At once a dystopian fantasy and a critique of sexual norms, Mine-Haha describes a unique boarding institution for girls—part idyllic refuge, part prison—where pupils are trained only in the physical arts of movement, dance, and music, before issuing them into an adult world for which they have (unwittingly) been prepared. The narrator is an old woman recalling her strange childhood and the story is focused through the eyes of her earlier self. Praised by Leon Trotsky in 1908 for its progressive outlook, this symbolist novella is here presented alongside two rare, complementary short-fiction pieces: The Burning of Egliswyl and The Sacrificial Lamb.
About the Author
Frank Wedekind (1864–1918) was a German author and dramatist. He is best known for his play Spring Awakening and for his Lulu plays, the basis for acclaimed Louise Brooks film Pandora's Box.
Praise For…
"This novella, translated into English from German for the first time, reads as controversially now as it did when he wrote it in 1903 . . . fresh, perverse and disconcerting." —Observer