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Animal Magnetism, in Both Theory and Practice, Is Rooted In Magnetized Men Constructing Masculinity through Somnambulism in the Works of German Romanticism Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Sara R Luly Graduate Program in Germanic Languages and Literatures The Ohio State University 2011 Dissertation Committee: Barbara Becker-Cantarino, Advisor John Davidson Bernd Fischer Copyright by Sara Rosemary Luly 2011 Abstract A frequently occurring trope in Romantic literature, somnambulism, or sleep walking, was understood as a condition of women. Literary depictions of male somnambulism have generally been interpreted in one of two ways: either as indicative of a feminized male subject or as a universal experience that can be read as a metaphor for political and social issues. I investigate the potential of literary male somnambulist to temporarily de- stabilize contemporary gender polity. I argue that this ultimately constructs minority masculinities against which the hegemonic ideal is formed. Using the critical approach of gender studies, informed by the works of Robert Connell and Pierre Bourdieu, I examine literary works by Heinrich von Kleist, Caroline de la Motte Fouqué, E.T.A. Hoffmann and Karl Leberecht Immermann within the context of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century medical theories and eighteenth century conceptions of gender. I show that in these texts the motif of male somnambulism is used to examine factors that shape male/male interaction including homosocial bonding, homoeroticism and military culture. Through a study of male somnambulism my dissertation contributes to current discussions of eighteenth-and nineteenth-century cultural and gender studies. ii Dedication For my parents, Jeanne and Matt, my family and Benjamin. iii Acknowledgments I would like to thank my adviser, Barbara Becker-Cantarino, for her professional and emotional support as I wrote my dissertation. I would like to thank my committee members, John Davidson and Bernd Fischer for their work as readers and their helpful comments and criticisms throughout the process. I would also like to thank the Marbach Deutsche Literaturarchiv, who provided me with a small grant to research magnetism in the Cotta Archiv. The friendly and knowledgeable staff, as well as the extensive library holdings, made my time there not only productive, but also enjoyable. My project could not have been completed without the help of several colleagues, including Erin, Addie, Shannon, Kevin and Chris, who provided me their expertise as editors and readers. Finally, I would like to thank the members of the Younkin Success Center ABD group, under the direction of Shonali Raney, Dianne Wong, and Siri Hoogen. The members of this group supported me through the intellectual struggles, insecurities, setbacks and successes that are inherent in a PhD program. I am grateful for their help and wish them success in their own academic and professional pursuits. iv Vita May 2002......................................................B.A. German, SUNY Oswego August 2004..................................................M.A. German, Michigan State University 2004 to present..............................................Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University Fields of Study Major Field: Germanic Languages and Literatures v Table of Contents Abstract..............................................................................................................................ii Dedication..........................................................................................................................iii Acknowledgments..............................................................................................................iv Vita ….................................................................................................................................v List of Illustrations….........................................................................................................vii Introduction …....................................................................................................................1 Chapter One: Somnambulism and Animal Magnetism: Medical Historical Context..............................37 Chapter Two: Military Discipline and Masculine Communication: Heinrich von Kleist‟s Prinz Friedrich von Homburg.....................................................................................................74 Chapter Three: Homoerotic Somnambulism in ETA Hoffmann‟s Der Magnetiseur …..........................123 Chapter Four: “Verwirrungen anzetteln mögen die Weiber, lösen können sie nur Männer“ Somnambulism and its Threat to Male Order in Caroline de la Motte Fouqué's Magie der Natur................................................................................................................................165 Chapter Five: Immermann: Deception, Love and Magnetism...............................................................218 Chapter Six: Conclusion.......................................................................................................................249 Bibliography....................................................................................................................256 vi List of Illustrations Mesmerism: The Operator Inducing a Hypnotic Trance …............................................144 vii Introduction „Der magnetische Somnambulismus sey eine höchst seltene Erscheinung...die angeblichen magnetischen Einschläferungsmittel (…) wirken nur auf wenige Personen, namentlich, was das Verdächtige sey, meist nur auf Kinder und Frauenzimmer, ja mit Sicherheit nur auf kränkliche, reizbare, ohnedieß schon in abnormem Zustand befindliche Personen jenes Alters und Geschlechtes, fast nie auf erwachsene Männer, außer wenn sie durch Krankheit geschwächt und angegriffen sezen, nie oder wenigstens kaum merkliche auf gesunde kräftige Männer (Munke).1 In Der Somnambulismus (1839), Friedrich Fischer attempts to summarize and evaluate the over forty-year history of animal magnetism. Beginning with the works of the physician Anton Mesmer, animal magnetism was a theory of healing that attributed illness to the incorrect flow of invisible fluids. From this initial theory developed a variety of diverse medical and spiritual movements that sought to examine the capacity of one individual to influence the psychological and physiological state of another through the power of thought, imagination, and life force. Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century theorists such as Fischer, Schubert, Gemlin, Kerner and others broadly defined somnambulism as a trance-like state that a select number of animal magnetic patients were able to achieve. Once in this state, a somnambulist exhibited a wide variety of remarkable abilities including diagnosing 1 Quoted in Fischer's Der Somnambulismus (1839, 69). 1 illness and clairvoyance. Somnambulism became a point of interest for many practitioners of animal magnetism. Doctors and intellectuals published a wealth of information on somnambulism during the early nineteenth century. Different theories emerged, each with its own understanding of the relationship between body and soul during somnambulism, as well as the role that imagination and the supernatural played in this state.2 A recurring discussion in these publications centered around defining those characteristics which caused someone to be an ideal candidate for somnambulism. It is striking that, despite the diversity of magnetic theories, practices, and objectives, the characteristics of an ideal somnambulist remain fairly consistent. The opening quotation is taken from a section of the second volume of Fischer's Der Somnambulism entitled “Die Somnambulistischen Dispositionen”. Descriptions such as Fischer's are echoed in almost all treatises of animal magnetism and somnambular behavior. Repeatedly somnambulists are identified as women, children, and those individuals prone to physical and psychological weakness. Women were believed to make the ideal somnambulists, and indeed the historical record indicates that the majority of somnambulists were women. It was believed that those characteristics responsible for femininity: namely, impressionability, sensitivity, and an excess of passion, were the same characteristics that made an individual prone to somnambulism. Fischer's definition identifies somnambulists first as women, and with men only in so far as they exhibit those characteristics associated with women. Somnambulism was femininity in its most extreme expression. 2 These schools of thought will be identified and described in more detail in Chapter One. 2 Fischer's definition of somnambulism is also revealing with regard to the lengths to which it goes to exclude representatives of normative masculinity from the pool of potential somnambulists. Accordingly, all women and children are potential candidates for somnambulism without additional justification. In order for Fischer to conceive of a male somnambulist, even theoretically, a variety of qualifiers have to be added. “Erwachsene Männer” are summarily excluded with the qualifier “nie”. Moments in which men are susceptible to somnambulism have to be further qualified as anomalies, such as when men are weakened by illness. So crucial is this distinction, that it bears repeating in the final clause, in which Fischer reiterates that the magnetism of healthy and strong men, in other
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