Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Help Needed in Deciphering Latest Ursula Parody

It's almost like Ursula Plassnik has completely winked out of existence (*SOB*) in the English speaking world. In Austria, however, she is apparently still a curiosity which must be addressed:



Now, obviously this is a conflation of our favorite affable giantess and Asterix, and of course I love the idea of Queen Ursula, but...

Well... a little help here?

UPDATE: Pony Pal Felix explains it all in the comments!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the land of dancers and violinists, there lives a singer who never gets tired of singing the song of songs of the EU in all keys and on all available instruments.

(I think.)

Um... wheee? I think I am missing some cultural context here.

Anonymous said...

Well, this comic book adresses the anti-EU campaign of Austria's biggest tabloid newspaper (the "Kronen-Zeitung"). Ursula was one of the most outspoken pro-EU-politicans in the last government, and therefor the prime target of the campaign (which got really nasty sometimes). It was rumored that Urulas resign was at leat partially caused by this kind of media pressure.
In the comic book, Ursula is pictured as the sole defender of the pro-European values, and upright messenger of the EU's advantages. So shetakes the role of Asterix. She stands alone against the EU-critics, who play the Romans in this analogy.
The Ursulix comicbook isn't exactly subtile, but I believe it's more than ok to adress the shamefull media coverage of the EU in Austria.
greetings from the land of dancers and violinists,
Felix

Matthew Hubbard said...

Nice work, Pony Pal Felix!™

Peteykins said...

Very nice work. It all makes sense!

dguzman said...

Um, where exactly is the "land of dancers and violinists?"

Anonymous said...

dguzman - perhaps Vienna? All the ballet, opera, and orchestral music?

Steve said...

Fahrfenugen!

Anonymous said...

Ursula is pictured as Cacofonix, the bard whose lyre-playing is so abysmal that he always ends up being gagged and bound by the villagers before the great feast that usually concludes each issue of Asterix.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characters_in_Asterix#Cacofonix

Anonymous said...

In case you wanted a translation of the text:

In the land of dancers and violinists lives a singer, who never tires of singing the grand song of the EU in all keys and with all available instruments.

Karen Zipdrive said...

...in all keys and with all available instruments available?
Sounds like Carmina Burana to me.