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Degeneration, Distortion, and Disability in Interwar German Visual Culture, 1918-1933

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Degeneration, Distortion, and Disability in Interwar German Visual Culture, 1918-1933 Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 6-3-2020 10:30 AM Encountering Others: Degeneration, Distortion, and Disability in Interwar German Visual Culture, 1918-1933 Kathryn Carney, The University of Western Ontario Supervisor: Blankenship, Janelle, The University of Western Ontario : Sprengler, Christine, The University of Western Ontario A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the Master of Arts degree in Theory and Criticism © Kathryn Carney 2020 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Theory and Criticism Commons Recommended Citation Carney, Kathryn, "Encountering Others: Degeneration, Distortion, and Disability in Interwar German Visual Culture, 1918-1933" (2020). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 7035. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/7035 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ii Abstract This thesis project examines the interrelationships of Weimar Körperkultur (“body culture”), interwar photographic practices broadly known as “Neues Sehen,” and Verist “Neue Sachlichkeit” painting to interrogate visual representations of bodily difference in Weimar media and art. Through close analysis of select case studies in Weimar film, photography, and painting, I argue that the lines between aesthetic, sociopolitical, and bodily deviance are blurred by many artists of the period. Such focus on the body as the site of an intermedial, interdisciplinary debate about aesthetic, social, political, and national “values” has historically been overlooked by scholars. I ultimately argue that certain “reactionary” figures (namely Franz Roh, Christian Schad, Otto Dix, and others associated with “mimetic” forms of interwar art) used non-normate embodiments to radically contest Körperkultur norms, the visual language of physiognomy, and the proto-Fascist eugenic legacies from which they emerged. Keywords Body Culture, Degeneration, Disability, Social Hygiene, Eugenics, Visual Culture, Art History, Social Art History, Modernism, Weimar Republic, German Studies, Critical Disability Studies, Critical Theory, Film Studies, Weimar Photography, Neue Sachlichkeit, New Objectivity iii Summary for a Lay Audience This thesis approaches German visual culture produced between World War I and World War II from the perspective of three different critical terms: degeneration, the concept that society as a whole “organism” becomes ill through the social deviance of criminals, disabled persons, and other socially undesirable bodies; distortion, a practice of image-making that does not intend to “realistically” represent its object but rather contort it and make it unrecognizable; and disability, the social construction of bodily difference in relation to a conventional “norm.” These three terms organize the analysis of film, photography, and painting, respectively, throughout the project. Through utilizing case studies of specific works from the period alongside relevant political thought, media theory, and cultural history, I hope to reveal the unique significance of the body (particularly bodies that deviate from the “norm”) in early twentieth-century German art, politics, and science. I subsequently argue that the non-normate body is not only central to these interdisciplinary discourses but that its specific position in interwar German culture has historically been overlooked in the relevant art-historical and theoretical scholarship. I believe that the study of this topic can help us better understand the foundations of “Third Reich” rhetoric and culture (1933-1945) and shed new light on the rich visual culture of the Weimar period (1918-1933). iv Acknowledgements I would like to extend my deepest possible thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Janelle Blankenship, without whom this project would not have happened. It is, above all, indebted to her careful eye, unbridled enthusiasm, unending patience, and generous feedback. Working with Dr. Blankenship on this project has been a truly unparalleled experience for which I am unfathomably grateful. I reflect often on the extreme fortune I have had to such a skilled Germanist and media historian as my primary thesis supervisor. I know that working with Dr. Blankenship has not only taught me so much about being an academic but has also been precisely that which made my time at the Centre for the Study of Theory & Criticism so valuable. Similarly, I have been overwhelmingly fortunate to have worked closely with Dr. Christine Sprengler as both a second reader and a teaching supervisor. I owe Dr. Sprengler and the Western University Art History department (especially Dr. Joy James) for accepting me as one of their own. Along with Dr. Kathleen Chapman, my undergraduate honors thesis supervisor whose influence on this project cannot be understated, Dr. Sprengler and Dr. James have taught me everything I know about teaching art history and visual culture. Thank you all for sharing your time, talents, and expertise with me. I owe an immense debt of gratitude to the cohort I have worked alongside at the Theory Centre over the last two years. I have to single out my favorite interlocutor and beloved friend, Won Lee-Jeon, for sharing her passion, generosity of spirit, and overflowing genius with me during our time together. I am also nothing short of blessed v to call my dear colleagues Deanna Aubert, Camilo Andrés Hoyos, and Alexandra Hudecki lifelong friends. The support, brilliance, and sheer warmth each of these fantastic thinkers has shown me will never be forgotten. They are undeniably responsible for making my time in London something to be cherished. I owe many thanks to the tireless administrative work of Melanie Caldwell and Dr. Allan Pero, who have facilitated the completion of this thesis project from “behind the scenes.” Lastly, I am whoever I am because of my family: I owe much of my success to my parents, who supported my decision to move to Canada and pursue a master’s in Theory & Criticism (whatever that means). Of equal importance is the encouragement and love of my long-term partner, mein Schatz, who willingly put up with several years of long-distance communication, impostor syndrome meltdowns, and ramblings about interwar German art in the name of supporting my dream. Thank you. vi Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. ii Summary for a Lay Audience ......................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. vi List of Figures .................................................................................................................. vii List of Appendices ............................................................................................................ ix Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: Weimar Körperkultur and Its Disqualified Bodies .............................. 17 Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit ........................................................................................ 20 Nerven: “Über blutige Schlachtfeldern trauern Völker” .............................................. 37 Crip Bodies and the War-Wounded under Körperkultur .............................................. 43 Chapter Two: Distortion and Didacticism in Interwar Photographic Portraits ...... 48 Distorted Bodies, Degenerate Bodies? .......................................................................... 53 The Face in Film and Photomontage............................................................................. 57 Helmar Lerski and the “Anonymous” Portrait .............................................................. 69 August Sander and the Typological Impulse ................................................................ 75 Chapter Three: “Reproducing” and Representing Disability in Interwar German Painting: The Case of the “Verists” .............................................................................. 87 Neue Sachlichkeit and the Portrait .............................................................................. 100 Christian Schad ........................................................................................................... 103 Otto Dix: An die Schönheit.......................................................................................... 112 George Grosz: Disability as Political Metaphor ......................................................... 120 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 127 Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 131 Filmography .................................................................................................................. 137 Appendices ....................................................................................................................
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