#WritersCoffeeClub 7/17. How much can a reader learn about an author through their works?
In my case, I hope it's fairly obvious that I hold progressive views. Heck, I even included travel warnings in my latest book for regions where a lot of people voted for the #AfD !
In the case of the folklorists whose works I translate, they often make their political views rather blatant in their forewords - appropriately enough, since German folklore studies grew out of the National Romanticism movement. My favorite examples are folk tale collections from #Alsace .
Before 1871: "Oh, woe is our beloved Alsace, which is being ravaged by the Perfidious Frenchmen right now!"
After 1871: "Hah! We showed those Frenchies who is boss! The Alsace shall be ours forevermore!"
And then there is that collection of legends about the Untersberg mountain written in 1864 which the author embedded into a meta-story which was blatant pro-Emperor propaganda...