Adolf Glaßbrenner als Bewahrer des vorindustriellen Berlin

Variations in Folkloristic Discourse in the Nineteenth-Century Press: Cecilia Böhl de Faber (1796–1877), Joseph Mainzer (1801–1851), Adolf Glassbrenner (1810–1867)

“…With his at once amusing and dignified representations of the Berlin working classes, he not only provided politically engaging entertainment but also aimed to further strengthen their critical powers to challenge the contemporary social system (Heinrich-Jost 1980: 272-273). Despite Glassbrenner's democratic-republican attitude and his vision of the working classes taking part in politics, he failed to fully acknowledge the challenges caused by modern industrialization and capitalism (Briese 2010). Like Jo-Christiane Schwab seph Mainzer and many other folklorists of the time, he held a nostalgic view of an urban economy embodied by artisans and small retailers and largely neglected the social ramifications of mass production processes (Briese 2010).…”

“…Despite Glassbrenner's democratic-republican attitude and his vision of the working classes taking part in politics, he failed to fully acknowledge the challenges caused by modern industrialization and capitalism (Briese 2010). Like Jo-Christiane Schwab seph Mainzer and many other folklorists of the time, he held a nostalgic view of an urban economy embodied by artisans and small retailers and largely neglected the social ramifications of mass production processes (Briese 2010). 19 Correspondingly, Glassbrenner's characters are typically portrayed as free from feudal or bourgeois formality, with modes of communication that have "not yet been stilted or muffled by the conventions and etiquette of a standardized language" (Morris-Keitel 1995: 141).…”

“…19 Correspondingly, Glassbrenner's characters are typically portrayed as free from feudal or bourgeois formality, with modes of communication that have "not yet been stilted or muffled by the conventions and etiquette of a standardized language" (Morris-Keitel 1995: 141). As a sort of homage to the linguistic wittiness of Berlin's lower classes, Glassbrenner frequently reproduced dialectal speech, and he is recognized as one of the first authors to capture the Berlin dialect in written form (Briese 2010). In contrast to conservative-oriented folklorists such as Böhl de Faber, Glassbrenner sees the verbal unpretentiousness and "natural wit" of the urban underprivileged as a prerequisite for accessing their critical faculties to effect social change (Morris-Keitel 1995: 141).…”