German etymology of "kitsch"

July 12, 2007 10:28 AM

Please help me find the etymology for the German word "kitsch".

Not the American word as we currently know it, but the original German one.

A print reference that can be cited would be best (it's for a thesis). Books in German are fine (I imagine that any books on German etymology would be). It appears to have entered use around 1860, if that's any help.

posted by Durhey to Writing & Language (10 answers total)

1926, from Ger., lit. "gaudy, trash," from dial. kitschen "to smear."
posted by ikahime at 10:29 AM on July 12, 2007

ikahime went here. Their sources are listed here.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 10:36 AM on July 12, 2007

It seems to have entered the German language around 1870 in the Munich artworld, according to the German Wikipedia
posted by sebas at 10:36 AM on July 12, 2007

For book references perhaps one of these books on the 'related' list might help.
posted by sebas at 10:40 AM on July 12, 2007

it should be noted that "Kitsch" -the german word- should begin with a capital K, as all german nouns do.
posted by krautland at 10:47 AM on July 12, 2007

Best answer: Duden gives the following etymology:

Kitsch:
Das erst seit der 2. Hälfte des 19. Jh.s bezeugte dt. Wort für »Schund; Geschmacklosigkeit« gehört wahrscheinlich zu dem nur mdal. Verb kitschen »streichen, schmieren; zusammenscharren; entlangstreichen, rutschen, flitzen«, das wohl lautnachahmender Herkunft ist. Beachte zur Begriffsbildung z. B. schwed. smörja »Kitsch, Schund« zu smörja »schmieren« und skräp »Kitsch, Schund« zu skrapa »scharren«.

Quelle: Duden - Das Herkunftswörterbuch. Etymologie der deutschen Sprache, 3. Auflage. Mannheim, Leipzig, Wien, Zürich: Dudenverlag 2006.
© Bibliographisches Institut & F. A. Brockhaus AG, Mannheim

Brockhaus gives:

Kitsch, um 1870 in Münchener Künstlerkreisen entstandener Begriff (Wortherkunft nicht geklärt), der ursprünglich billig hergestellten Kunstersatz bezeichnete; heute dient der Begriff zur Umschreibung von Produkten aus allen Bereichen der Darstellung (Bild, Text, Musik), die (im Unterschied zum Kunstgewerblichen, zur Unterhaltungsliteratur, -musik) »höhere Werte« vortäuschen und so als etwas »Schönes« erscheinen. Die Grenze zwischen Kitsch und Kunst ist nicht immer deutlich, wobei Kunst u. a. auch durch die Art und Weise der Rezeption verkitscht werden kann.

Sekundärliteratur:
Kitsch. Faszination u. Herausforderung des Banalen u. Trivialen , hg. v. W. Braungart (2002).


Quelle: Der Brockhaus: in 15 Bänden. Permanent aktualisierte Online-Auflage. Leipzig, Mannheim: F.A. Brockhaus 2002-2007.
© Bibliographisches Institut & F. A. Brockhaus AG, Mannheim

I won't bother with a translation since you indicated that German sources were okay.
posted by jedicus at 11:06 AM on July 12, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks for all the great responses! Man this place is full of smart folks. I'll run these by the person who's actually writing the thesis, since I don't speak a lick of German myself.
posted by Durhey at 11:14 AM on July 12, 2007

I've always understood the original origin to be Yiddish, but now the consensus seems to be that its origin is "uncertain".

This history of kitsch may help.
posted by dhartung at 1:40 PM on July 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

For those who don't read German, Duden says it's from the verb kitschen 'spread, scrape together, slide, etc.' which is probably onomatopoeic (and compares a similar transfer of meaning in Swedish); Brockhaus just says the etymology is unknown and talks about the semantic development of the word within German. My etymological dictionary (Lutz Mackensen, Reclams etymologisches Wörterbuch, Stuttgart: Philipp Reclam Jun., 1966) says basically the same thing as Duden:

2. Hälfte 19. Jh. aus München vordringend; vom Zw. kitschen Schlamm zusammenkratzen, wohl SchW.

posted by languagehat at 2:43 PM on July 12, 2007

http://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/kitsch.htm
posted by limon at 4:45 PM on September 16, 2007