Wiener Schmäh

FALSCH!

There's something about Vienna - its gloomy February days where, sometimes, the clouds roll in for weeks at a time, making the narrow streets denser, darker, more Medieval - that contributes to that certain, characteristic Viennese sense of humor.


Referred to as Wiener Schmäh by the locals, this gallows humor is melancholy, sarcastic, and just often enough, mean. The term comes from the German verb schmähen which means "to abuse, taunt; to vilify someone." The mentality is said to stem from the working-class denizens of the 19th century who had a more or less Dickensian look on life. Well, can you blame them? Dickens knew what he was writing about! He does have an adjective named after him.

Part of this is evident in what Freud liked to call Schadenfreude, that is, feeling good about yourself when someone else is suffering. Austrians like this. They also like correctness. By that, I mean they like being right. It gives them a sense of self-satisfaction. In fact, a typically Austrian habit is having things your way. Just like at Burger King. 


In the mind of an Austrian, there is a right way and a wrong way to do everything. Their way is right, yours is wrong. However, it is justifiable to do things your "wrong" way, as long as you follow the Austrian's "right" way rules: thus enters bureaucracy! I would argue this can be traced back to the Habsburgs. All that empire hoopla.  I can't even remember how many times I've been told, "You're doing it wrong," by an Austrian. From how I pronounce my "ä"s to what type of cake I order at a cafe - yes, I am getting a slice of Linzertorte because that is what I like. You are not going to eat it, so shut up. It's still a free country, even if socialist (joke!) - everything seems to be up for grabs. 

Linzer Torte

 Unfortunately, I seem to have adopted a bit of that cynicism. Maybe it's because I'm getting over a cold. Maybe it's because the weather turned from below zero temperatures (Fahrenheit) for weeks on end to being in the 30's and 40's within a few days - should make me happy, but my sinuses are disagreeing - but I've been feeling a little geschmäht recently. A little victimized. A tad, wee bit under the weather - in the grumpy sense of the phrase. In fact, I've been a regular cynical grouch. I'll just have to wait for something bad to happen to someone else, and then I'll feel better.

What's in a Dream?

I've been having some weird dreams lately. So much so that I (ironically) wanted to try to find some solace in psychoanalysis. Specifically the granddaddy of it all - Freud.

I figure, while I'm in Vienna, who better to turn to? Of course, many of Freud's theories have (rightly) fallen out of favor; but, many of his discoveries on sleep patterns and hypotheses of how dreams come to be are still the mainstay for psychiatrists and dream interpreters.

The interesting thing about Die Traumdeutung is that, with little more than a hunch, Freud's theories on dreaming ended up being proven in clinical trials - for example, dreaming in sequential order; the idea that a person cannot invent new faces, but uses faces that already exist for "dream people" be they familiars or strangers; colors and objects as symbols rather than literal. Though Freud did have a penchant toward interpreting things phallically.

Freud was also the first to point out that mere seconds elapse during a dream. The feeling we often have of a dream (especially a nightmare) going on forever is, simply put, an illusion. It only feels like hours - or days, or weeks - have passed. Most dreams do not last more than one minute, though they can be linked in our subconscious, which is why in your dreams you may be sitting on a bus in one instance and be "magically" transported to the beach in another. Although dreams do have a beginning and an end, the brain does not make the distinction.

Lucid dreams happen when the dreamer realizes, or remembers, that he or she is dreaming. I often have dreams of this type, and, according to this website (also where I got the lovely photo at the beginning), that means I am highly evolved. That's kind of neat!

Although the text of Die Traumdeutung is sort of a snore (pun intended), it is good to remember that Freud was writing for the 19th century science crowd - most anyone picking up his book during his lifetime would have been a fellow doctor. Thus, the language is a bit outdated, cumbersome and - ahem - Austrian. That is, more convoluted than it has to be. Still, I hope to find new insight into my subconscious self, now that I know the theory behind it.

Auf's Klo: "Nichts Menschliches ist mir fremd"

universal sign for toilets

This popular quote by the poet Terence (c.190-158 B.C.), "Nothing human is alien to me" has a new, slightly anal meaning to me, after watching one of the weirdest - and incredibly Austrian - TV shows I've ever encountered. Namely, a documentary on the potty.

The 45 minute show, part of the Panorama series on ORF (the "educational" network...sort of like Austrian PBS) went through a number of topics related to the toilet: the history of the water closet and indoor plumming; the artistic value of public restrooms in Vienna; the lives of Austrian sewage workers; and the biographical account of a woman-janitor who made her living cleaning toilets.

I must admit, it was educational. I learned all about the Nachttopf (chamber pot), the invention Wasserklosett, WC or Klo for short (the indoor plumbing part), and the bidet - originally much more a status symbol than a hygiene apparatus. Also, I had no idea that public toilets could be considered works of art. I suppose Hundertwasser was, after all, Austrian.

Hundertwasser's We Live in Paradise

My favorite quote from the show - an interview with one of the sewage workers:

Interviewer: "Was ist am schwiereigsten in Ihren Beruf?"

                 {What's the toughest part of your job?}

    Sewage worker: "Schaufeln."

{The shoveling.} 

And there you have it - a particularly disgusting revelations was "Italian Week" where the sewage workers (shoveling the human feces out of the underground system) pointed out all of the spaghetti still visible through several breakdown processes - I don't need to go into them specifically. All I can say is 1) GROSS!!! and 2) Austrians totally have anal fixations. Perhaps this is where we get Freud's claims about the human psyche...he was right about one thing: his research demographic!

Jekyll & Hyde: A Broadway Show Comes to Amstetten

Richard Mansfield in the 1887 double roll

Last week, Jekyll and Hyde: the Musical came to the Pölz Halle in Amstetten. I bought my ticket from one of the students and, surprisingly, it was worth it.

Why "surprisingly'? Well, a town of 20,000 people is not likely to attract class acts - fewer people means fewer cultural interests, right? At least that's how it goes in America. And, I can vouch from personal experience (this year) that certain - certain! - shows that make it to Amstetten's theater (yes, just one!) are slap-dash and mediocre. But this production was actually quite professional, although utterly Austrian.

If you haven't already disregarded this post as the blathering of a theater snob (or worse, hack critic!), please, read on.

A German-language rendition of the Broadway musical with fabulous singing and choreography, the overall feel of he performance reminded me of so many creep "classics" I've been exposed to through learning German. The dark side of Austrian humor continues to fascinate me. I maintain that there is a distinct Alpine and central European penchant for death and the devil. Could it perhaps be a holdover from they days of the Holy Roman Empire? Visions that come to mind:

1. The Cabinet of Dr. Calighari (need I say more?)
2. Brecht's Threepenny Opera (I had the wonderful opportunity to also see this staged in Berlin in 2007)
3. Das Parfum (notably the scene at the end where a mob of homeless Parisians literally eats him alive)
4. Cabaret (really, just Joel Gray's version of the MC)

...and the list goes on! Much less the 1931 and 1941 (respectively) sugar striped versions with Frederic March, and/or Spencer Tracy. Lots and lots of sexual innuendo, partial nudity, and skin-tight costuming (which showed off the rest of what wasn't exposed - I felt like I was back in Amsterdam!*) but, hey, I wouldn't expect any less in the land of Freud.

My overall critique of the musical is a positive one. Fabulous singing, dancing, costumes, the works. The actors even got a standing ovation at the end. And I know it's not Vienna (where a standing ovation really counts for something) I'd like to think that Austrians in general are discriminating in their tastes, at least the ones who attend plays, musicals and operas.

Should this grace be extended to my students, who made up a large portion of the audience that night? Well, let's give them the benefit of the doubt if they've come to the theater at all.

NB: *Over the Semesterferien I went to Amsterdam with Jake. A rendition of these events (plus photos!) is to follow...at some point in the future when I have time to upload my pictures :)