User:OberMegaTrans/SS2019/Die Känguru-Chroniken/proto
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The Kangaroo Chronicles are a collection of humorous texts by Marc-Uwe Kling. It was originally a podcast named Neues vom Känguru ("News from the Kangaroo") that was broadcasted in the beginning of 2008 by Fritz, a Potsdam-based radio-station. Since 2013, a newly edited version, Neues vom Känguru RELOADED, was released. About a year after the first podcast, the book titled "The Kangaroo Chronicles" was published by the Ullstein Press and the audiobook by the Voland & Quist Press. The second volume, "The Kangaroo Manifest", was published in 2011 and the third and supposedly last volume, "The Kangaroo Epiphany", on March 2014. In May 2018, however, Marc-Uwe announced he would release a fourth sequel, The Kangaroo Apocrypha, which was published by October the same year.
Plot
[edit]The plot of the story starts out with a Kangaroo suddenly standing at Marc-Uwe’s front door wanting to borrow some eggs to make pancakes. The Author is stunned and amazed by this encounter with this talking animal. But the Author quickly reacts as usual and lends the Kangaroo the eggs. Shortly after, the Kangaroo rings his door bell again to ask also for salt, milk, flour and a pan, just to ring his door bell a third time to tell him “I don’t have a stove.”. The Author then offers the Kangaroo to use his kitchen. After a short period of time, without really asking the Author for his approval, the Kangaroo moves into the Author's living room and they start living in their shared apartment.
Due to the fact that the Kangaroo does not have a job or regulated schedule and answers questions concerning his unemployment with a mere ”I’m a Communist! Got something against it ?”, the Author is forced to provide for their livelihood. Their conversations and adventures are self-sufficient stories in itself. But the different chapters, which are told in direct speech, sometimes build on and refer to each other. An example for this is that at on point in the Chronicles the Author pulls a book out of a non-slip sock and in a previous chapter it is mentions that the books are not falling off the crooked book shelf since they are stuck in non slip-socks. These connecting elements, which are references to the punchlines of previous tales, almost like running gags, and which can also only be fully understood with the knowledge of the previous events, reoccur constantly in the Chronicles.
Towards the end of the book, a Penguin moves in right next door. He introduces himself as a deep-frozen foods representative which immediately causes Kling and the Kangaroo to mistrust him.
The chronicles are set in Berlin, so very well-known places in the city, such as the Kreuzberg and the Kottbusser's Gate metro station, are occasionally mentioned.
The individual chapters create a mosaic-like picture of these unusual roommates. The characters end up developing a quasi-marital relationship - even if only during quarrels, jealousy attacks and leisure time activities. Their discussion topics go from language and media criticism to State problems, capitalism and matters of faith or from the contemporary protest culture to Karl Marx, "Bert" Brecht, the Red Army Faction and the Viet Cong. In short, they talk about "everything under the sun".
Characters
[edit]The Protagonist
[edit]The protagonist of the Chronicles is the artist, singer and poet Marc-Uwe Kling. He is an educated, critical and reflective young intellectual (and artist) - a typical representative of Berlin´s cabaret scene. Born and raised in Western Germany, he now lives alone in his flat, until the Kangaroo moves in. Other friends aren’t mentioned and together with the Kangaroo the protagonist starts meeting new people in Berlin. This suggests that he didn´t live that long in Berlin before he met the Kangaroo. Part of his daily life are not only its occasional financial problems but also unexpected opportunities to perform or winning prizes for his art. He goes on tour regularly, alone or with his band, and tells the Kangaroo stories about it when he comes back. He shares his poetry, thoughts, plans and ideas with the Kangaroo who turns out to be a ruthless and honest critic. This leads to occasional arguments and discussions on an equal level. Due to its reckless use of unjust and malicious means, the Kangaroo wins discussions more frequently but it also leads to it shooting itself in the foot from time to time.
The Kangaroo
[edit]According to its own statement, the Kangaroo fought on the side of the Vietcong in the Vietnam War. After the war had ended, it and its mother immigrated as contractors to the GDR (East Germany). As it turns out later though, the Kangaroo had only been a little baby at the time of the Vietnam war and solely waved farewell to the one remaining American helicopter out of his mother’s pouch. Towards Marc-Uwe the Kangaroo states to be a full-time communist, but still registers as unemployed in the course of the story. The Kangaroo is an unsparing critic of capitalism and fights for just world order, the end of hunger and the condemnation of the so-called music television. To pursue its objectives, it founded “the Association for the Jewish-Bolshevistic World Conspiracy”. However, due to the Kangaroo being lazy and insignificant in the context of world affairs, all its efforts and aspirations naturally fail. It’s critical view of capitalism is thereby often thwarted by it living off the narrator. Moreover, the Kangaroo takes advantage of his host by using him as a test subject for its dubious business methods (for example imposing subscriptions for ringtones).
The Kangaroo loves liquor-filled chocolates, schnitzel sandwiches and thin pancakes with mince. It enjoys listening to the band Nirvana and watching movies with Bud Spencer, but preferably without Terrence Hill in the cast. It is well-read and knows how to deliver arguments with stringency and validity, while often being childish, defiant and stubborn at the same time. At every given opportunity, it will steal ashtrays and occasionally act with malicious and devious intent.
In hairy situations, however, the Kangaroo selflessly supports its roommate. Inside its pouch, it carries a vast amount of things. It often takes the Kangaroo some time to find what it is looking for and meanwhile it pulls out books, bolt clippers, newspapers, stolen ashtrays and much more. The red boxing gloves, which are carried inside the pouch as well, are called into action way more often – and those are found easily most of the time.
The Kangaroo is working on its unpublished main work, which, according to itself, includes the two humanistic main driving forces ‘opportunism and repression’ in its title. From time to time the Kangaroo quotes short passages from it.
The Kangaroo as a fictional character – although the author reaffirms its existence in Interviews – works as an ‘Alter Ego’ to the author. It is a being which is not bound to usual norms and, therefore, can say and do what the author is prohibited from doing in real life. Thereby he uses a popular and frequently used stylistic feature in the area of literature. The Kangaroo is able to insult officials or to kick little dogs that bar the way while discussing their flying characteristics as if it was completely natural. It can pee at the leg of Jörn Dwigs, who is the founder of the fictitious right-wing populist party, at a cocktail reception just because it spontaneously decides to take idioms literally. This personal liberty of the Kangaroo is what creates the humour of the ‘Chronicles’.
Moreover, The Kangaroo is able to speak unconventional truths similar to the child in The Emperor’s New Clothes. In doing so, the kangaroo often acts in a childish, cunning and malicious way, but is always willing to reconcile with the author. It prefers to do so, however, with the author having to admit defeat.
The Kangaroo displays character traits that can be interpreted as typically female, as well as typically male. The Kangaroo’s gender, therefore, cannot be clearly defined. While it has a pouch that it uses as a stereotypical, chaotic handbag (only female kangaroos possess a consolidated pouch), it points out in the third installment of the series that the pouch could be merely stapled to its body. In regard to The Kangaroo’s gender, the author claimed in an interview that it was “bi-trans-metro-sexual”.
The Antisocial Network
[edit]The antisocial network is an anti-terror-organization founded by The Kangaroo. Its goal is to go against “the terror […] of the media, the government […] and the economy” ("den Terror […] der Medien und der Regierung […] und der Wirtschaft"). The name stems from the Kangaroo’s view that the systems claiming to be social were in fact antisocial. A truly social organization, therefore, had to call itself antisocial. In accordance with persisting structures in such organizations, every member chooses a completely meaningless title that does not perpetuate any social hierarchy whatsoever. This also applies to the network’s campaigns, so-called anti-terror-attacks, which may be named at will.
The Penguin
[edit]At the end of the first book, the penguin moves into an apartment opposite Marc-Uwe and the kangaroo, where the kangaroo had lived for some time. Shortly afterwards, the kangaroo declares him a "cosmic antagonist". From the second part on, the kangaroo and the penguin try to terrorize each other by making noise, among other disturbances. In the third part, Marc-Uwe and the kangaroo follow the penguin around the world to thwart his "Capitalist World Deterioration Plan". It turns out that there are not only one, but thousands of penguins. Their leader is a great emperor penguin.
Friedrich-Wilhelm and Otto-Von
[edit]Friedrich-Wilhelm and Otto-Von are two brothers of Turkish descent whose parents, according to Friedrich-Wilhelm, "have exaggerated a little their will to integrate". They are part of the "Antisocial Network" founded by the kangaroo and in this network the key figures alongside the kangaroo and the narrator.
Friedrich-Wilhelm appears much more frequently; one learns through him that he is a medical student and that in the period between the second and third part of the book series he found a girlfriend and had a son named Bartholomäus with her. His name often leads to discussions among friends about the royal house of the Hohenzollern.
Otto-Von mainly appears in the second volume. He runs a small shop called "Snacks and the City", which initially sells kebabs and fruit, but then, based on a business idea of Otto-Von, will only sell cheap beer. In the course of the book, it expands and develops into a chain of shops.
Axel Krapotke
[edit]Krapotke is a somewhat silly young German Armed Forces soldier, who first appears in the second part and later on joins the „Antisocial Network‘‘. He is often being left out by the rest of the group and he often leads the Kangaroo to spectacular angry outbursts, like for example when the rules of Mau-Mau are too complicated for him. At the end, he gets fired by the German Armed Forces, because for the fifth time, he rammed a parking tornado combat aircraft with “his’’ tank for the antisocial network. His mother, Peggie Krapotke, shows up only once in the book in a dismissal letter of the German Armed Forces at the end of the Kangaroo revelation. Axel lives with his mother.
Herta
[edit]Herta is the owner of the favourite bar of Kling and the Kangaroo. She is evidently a former citizen of East Berlin, because she neglects western Germans at the positioning of her bar toilets. Additionally, she has a pronounced Berlin dialect. Because a local resident complained about noise pollution, she has to close down her local bar in the second volume. So she opens up an illegal trendy pub at her home, which is mostly visited by members of the antisocial network (like herself, her nickname is Amazonian Queen) and Spanish tourists. Her life motto is: „Es jibt sone und solche, un’ dann jibt’s noch janz andre, aber det sind die Schlimmsten.“, which roughly means: “There are people like this and like that, and then there are completely different ones, but these are the worst.’’
Schmidtchen
[edit]Schmidtchen is a police officer, his goal is to arrest the Kangaroo. Although his suspicions against the Kangaroo are valid he does not manage to arrest the Kangaroo, the reason being the rhetorical superiority of the Kangaroo. That is why every time he enters the Kangaroo’s apartment Schmidtchen forgets about his valid suspicions and instead gets caught up in a confusing discussion with the Kangaroo. Schmidtchen only appears twice in the Chronicles.
The Psychiatrist
[edit]Since the first episode Marc-Uwe regularly sees his psychiatrist and tells him about his adventures with the Kangaroo. The Psychiatrist always interprets the Kangaroo and all related stories told by Marc-Uwe as delusions, until Marc-Uwe takes the Kangaroo with him to an appointment with the Psychiatrist. Thereupon the Psychiatrist has a mental breakdown and decides to undergo psychological treatment himself, which leads to him forgetting about the Kangaroo's existence and him trying to convince Marc-Uwe again that the Kangaroo is non-existing.
Jörg and Jörn Dwigs
[edit]Jörg and Jörn Dwigs are twin brothers. They first appear in the Kangaroo-Manifest. Jörg works as judge giving a ruling on asylum applications, he is famous for his rejection rate being 100%. Jörn works as a bank director and finances the right-wing populist party “Security and Responsibility” (SR) the two brothers founded by themselves. Jörn also wrote books such as “My Cramp” and “I’m Not a Racist, But”. Jörg Dwigs is an allusion to the Austrian right-wing populist Jörg Haider (“Haider now is called Dwigs, nothing else changes!”). Haider has been a long-term president of the Freedom Party of Austria.
Sarah
[edit]Sarah is a young backpacker who the protagonist and the kangaroo meet several times on their trip around the world. Sarah is a very excited person, who suddenly produces large amounts of text at very high speed. Words like "Amazing" and "Awesome" as well as the phrases "It's kind of like..." and "You know..." are especially common in her vocabulary. The reason for this is the pills her psychiatrist has prescribed for her (an allusion to a gag between the protagonist and his own psychiatrist). Sarah seems to grow fond of the protagonist. She wants to invite him to a concert but the protagonist declines as he finds her to be a bit overexcited. As it turns out Sarah is also from Germany, whereupon the dialogues, previously conducted in English, change to German.
Gott
[edit]Gott is a female member of the "anti-social network" founded by the Kangaroo. Her real name is Maria and she has a degree in humanities. The protagonist Marc-Uwe Kling falls in love with her during the plot and is therefore often nervous and stammering in her presence. However, Gott himself doesn't seem to have any special interest in him. Gott lives in a social apartment (subsidized housing) and has a little son with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend owns a mobile phone shop. A running gag are Gott's frequent employment changes, all jobs in precarious working conditions.