Central to this study are Fritz Mauthner's (1849-1923) literary parodies published between 1878 and 1884 under the title »Nach berühmten Mustern« (On Famous Models). Today, Mauthner is known (if at all) for his major language-critical works (though there has been a revival of interest in him over the last few years), but linguistic, stylistic, and content-oriented analysis reveal him even in his early works as a notable critic of the age he lived in, the prevailing cultural climate, and above all linguistic style. It is thus possible to read his early literary work as a precursor of his later epistemologically oriented critique of language and language usage.