![]() ![]() ![]() So Kehlmann's Tyll is born around 1600 and plays tricks in the Holy Roman Empire of the 17th century. So why not employ the most famous, archetypical vagrant of all?, Kehlmann thought. ![]() The society back then was very static, there was basically no social mobility, and one of the few groups who could travel and experience different classes where vagrants. As the author explains, the choice of Tyll as the central character is more of a literary device: Kehlmann wanted to portray the society of the Early Modern Period, when people where caught in a time of constant change, turmoil and violence. But while the "original" Tyll was supposedly born around 1300 and travelled the Holy Roman Empire as a vagrant and provocateur, Kehlmann transports his Tyll into the time of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). The most widely translated author writing in German today writes a book circling around the most famous German trickster: Every child around here grows up with the classic tales of Tyll Ulenspiegel (also: Till Eulenspiegel) which go back to Middle Low German folklore. Now Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2020 ![]()
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