Anekdote zur Senkung der Arbeitsmoral

Infobox short story
name = Anekdote zur Senkung der Arbeitsmoral
title_orig =
translator = Leila Vennewitz
author = Heinrich Böll
country = Germany
language = German
series =
genre = satire
published_in =
publication_type =
publisher = Norddeutscher Rundfunk
media_type =
pub_date = 1963
english_pub_date =
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Anekdote zur Senkung der Arbeitsmoral" ("Anecdote on the Decline of the Work Ethic") is a famous short story by Heinrich Böll about an encounter between an enterprising tourist and a small fisherman, in which the tourist suggests how the fisherman can improve his life. [cite book
title = Kaleidoskop: Kultur, Literatur, und Grammatik
first = Jack
last = Moeller
year = 1991
publisher = Houghton Mifflin Co.
location = Boston
isbn = 978-0395572603
oclc = 23220682
page = 167] It was written for a May Day programme on the Norddeutscher Rundfunk in 1963, and is considered one of the best stories written by Heinrich Böll. [cite book
title = Understanding Heinrich Böll
first = Robert C.
last = Conard
origyear = 1991
year = 1992
publisher = University of South Carolina Press
isbn = 978-0872497795
oclc = 24106001
page = 43]

Plot

The story is set in an unnamed harbor on the west coast of Europe. [cite book
title = The Stories of Heinrich Boll
first = Heinrich
last = Böll
others = Leila Vennewitz (translator)
year = 1995
publisher = Northwestern University Press
isbn = 0810112078
pages = 628-630
chapter = Anecdote Concerning the Lowering of Productivity] A smartly-dressed enterprising tourist is taking photographs when he notices a shabbily dressed local fisherman taking a nap in his fishing boat. The tourist is disappointed with the fisherman's apparently lazy attitude towards his work, so he approaches the fisherman and asks him why he is lying around instead of catching fish. The fisherman explains that he went fishing in the morning, and the small catch would be sufficient for the next two days.

The tourist tells him that if he goes out to catch fish multiple times a day, he would be able to buy a motor in less than a year, a second boat in less than two years, and so on. The tourist further explains that one day, the fisherman could even build a small cold storage plant, later a pickling factory, fly around in a helicopter, build a fish restaurant, and export lobster directly to Paris without a middleman.

The nonchalant fisherman asks, "Then what?"

The tourist enthusiastically continues, "Then, without a care in the world, you could sit here in the harbor, doze in the sun, and look at the glorious sea."

"But I'm already doing that", says the fisherman.

The enlightened tourist walks away pensively, with no trace of pity for the fisherman, only a little envy.

Popularity

The story, with its several adaptions, has been circulated widely on the Internet, and has been quoted in many books and scholarly papers. [Christoph Vorwerk. " [http://www.xasa.co.za/Resources/Papers/AnecdoteVer1.4.pdf Anecdote Concerning the Death of Enterprise by Quality Assurance] ".] [cite journal
last = Plass
first = Jan L.
authorlink =
coauthors = Dorothy M. Chunb, Richard E. Mayerb and Detlev Leutnerc
year = 2003
month = March
title = Cognitive load in reading a foreign language text with multimedia aids and the influence of verbal and spatial abilities
journal = Computers in Human Behavior
volume = 19
issue = 2
pages = 221-243
publisher = Elsevier
issn = 0747-5632
doi = 10.1016/S0747-5632(02)00015-8] In one of the most popular versions, the tourist is an American (an MBA from Harvard in some versions), and the fisherman is Mexican. [cite book
title = Ethics in a Cocoon: How (Not) to Live Well Together
first = V. David
last = Schwantes
year = 2007
publisher = AuthorHouse
isbn = 978-1434320049
oclc = 176931764
pages = 52] [cite book
title = 10 Feel Good Factors
first = Indranil
last = Ghosh
year = 2006
publisher = Pustak Mahal
isbn = 8122309534
pages = 13]

The story is also part of syllabi of several universities. [ [http://www.indiana.edu/~edcourse/svmuelle/F205/Syllabus%20Spring%202006.doc Education F205: The Study of Education and the Practice of Teaching] . Indiana University] [ [http://www.unc.edu/courses/2006spring/germ/090/001/syllabus.html German 90b] . University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill] It is often quoted in texts that discuss the relationship between money and happiness, and has been included in textbooks teaching the German language. [Turneaure, Brigitte M. "Der treffende Ausdruck, Texte, Themen, Übungen", 2nd ed., pp. 26-8. W. W. Norton, New York, 1996. ISBN 0-393-96823-5.]

References

Further reading

* cite book
title = The Stories of Heinrich Boll
first = Heinrich
last = Böll
others = Leila Vennewitz (translator)
year = 1995
publisher = Northwestern University Press
isbn = 0810112078
pages = 628-630
chapter = Anecdote Concerning the Lowering of Productivity
* cite book
title = Heinrich Böll--Dissident der Wohlstandsgesellschaft
first = Hans-Christoph Graf von
last = Nayhauss
editor = Bernd Balzer, Norbert Honsza
year = 1995
publisher = Wydawn/Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego
location = Wrocław
isbn = 978-8322912935
oclc = 185775050
pages = 173-200
chapter = Probleme der Literatur-Rezeption am Beispiel von Heinrich Bölls "Anekdote zur Senkung der Arbeitsmoral"
language = German
* cite book
title = Textanalysen. Eine Einführung in die Interpretation moderner Kurzprosa
first = Klaus
last = Zobel
year = 1985
publisher = Ferdinand Schöningh
location = Paderborn
isbn = 978-3506284327
oclc = 13032352
pages = 180-186
chapter = Anekdote zur Senkung der Arbeitsmoral
language = German