Bijoux de la Castafiore Book

While I have read this here instalment of the Tintin series multiple times in both German and French (in the French original, its title is Les Bijoux de la Castafiore and in German it is called Die Juwelen der Sängerin), I am indeed very much thrilled to finally have been able to find a (rare) copy of this book in Alsatian, which is why the book title might seem a bit different and strange to Tintin fans (De Castafiore ihre Schmuck). Furthermore, please do note that in German (and in the low Allemannic dialect of Alsatian, of Elsässisch), Schmuck simply means jewelry; it does NOT have the negative connotations it has in Yiddish. And oh wow, reading Les Bijoux de la Castafiore in Alsatian is proving to be so much linguistic fun for me. I had always been under the impression that Alsatian, while indeed a German dialect (or rather a Low Allemannic dialect), should be considered a French/German Creole type of language, but upon reading De Castafiore ihre Schmuck, I for one do no longer really consider it as a true Creole, but basically a staunchly German based dialect that uses a certain amount of French vocabulary for salutations, terms of respect and such (in other words, the grammar, the sentence structure of Alsatian is German, is Allemannic, as is in fact most of the vocabulary used, with some specific French word choices providing what I would label a decorative trim).

I was also a bit pleasantly flabbergasted at how much of the Alsatian is really, truly easy for me to figure out and understand, until I decided to do some online research and began to understand and realise that Alsatian as a Low Allemannic dialect is both geographically and linguistically close and linked to the dialects spoken in and around Basle, Switzerland and to what in German we call and label as Lake of Constance Allemannic "Bodenseeallemannisch" (which is the dialect my mother's family speaks, and thus it makes perfect sense that I am somewhat familiar with it, having heard it, even if I have not actively used it, on multiple visits to the area both recently and not so recently). And of course, I am also now more keen than ever to locate any other Tintin books that have been translated into Alsatian (I think there might be three more, but I am not sure).

And as to the specific narrative themes and contents of De Castafiore ihre Schmuck, there is considerably more straight out humour and slapstick comedy visible and present than the standard, than the usual cloak and dagger adventures of the majority of Hergé's Tintin series contain, especially with regard to the eponymous clowns and jesters of the series, curmudgeonly Captain Haddock and the accident prone Duponts (all three of them experience à la The Three Stooges a myriad of both physical and psychological, mental calamities, including for the unfortunate Captain Haddock the neither tender nor in any way desired attentions and mercies of opera singer Bianca Castafiore, who basically does descend on his humble manner, his refuge and home like a grating and chaotic but also entertaining tsunami).

Now the above all being said though, and while much of the action presented and featured throughout the illustrated text of De Castafiore ihre Schmuck is most definitely entirely physical and at times even rather violent slap stick like humour, the author (Hergé) has also (and appreciatively) included subtle satire and pointed socio-critical jabs at cultural stereotyping (with regard to the Roma, who have not only been harassed and forced by the authorities to set up camp near the town dump, but who are later after they have been granted refuge at Marlinspike Manor, unjustly accused of having stolen Bianca Castafiore's jewels simply because they are Gypsies), as well as criticisms of the tabloid media and paparazzi (who basically descend on Captain Hadock's manor like a pack of raging lunatic locusts when it becomes common knowledge that famous opera diva Castafiore is indeed visiting).

But I do have to wonder a bit if younger children reading De Castafiore ihre Schmuck (in whatever edition, whether in French, English, German, Alsatian etc.) would necessarily catch all of the included, featured cultural and societal allusions and innuendoes. Case in point, the first time I read this story (at around the age of eleven, and in German translation), I certainly did NOT make the connection that Tintin manages as to what had really happened to the "stolen" jewels (that due to Rossini's opera La Gazza Ladra, The Thieving Magpie, being mentioned in a newspaper article, Tintin realises and then proves that a magpie and not the wrongfully accused Roma had stolen Castafiore's baubles, that the thief was indeed a thieving magpie of tradition and folklore). And with these nuances in mind, and although I do very highly recommend De Castafiore ihre Schmuck as one of the most humorous and entertaining offerings of Hergé's Tintin series, some of the themes, some of the details and especially many of he satirical asides and such might well be beyond younger children.