“Schanno bleibt trei:” Schanno von Dinakant as the last hero of Half-German poetry

Abstract

ABSTRACT Half-German poetry (halbdeutsche Dichtung) was a unique manifestation in Baltic German literature and the Baltic German language. This type of humorous poetry in the Baltic provinces was created by Baltic German authors, who were fluent in proper German and found entertainment in ridiculing the grammatically incorrect use of German language of so-called Half-Germans (Estonians and Latvians who wanted to claim German identity). The most long-living and viable character of Half-German poetry has been Schanno von Dinakant, a fictional Half-German hero, who appeared in several works before World War I. Later, Schanno crystallized as a poet-philosopher in the role of a folkloric alter ego of Baltic Germans with his identity during and after World War II, revealing a humorous-melancholic farewell to the declining Baltic German community, which had lost their natural habitat in the Baltic States.