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Article: "I AM PRINCE JUSSUF": ELSE LASKER-SCHULER'S AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL PERFORMANCE.
- Article from:
- Biography
- Article date:
- January 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 University of Hawaii Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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1. LIFE, OR THEATRE? "PRINCE JUSSUF" AND ELSE LASKER-SCHULER
Suddenly the lights went out, and Else Lasker-Schuler stepped out onto the stage. She wore a robe made of blue silk. Loose-fitting trousers, silver shoes, a kind of baggy jacket, her hair was like silk, pitch black. ... Jussuf was all woman, so beautiful, sensual. ... But her words were hard, crystal clear. They glowed like metal. (Herzfelde 1307)
In this passage, Wieland Herzfelde evocatively remembers a public poetry reading Else Lasker-Schuler held in 1914. She is dressed up as the character that is the protagonist of many of her works: Prince Jussuf of Thebes, who is sometimes masculine, ...