Strange(rs) Among Strangers. Some Remarks

Summary

Karlstadt:

Wir haben in der letzten Unterrichtsstunde über die Kleidung des Menschen gesprochen und zwar über das Hemd. Wer von euch kann mir nun einen Reim auf Hemd sagen?

Valentin:

Auf Hemd reimt sich fremd!

…

Karlstadt:

Gut—und wie heißt die Mehrzahl von fremd?

Valentin:

Die Fremden.

Karlstadt:

Jawohl, die Fremden.—Und aus was bestehen die Fremden?

Valentin:

Aus “frem” und “den.”

…

Karlstadt:

Gut—und was ist ein Fremder?

Valentin:

Fleisch, Gemüse, Obst, Mehlspeisen und so weiter.

Karlstadt:

Nein, nein, nicht was er isst, will ich wissen, sondern wie er ist… .

Valentin:

Ja, ein Fremder ist nicht immer ein Fremder.

Karlstadt:

Wieso?

Valentin:

Fremd ist der Fremde nur in der Fremde.

Karlstadt:

Das ist nicht unrichtig.

Karlstadt:

In our last session we talked about peoples’ clothes, especially the shirt. Who can tell me what rhymes with shirt?

Valentin:

With shirt (Hemd) rhymes strange (fremd)… .

Karlstadt:

All right—and what is the plural of strange?

Valentin:

Strangers.

Karlstadt:

Exactly. Strangers.—And what are strangers made of?

Valentin:

Of “stran” and “gers.”

…

Karlstadt:

All right—and what e-e-s a stranger?

Valentin:

Meat, vegetables, fruit, pastry, and so on.

Karlstadt:

No, no, I do not want to know what he eats, but what he is… .

Valentin:

Well, a stranger is not always a stranger.

Karlstadt:

How so?

Valentin:

A stranger is strange only in a strange place.

Karlstadt:

That is not incorrect.

This conversation appears like a playful version of a Platonic dialogue between a teacher and a student. In this particular case, the teacher is called Liesl Karlstadt, and the student's name is Karl Valentin. Both were Bavarian comedians and regularly performed in the cabarets and beerhalls of Munich. Between 1910 and 1960, they were setting a certain critical and ironic tone within popular culture in Bavaria. At first glance, this dialogue from 1940 seems to be based on a very simple level of conversation, the kind of conversation one might hear in a Bavarian beerhall even nowadays. But on closer inspection, the conversation turns out to be rather strange indeed because each seemingly simple question, to some extent, leads to a surprising and unexpected answer.