Absurdistan

Absurdistan is the state name to real ajar with the suffix - stan name of a fictional country that is full of absurdities. It is said "Welcome to Absurdistan! " If someone wants to express that certain conditions are not traceable. In this social criticism is often the state bureaucracy in the center.

Development and dissemination of the concept

The early uses of the term refer exclusively to concrete incomprehensible ( absurd ) political situations.

The previously earliest mention is found in the Political Studies: Monatshefte the Academy of Political Science, Munich, published by Isar -Verlag. (1971 ): "You need to imagine just what it means when as a conscript could apply his military against the Federal Republic of Germany they are receiving through two years of service in the National People's Army to recognize that we are moving here in Absurdistan order. "

The widespread also in the English language name first appeared in the London Spectator of 26 August, 1989 in an article about the former Czechoslovakia ( Abstract: " Czechoslovakians have taken to calling Their country " Absurdistan " Because everyday life there Has long resembled the Theater of the absurd. "). The term was on September 18, 1989 in The Nation (New York ) in an article entitled Prague Summer of '89: Journey to Absurdistan added. The first mention in the New York Times took place on August 30, 1990 in an article about the Soviet Union ( Moscow Capital of Absurdistan ).

The recurring collocation with the adjective "wild" alludes to the title of a volume of " traveler's tales " of Karl May, namely Income wild Kurdistan.

Other uses

In addition to the direct reference to political circumstances, the term used in other areas.

• Adventures in Absurdistan with Mickey Mouse appeared in Germany in 1993 as a band 189 of the comic series " Walt Disney's Funny Paperback ", where Absurdistan is in this story near Bombay.
• Published in 1994 by Lubomyr Luciuc Welcome to Absurdistan: Ukraine, the Soviet disunion and the West (ISBN 096941255X ).
• Absurdistan the title of a song of Blind Passengers is ( also released as a single and a video, 1995).
• Due to the events in Belgium ( child abuse scandals, contaminated Cola, dioxin in food, political assassinations and corruption), the country was referred to in 1995 by the domestic and foreign press as " Absurdistan ".
• The Austrian film comedy Born in Absurdistan wanted 1999 " debunk everyday racism " the.
• Authorised violence on the album? (1999) the German band Goethes Erben found a title called " Absurdistan ".
• Absurdistan is the title of a rotated in Azerbaijan in summer 2006 film by Veit Helmer.
• A novel Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart released in October 2006.
• Welcome to Absurdistan! Diary of an unemployed by Tanja Stramiello appeared in September 2009 in diary form written the book everyday ( non- fictional ) describes experiences with the German Federal Employment Agency and the normal crazy world. Absurdistan.
• Several satirical websites make use of the name Absurdistan.

Literature with use of the term

• Adventures in Absurdistan, Walt Disney funny Paperback 189 Egmont Ehapa, Echterdingen 1993
• Holger Lieb: Through Wildest Absurdistan, in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, August 2, 2001
• Winfried Rathke: marginal notes from Absurdistan. A strange anthology. Rheingau- echo -Verlag, Geisenheim / Rhein 2002, ISBN 3-9808438-0-7
• Rüdiger army: Through Wildest Absurdistan by Mindien. The expedition report of Swabia from the 20th century. Artur liter, Minden 2004, ISBN 3-9807387-4-4
• Paul M. Stern: From Germany to Absurdistan. Transformation of a nation. Aton, Unna 2005, ISBN 3-9809478-0-7
• Norbert W. Schlinkert: Hiker in Absurdistan: Novalis, Nietzsche, Beckett, Bernhard and all the rest A study on the appearance of the absurd in prose. King & Neumann, Würzburg 2005. 143 pages. ISBN 978-3826031854
• Gary Shteyngart: Absurdistan. A Novel. Random House, New York, 2006, ISBN 0812971671
• Tanja Stramiello: Welcome to Absurdistan! Diary of an unemployed. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2009, ISBN 978-3-8391-2503-8