as opposed to the Henri de Catt Version, here Fritz doesn't use the indirect plural "they" or the anonymous "one".
Oh, Fritz definitely, even in the diary, refers to "my father" when talking about the worst parts of his upbringing to Catt. It's just that he also does the French passive via the impersonal on (which gets translated into English "they" for fluidity) for things that are *clearly* his father. And our thinking was that Catt might not do that, so comments on the upbringing that aren't in the diary but use on might be from Fritz rather than Catt.
So it doesn't surprise me that he uses "my father" when talking to Mitchell. He clearly does both. What interests me is that on this occasion, he balances out the criticism of FW with excuses and praise and criticism of his younger self. I would be curious if he does the "one" when he's solely being critical and the "my father" when he's going, "But it wasn't *that* bad! Could have been much worse!"
On this particular occasion, Mitchell was in a bind as well: should he agree or disagree the Hannover Cousins were more dysfunctional than the Hohenzollern?
"MEANWHILE, the latest news from the Silesian front..."
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Re: Saxon envoys
Date: 2020-02-16 09:12 am (UTC)Oh, Fritz definitely, even in the diary, refers to "my father" when talking about the worst parts of his upbringing to Catt. It's just that he also does the French passive via the impersonal on (which gets translated into English "they" for fluidity) for things that are *clearly* his father. And our thinking was that Catt might not do that, so comments on the upbringing that aren't in the diary but use on might be from Fritz rather than Catt.
So it doesn't surprise me that he uses "my father" when talking to Mitchell. He clearly does both. What interests me is that on this occasion, he balances out the criticism of FW with excuses and praise and criticism of his younger self. I would be curious if he does the "one" when he's solely being critical and the "my father" when he's going, "But it wasn't *that* bad! Could have been much worse!"
On this particular occasion, Mitchell was in a bind as well: should he agree or disagree the Hannover Cousins were more dysfunctional than the Hohenzollern?
"MEANWHILE, the latest news from the Silesian front..."