 20, 2000, I knew I would be spending two weeks in Globe, Arizona, adjacent to the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, and four weeks in Dragoon, Arizona, at the Amerind Foundation, the former to see how a special group of Native Americans is living today, the latter to view reference books. At both places I conducted a depth interview and compared my results to Karl May′s "Winnetou" trilogy, which I read once more. By doing so, I most of all wanted to find out how accurate Karl May describes the country, his characters, and their customs, but also how much exposure certain Americans had had to his works so far, and what their reactions would be to an extract of it, the "Winnetou" trilogy.

With these aims in mind, I conducted my research. I chose interesting passages from the aforementioned trilogy for both my questionnaire and interview questions, which I later asked the native speakers to fill out and answer. In order not to leave out historical research, I visited the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, and at the Amerind Foundation I surveyed at least ten reference books about Native American peoples, their history and culture.

As a result of this research my aims were well fulfilled: Firstly, there are certain topics I can disagree or agree with Karl May about, to various degrees. Secondly, I am more familiar with the exposure that the people I talked to had to Karl May before I stepped into their lives, and thirdly, I experienced their reactions to the events in the "Winnetou" trilogy. These results met my two expectations: one, Karl May was no historian, and two, his works should be promoted more aggressively in the American Southwest, if not the entire United States.

All in all, I am very satisfied with my results because the conclusion I have drawn after evaluating everything, is this: Make about ten people familiar with the person and writer Karl May and at least one of them will take a closer look at him. The one I mean is Dr. Anne Woosley, director of the Amerind Foundation, Inc., my second interviewee, who said: "He has a very interesting history, which I have just started to read about because you are here." A contrast to this is the evaluation of my questionnaire. After having given it to two American friends in Globe, I called it a total failure, due to the questions I had chosen, but when two other American friends visited my hometown of Radebeul, I was able to change my verdict of a total failure. Since there were no right or wrong answers, interviewees only could agree or disagree with Karl May. In the end the interviewee′s exposure to other Native American peoples seems to play a role.

These conclusions, and this whole project are invaluable to me. Choose a topic you like, do research on it, write a report about it, admit having made possible mistakes, and learn your lessons well. I enjoyed very much reading the "Winnetou" trilogy again after not having had the time to do so for years. For me, Karl May writes in an affecting style, which will neither let me forget the day at the Amerind Foundation when I was crying because Winnetou had died, nor the times when I conducted my interviews, or had the questionnaire filled out. Therefore, I thank everybody who helped me make progress with this project: Allan, Anne, Bernard, Hollis, Jody, staff of the Karl-May-Museum, Kay, Nashoba, Renae, Rose, and Vikki , thank you very much!

TABLE of CONTENTS:

RÉSUMÉ 3
INTRODUCTION 6
KARL MAY 6
"WINNETOU" 6
MAIN BODY 8
INTERVIEWS 8
HOLLIS COOK 8
V. STEVENS, M.D. 9
DR. ANNE WOOSLEY 12
QUESTIONNAIRE 14
KARL MAY VS. REFERENCE BOOKS 16
APACHES: PAST AND PRESENT 17
ANIMALS 19
DIVISION OF LABOR 20
INTSCHU-TSCHUNA AND WINNETOU 21
Figure 21
Funeral and Afterlife 22
WINNETOU′S PUEBLO 23
WINNETOU AND COCHISE 24
CONCLUSION 28
QUESTIONNAIRE 28
GENERAL COMMENTS 28
APPENDIX 31
QUESTIONNAIRE 31
WORKS CITED 37
BOOKS 37
AUTHOR 37
EDITOR 37
ENTRY IN AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OR DICTIONARY 38
PERIODICALS 38
MAGAZINE 38
JOURNAL 38
OTHER SOURCES 38
LEAFLET 38

Introduction

Karl May

On the 25th of February, 1842, Karl May was born into a poor weaver′s family in Ernstthal, Germany, not only the fifth of 14 children, but also the first that survived. Shortly after his birth baby Karl lost his sight. By the age of four his eyesight had been restored by medical professors. May′s father, who had four daughters but only one son, wanted a better life for his male offspring than he had had himself, buying early books on different subjects and reading skill levels.

After his graduation from eight years of school, young Karl was employed as a teacher in a factory school. In 1862 he was convicted of having stolen his roommate′s watch. He was struck off the register of teachers and fell into a deep hole of misery, of which he tried to escape through theft and fraud. Because of this lifestyle he spent seven years of his life in prison from 1865 to 1868 and from 1870 to 1874. In his thirties, and at the last place of his captivity in Waldheim a catechist stimulated his imagination, whereupon the middle-aged May started writing, first as an editor for a newspaper, later as a writer for a publishing house. The use of many reference books and travel reports enabled May to write about the "Wild West" and the Middle East in detail without even having been there. For instance, he started work on his "Winnetou" trilogy in 1892, but did not visit the United States until 1908.

On March 30, 1912, the writer, poet, and composer Karl May died in his residence, Villa "Shatterhand.," in Radebeul, where he had spent the last 16 years of his life. This German "one man in a thousand" was translated into 28 languages in his lifetime and in about 40 posthumously. In the German-speaking area alone 100 million copies of his books have been racked up so far, ranking him first in the list of "the most sold German authors."

"Winnetou"

In September, 1875, Karl May published a "Wild West" narrative called "Inn-nu-woh." Its main character is a savage of close to 50 who kills and scalps people, and who chews cigars. For no discernible reason, May had him killed at an early stage in his writer′s career, surprisingly converted to the Christian faith. For the sake of the boys′ magazine "Der Gute Kamerad" ("The Good Companion") Inn-nu-woh was resurrected as "Winnetou" and turned into a young chief of noble mind, chivalrous conduct, and who was highly regarded by friend and foe alike. Ever since, "Winnetou I" has served as the basis of an unbroken legend.

From 1892 until 1893 Karl May wrote the "Winnetou" trilogy, "Winnetou I to III," adding a fourth book, "Winnetou IV" or "Winnetous Erben" ("Winnetou IV" or "Winnetou′s heirs"), in 1909, after his return from the north-eastern region of the United States. The two main subjects in this fourth volume are Winnetou′s last will, and his rifle studded with silver nails. In the course of the action, May explains how the latter came to be exhibited in Radebeul now instead of still lying in Winnetou′s grave.

It is unknown to what extent the writer modeled his Winnetou on Native Americans like Cochise, his son Naiche, Tecumseh, or Victorio. Although probably familiar with their individual stories, May′s Winnetou cannot actually be likened to any of them.

Main Body

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