Die Gewehre der Frau Carrar

by Bertolt Brecht

Rare Book

Genres: Plays, Classics, German Literature, Drama, Theatre, Germany, Fiction

55 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1937

About the author

Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director. A seminal theatre practitioner of the twentieth century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the Berliner Ensemble—the post-war theatre company operated by Brecht and his wife and long-time collaborator, the actress Helene Weigel—with its internationally acclaimed productions.

From his late twenties Brecht remained a life-long committed Marxist who, in developing the combined theory and practice of his 'epic theatre', synthesized and extended the experiments of Piscator and Meyerhold to explore the theatre as a forum for political ideas and the creation of a critical aesthetics of dialectical materialism. Brecht's modernist concern with drama-as-a-medium led to his refinement of the 'epic form' of the drama (which constitutes that medium's rendering of 'autonomization' or the 'non-organic work of art'—related in kind to the strategy of divergent chapters in Joyce's novel Ulysses, to Eisenstein's evolution of a constructivist 'montage' in the cinema, and to Picasso's introduction of cubist 'collage' in the visual arts). In contrast to many other avant-garde approaches, however, Brecht had no desire to destroy art as an institution; rather, he hoped to 're-function' the apparatus of theatrical production to a new social use. In this regard he was a vital participant in the aesthetic debates of his era—particularly over the 'high art/popular culture' dichotomy—vying with the likes of Adorno, Lukács, Bloch, and developing a close friendship with Benjamin. Brechtian theatre articulated popular themes and forms with avant-garde formal experimentation to create a modernist realism that stood in sharp contrast both to its psychological and socialist varieties. "Brecht's work is the most important and original in European drama since Ibsen and Strindberg," Raymond Williams argues, while Peter Bürger insists that he is "the most important materialist writer of our time."

As Jameson among others has stressed, "Brecht is also ‘Brecht’"—collective and collaborative working methods were inherent to his approach. This 'Brecht' was a collective subject that "certainly seemed to have a distinctive style (the one we now call 'Brechtian') but was no longer personal in the bourgeois or individualistic sense." During the course of his career, Brecht sustained many long-lasting creative relationships with other writers, composers, scenographers, directors, dramaturgs and actors; the list includes: Elisabeth Hauptmann, Margarete Steffin, Ruth Berlau, Slatan Dudow, Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler, Paul Dessau, Caspar Neher, Teo Otto, Karl von Appen, Ernst Busch, Lotte Lenya, Peter Lorre, Therese Giehse, Angelika Hurwicz, and Helene Weigel herself. This is "theatre as collective experiment [...] as something radically different from theatre as expression or as experience."

There are few areas of modern theatrical culture that have not felt the impact or influence of Brecht's ideas and practices; dramatists and directors in whom one may trace a clear Brechtian legacy include: Dario Fo, Augusto Boal, Joan Littlewood, Peter Brook, Peter Weiss, Heiner Müller, Pina Bausch, Tony Kushner and Caryl Churchill. In addition to the theatre, Brechtian theories and techniques have exerted considerable sway over certain strands of film theory and cinematic practice; Brecht's influence may be detected in the films of Joseph Losey, Jean-Luc Godard, Lindsay Anderson, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Nagisa Oshima, Ritwik Ghatak, Lars von Trier, Jan Bucquoy and Hal Hartley.

During the war years, Brecht became a prominent writer of the Exilliteratur. He expressed his opposition to the National Socialist and Fascist movements in his most famous plays.

Reviews

[Eliasdgian · Rating 4 out of 5]

1937. Ενώ ο εμφύλιος πόλεμος στην Ισπανία μαίνεται, η Τερέζα Καρράρ, μια φτωχή γυναίκα στην Ανδαλουσία, προσπαθεί να εμποδίσει τη στράτευση των δύο νεαρών παιδιών της. Έχει ήδη πενθήσει τον άντρα της στην εξέγερση των μεταλλωρύχων στο Οβιέδο, και τρέμει για τα παιδιά της. Επιλέγει την ουδετερότητα, θεωρώντας πως η αποχή διασφαλίζει το απυρόβλητο, μέχρι που τα πυρά των φασιστών του Φράνκο θα αποδείξουν το αντίθετο. Viva la revolución.

[Raquel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessante, mas não faz jus à mestria de Brecht. Contém observações interessantes acerca das consequências da guerra e da (im)possibilidade de permanecermos neutros em tempo de crise.

[Evripidis Gousiaris · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5/5

Μέσα σε 61 σελίδες αποτυπώνεται και περιγράφεται η μητρική αγάπη με εξαιρετικό και παραστατικό τρόπο που δύσκολα δεν θα συγκινήσει τον αναγνώστη!

[Carlos Santonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a small piece written by Bertolt Brecht in 1937 in the midst of the Spanish Civil War, intending to support the Republican side. I saw it staged in Berlin a few years ago with songs from the international brigades, and it was really interesting… I have found out that Brecht didn’t know much about Spain; the last name of the main character is that of her late husband Carrar, which is absurd: in Spain, 99% of women keep their last names after the wedding. Maybe in a middle class setting she would have referred to herself as “Teresa Jaqueras (not Jaquéras!) de Carrar”… And many of the allegedly Spanish names in the play are either Italian or misspelled.
But still, a nice piece of literature to read or see staged

[Zana · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Nisam ga zato rodila, da za mitraljezom vreba na svoje bližnje. Ako ima nepravde u svijetu, nisam ga učila, da je i on čini."

[Ucrania · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8⭐

[Nele Siehr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bertolt Brecht wegen ihnen sitze ich mit Tränen im Auto. Schönen Dank auch!

[Christoph Farwig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bertolt Brecht wegen ihnen sitze ich mit Tränen im TGV. Schönen Dank auch!

[Chinchilla_clouds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Τι να πω; Για την ικανότητα του Μπρεχτ μέσα σε έναν φαινομενικά απλό διάλογο να ξετυλίγει την πολικότητα της ανθρώπινης φύσης; Ότι χαίρομαι να διαβάζω κείμενα που είναι χρωματισμένα τόσο όσο χωρίς φανφάρες, αλλά καταφέρνουν να σου θέτουν βασικά ερωτήματα που στον εικοστό πρώτο αιώνα ακόμη δεν έχουμε λύσει;

Η κυρά Καρράρ δεν θέλει να χάσει άλλο ένα αγαπημένο της πρόσωπο στον πόλεμο - τον οποίο πόλεμο θεωρεί παράλογο ως κατάσταση και πιστεύει στην εναλλακτική επίλυση των διαφορών. Εκείνοι που θα συναναστραφεί, θεωρούν ότι όταν λόγο έχουν η βία και ο αυταρχισμός, πρέπει να απαντήσεις και εσύ με ένοπλη δραση γιατί δεν έχεις άλλη επιλογή.

Επίκαιρο; Εγώ πάντως την απάντηση στο δίλημμα ακόμη δεν την έχω βρει.

[Ⰰⱃⰿⰰⱀⰴ Ⱆⰾⰴⰵⱃⰻⰽⱁ Ⱅⰵⱄⰾⰰ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kulturno-prosvjetno odjeljenje Zemaljskog odbora Jedinstvenih sindikata radnika i namještenika za Hrvatsku
Zagreb, 1946.
Prevela: Dora Džakula
Drama nema činova, pseudojednočinka.
Jezik prijevoda mi je bio izuzetno zanimljiv, višeslojan i višeznačan. Jezik prijevoda je čisti oblik suvremenog standardnog hrvatskog jezika. U samom predgovoru ovog izdanja iz 1946. navodi se da je ovo djelo prevedeno na hrvatski, ne na hrvatskosrpski ili srpskohrvatski, već na hrvatski. Danas je toliko galame i halabuke o zatiranju hrvatskog jezika u socijalističkoj Jugoslaviji, žagora i kukulelekanja o tome da se hrvatski jezik poništavao, a ovo djelo je konkretni dokaz da je socijalistička Jugoslavija štitila i njegovala hrvatski jezik. Brojna druga izdanja svjedoče svojim stranicama da su knjige koje su se izdavale 1950-ih, 1960-ih, 1970-ih i 1980-ih pisane na hrvatskom čiji je standardni oblik istovjetan ovome današnjem. Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska je bila pravi dvadesetostoljetni iskaz hrvatske težnje za neovisnošći i samostalnošću, a ne hrpa govana NDH. Zagovaratelji NDH neka se vrate iz rupa iz koje su i izmigoljili. Reći ćete da sam i ja sada diskriminirajući. Ja ću vam reći, po tko zna koji put, da ovo nije zemlja za sve nas.
Oblici prijevoda koji svjedoče o hrvatskosti samog teksta su sljedeći: "riječ", "svjetiljku", "pobjegle", "sjedne", "vrijede", "grijeh". Onim "Španjolske" također svjedoči o hrvatstvu ovog prijevoda, ne javlja se "Španija".
U vezi jezika izvornika želio bih istaknuti da me zanima je li komad izvorno pisan na dijalektu? U našem prijevodu javljaju se neki oblici vernakulara: "Pa šta ti je?", "odavle s prozora" i drugi. Je li u pitanju tek poopćeni razgovorni štokavski? Navjerojatnije je i izvornik pisan nekim općenitim, nadregionalnim, njemačkim vernakularom. Zanimljivo bi bilo vidjeti španjolski prijevod ovog djela te jesu li španjolski prevoditelji preveli nekim općenitim nadregionalnim vernakularom (kao što je u slučaju s našim prijevodom) ili su preveli "užim" andaluzijskim dijalektom. Zašto andaluzijskim dijalektom? Jer je dramska radnja smještena u andaluzijskom selu.
Jedini primjer "jugoslavizma"/ "srbizma" jest sljedeći: "deset hiljada svećenika". No, i tu se javlja hrvatski oblik "svećenika" uz jugoslavenski "hiljada". Danas treba napraviti generacijski odmak, u smislu toga što je oblik "hiljada" urbanim Hrvatima stran, dok je ljudima starije dobi on prirodan, tako da je "hiljada", poput "ferija", generacijska riječ.
Kul je leksem "ponjava". I "hljeb" isto zavrijeđuje respekt. Danas ova dva leksema svojim prelaskom u arhaizme pridonose aktualizaciji jezika jer očuđuju tekst.
Sjeban je padež u sljedećoj rečenici: "Njegovi piloti nam bacaju letake". Tipfeler ili vernakular?
Oblici "što" i "šta" se izmjenjuju ravnopravno; "Znam, što je!", "Pa šta ti je?"
Arhaizam "znadeš".
Radnja: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tvG7....
Ideološki podtekst je marksistički. Razvoj lika majke ide od zagovaranja pacifizma (ne želi da joj se sinove bore na ičijoj strani) do zagovaranja obrane Republike. Frankisti joj ubiju sina, koji je želio biti borac na republikanskoj strani, no ubiju ga frankisti iako je samo ribar, nije prešao u republikance jer mu majka nije dala, ona se time radikalizira.
Osobno mi je to nezrelo i smiješno. Gubitkom svih ideala rekao bih da ne bi narod Španjolske puno bolje prošao i da su pobijedili antifašisti. U svakom ratu treba čuvati vlastitu guzicu i vlastitu obitelj, samo budale ginu za ideale. Tako da uz cijelu dramu bijah uz lik majke. A, i ta antifašistička propaganda je zbilja smiješna. Ni fašizam, ni antifašizam. Samo vlastita guzica. Bez ironije ili šale.
Samo Ayn Rand!
Hasta luego!

[Melika Khoshnezhad · Rating 3 out of 5]

من چیزی درباره‌ی جنگ داخلی اسپانیا نمی‌دانستم و به بهانه‌ی این کتاب رفتم کمی در موردش و تأثیری که در قدرت گرفتن هیتلر و موسولینی داشت خواندم و واقعاً حیرت‌زده شدم و البته بیش از پیش ضرورت آشنایی عمیق‌تر با تاریخ قرن بیستم را حس کردم. باید هر چه زودتر در این زمینه آستین بالا بزنم و بیشتر بخوانم. اما «تفنگ‌های خانم کارار» مرا تا حدی یاد نمایشنامه‌ی «مادر» برشت انداخت؛ البته از جهاتی هم با هم فرق داشتند. مثلاً مادر خیلی زود و در همان ابتدای نمایشنامه تغییر کرد، اما خانم کارار تا انتهای نمایشنامه بر سر حرفش و بی‌طرف ماندن و اعتقاد به اینکه با بی‌طرفی کسی کاری به کارت نخواهد داشت ماند. خانم کارار مثل خیلی از ماها فکر می‌کرد اگر نکشد، اگر خشونت نورزد، به تنهایی کافی است تا امنیت خود و خانواده‌اش حفظ شود و با توجه به اینکه همسرش را از دست داده بود موقعیتش بسیار بسیار قابل‌درک بود. من هر چه خودم را جایش می‌گذاشتم، به سختی می‌توانستم تصور کنم که در موقعیت مشابه تصمیم دیگری بگیرم و این رویکرد برشت که بسیار واقع‌گرایانه و قابل‌درک است واقعاً ستودنی است.
در این نمایشنامه به‌ نظرم برشت زیاد از تکنیک‌های فاصله‌گذاری‌ معمولش استفاده نکرده بود و شاید هم به این دلیل و هم به این دلیل که تعداد کاراکترها کم بودند، بیشتر به تئاتر دراماتیک شباهت داشت تا تئاتر اپیک برشتی و خب، تنوع خوبی بود بین این همه آثار اپیکی که تا اینجا ازش خوانده‌ام.

[Valentina Truneanu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitivamente, esta no es de las mejores obras de Brecht. Tiene una posición ideológica muy transparente, que se afianza con el final. A mi juicio, el prólogo y el epílogo (añadidos posteriormente) le quitan el elemento sorpresa a la historia y no aportan mucho para aclarar el marco de la Guerra Civil española.

[✮ · Rating 5 out of 5]

„Wenn Sie zum Beispiel einen Mann, der gerade getötet werden soll und sich verteidigen will, mit dem Wort in den Arm fallen: Du sollst nicht töten!, so daß er wie ein Huhn abgeschlachtet werden kann, dann nehmen Sie vielleicht an diesem Kampf doch teil, ich meine in Ihrer Weise.“

[ernst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Über die Notwendigkeit der revolutionären Gewalt. Kurz und pointiert wird die Tragik der Wirklichkeit gebündelt. Gut im Anschluss an den Alberto Ui zu lesen, der mit dem spanischen Bürgerkrieg endet, in dem dieses kurze Stück spielt.

[Ioannidesz Evjeniosz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Αιώνια Εντυπωσιακός!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[julen arnillas · Rating 4 out of 5]

5⭐️

[onejusthead · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[V. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very Brecht ;) Drei Sterne, da ich ja wusste, auf was ich mich damit einlasse.