On August 11, the film “The Young Chief Winnetou” aimed at a young audience started in cinemas. To accompany this, the Ravensburger publishing house published the “Winnetou” children’s books “The Book on Film” and “The First Reading Book on Film” on August 1 – but has now removed them from the program again.
On Instagram, users accused the story of being racist. The accusation of cultural appropriation was also raised. This means that people use a culture that is not their own.
This process is particularly criticized when the culture of a minority is affected and commercialized – as did the German writer Karl May, who wrote about the fictional chief of the Mescalero Apaches.
Karl May expert Andreas Brenne criticizes the publisher’s decision in the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. “I don’t think it’s right to take a book like this out of circulation just because of a shitstorm,” said Brenne, who works as a professor for art education and art didactics at the University of Potsdam and works on program issues in the Karl May Society.
Before taking this step, the publisher should have sought advice from experts on Karl May’s work and the genre of children’s and youth books.
In an updated Instagram post originally intended to promote the books, Ravensburger writes: “Thank you for your criticism. Your feedback has clearly shown us that we have hurt the feelings of others with the Winnetou titles.” Previously there had been “a lot of negative feedback”.
According to Brenne, the book is harmless, because it is made clear in a preliminary remark that it is to be understood as a fictional story and not as an appropriate representation of the life of indigenous peoples.
“Here the fear of the publisher’s marketing department that the house could fall into disrepute probably dictated the procedure,” analyzed Brenne.
The scientist warned against generalizing the accusation of false cultural appropriation without thinking. “Even dressing up as an Indian is considered a racist act,” criticized Brenne, who at the same time defended Karl May (1842-1912) himself against the accusation of racism and colonialism.
The accusation against the classic of Wild West literature that he ignored the genocide of the indigenous peoples of North America is wrong. In the Winnetou novels published in 1893, that is precisely what is being described.
