Fremdwörter, Fremdkörper

In 1999, at a politically significant moment in Austria, German filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger was commissioned by the avant-garde art festival steirischer herbst to stage a previously unperformed magical farce by Johann Nestroy, Das Verlobungsfest im Feenreiche (The Engagement Feast in Fairyland; 1833).Collaborating with Japanese author Yoko Tawada, Ottinger's production featured Japanese actors performing in the style of Kabuki theater, while a single German actress recited Nestroy's original text.This intercultural performance created a hybrid space, blending Japanese and European, traditional and modern, and folk and high-brow theatrical expressions.Drawing on archival material, this article reconstructs the conceptualization and execution of the production, focusing on Ottinger's alienation techniques on the one hand, and, on the other hand, on translation strategies employed by Tawada, as outlined in her essay Geistertanz der bersetzung (The Ghostly Dance of Translation).The analysis argues that the hybrid nature of the production invites a provocative interaction between Viennese folk theater and Japanese Kabuki theater, reflecting societal tensions and dynamics.Finally, the article interrogates whether Ottinger's la Japonaise production inadvertently contributes to a new form of exoticization of Japan.