Erich Kästner - Die Konferenz der Tiere/The Animal Congress

Erich Kästner was a German Author of Children's literature, poetry, satire, screenplays. He was born in Dresden in 1899 and died in 1974. He was a pacifist and wrote for children because of his belief in the regenerative powers of youth. Although his books were burnt by the Nazis and he was severely harassed and threatened by them he stayed in Germany and did not go into Exile.

In 1949, Kästner wrote "Die Konferenz der Tiere," a pacifist satire in which the world's animals unite to successfully force humans to disarm and make peace. The picture book was later made into an animated film by Curt Linda.

The back of the book tells us: "This book is for children. Oskar the elephant has initiated the animal congress. Because he and his friends, the giraffe Leopold and the lion Alois, and all the other animals from all corners of the earth think that adults think too much about wars, strikes, and revolutions, and too little about the children. And with clever tricks and combined forces, they manage it: at the 87th Conference of the People in Cape Town a treaty is signed. What does it say? You will find out in this book".

It is one of the most moving books I have read as a child and it is chilling how current it is more than 70 years after writing it.

If you read the book you will see that even in the newer German editions the book uses racist language to describe children of different descent. While the age of the book can be taken into consideration it might have been shocking to you that even editions that have been printed quite recently have decided to reprint the words in questions. In Germany, this question was discussed a couple of years ago. Some people - in my option rightfully - argued that racist language should be erased from books even if that changes the authenticity of the artwork. Others (the white majority) argued that this would result in unconstitutional censorship. You can tell from this book which side won the argument.

Although it is translated into English the English version is hard to find these days. I recommend this book for everyone with fluency levels of A2 and higher.

If you would like to participate in the Book Club post the answers to the questions (and all other comments) in the comments and hopefully we will have a fruitful discussion.

Questions:

1. Did you like the book and why did you like it or didn't like it?

2. Do you think you recognized something specific "German"?

3. Considering Käsätner wrote this book in 1949, four years after the creation of the United Nations, do you think Kästner writes this book as a cautionary tale of the UN or full of hope?

4. Do you think that Kästner really wrote this book for children or rather in the hope to reach parents reading this story to their children?

5. How did Germany's recent (in 1949 that is) experience of two world wars shape this book?

6. Could this book have been written the same way in another country in 1949?

7. Do you feel that the topic of the book is current and if so why and how?

8. What character could you relate to the most and why?

9. If you watched the movie: do you think the book varies from the movie? How and why?

10. Did it surprise you to read the racist words in the book and how do you think could racist words be eradicated from literature without changing the original artwork too much?