BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM AND CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE
BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE
Recently The New Yorker published an unsubstantiated proclamation from Dr. Sanjay Gulati of Waltham, Massachusetts that Henry David Thoreau had been sexist (Dr. Gulati neglected to mention what his proof text is). This causes me to recollect that it had been a favorite assertion of Professor Emeritus Wendell Glick, that Thoreau was an unreconstructed male chauvinist: “Every man has a wife like that” had been Professor Glick’s proof text. Well! How is it that Henry, this “sexist,” this so-called “unreconstructed male chauvinist,” had in his personal library one of the earliest classics of feminist literature, CORRESPONDENCE OF FRÄULEIN GÜNDERODE WITH BETTINA VON ARNIM? What a strange item for a sexist to find of value! HDT WHAT? INDEX
CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM
1780
February 11, Friday: Caroline von Günderode was born in Karlsruhe, Germany.
A British expedition landed on Seabrook Island near Charleston, South Carolina, as part of laying siege to that port community.
NEVER READ AHEAD! TO APPRECIATE FEBRUARY 11TH, 1780 AT ALL ONE MUST APPRECIATE IT AS A TODAY (THE FOLLOWING DAY, TOMORROW, IS BUT A PORTION OF THE UNREALIZED FUTURE AND IFFY AT BEST).
Caroline von Günderode “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX
BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE
1785
April 4, Monday: Elisabeth “Bettine” Catharina Ludovica Magdalena Brentano was born in Frankfurt, Germany (in her mature instar she would be known as the Countess of Arnim, Bettina Brentano von Arnim).
“HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE” BEING A VIEW FROM A PARTICULAR POINT IN TIME (JUST AS THE PERSPECTIVE IN A PAINTING IS A VIEW FROM A PARTICULAR POINT IN SPACE), TO “LOOK AT THE COURSE OF HISTORY MORE GENERALLY” WOULD BE TO SACRIFICE PERSPECTIVE ALTOGETHER. THIS IS FANTASY-LAND, YOU’RE FOOLING YOURSELF. THERE CANNOT BE ANY SUCH THINGIE, AS SUCH A PERSPECTIVE.
Bettina Brentano von Arnim “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX
CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM
1797
Caroline von Günderode took lodgings at a residence in Frankfurt that specialized in respectable noblewomen who had fallen into reduced circumstances. HDT WHAT? INDEX
BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE
1804
August: Caroline von Günderode had fallen passionately in love with a law student, Friedrich Karl von Savigny, who, it seems, had the usual preference for non-brainy women. He decided to marry Kunigunde, Caroline’s sister. At this juncture she met Friedrich Creuzer, a man married to an older woman. When his wife eventually agreed to a divorce Creuzer proceeded to get cold feet, and demanded of Caroline that she entirely discontinue her involvement in the works of Schelling.
YOUR GARDEN-VARIETY ACADEMIC HISTORIAN INVITES YOU TO CLIMB ABOARD A HOVERING TIME MACHINE TO SKIM IN METATIME BACK ACROSS THE GEOLOGY OF OUR PAST TIMESLICES, WHILE OFFERING UP A GARDEN VARIETY OF COGENT ASSESSMENTS OF OUR PROGRESSION. WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP! YOU SHOULD REFUSE THIS HELICOPTERISH OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORICAL PAST, FOR IN THE REAL WORLD THINGS HAPPEN ONLY AS THEY HAPPEN. WHAT THIS SORT WRITES AMOUNTS, LIKE MERE “SCIENCE FICTION,” MERELY TO “HISTORY FICTION”: IT’SNOT WORTH YOUR ATTENTION.
Caroline von Günderode “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX
CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM
1806
At the age of about 21, Elisabeth Catharina Ludovica Magdalena Brentano began to help collect the folk songs that would appear in DES KNABEN WUNDERHORN, a collaborative work of her poet brother and her future husband, Ludwig Achim von Arnim. She began an intimate correspondence with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who was 58. BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM
THE TASK OF THE HISTORIAN IS TO CREATE HINDSIGHT WHILE INTERCEPTING ANY ILLUSION OF FORESIGHT. NOTHING A HUMAN CAN SEE CAN EVER BE SEEN AS IF THROUGH THE EYE OF GOD.
July 26, Saturday: Caroline von Günderode had of course resisted the idea that in order to be married to Friedrich Creuzer, she would need to pledge to discontinue her reading in the works of Schelling. At Winkel im Rheingau, Germany, therefore, she received his “Dear John” letter. She strolled to the banks of the Rhine and did herself in with a dagger.
Bettina Brentano von Arnim “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX
BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE
1808
Elisabeth Catharina Ludovica Magdalena Brentano began to study voice, composition, and piano in München under Peter von Winter and Sebastian Bopp. She would publish her 1st song under the pseudonym Beans Beor. She would sing briefly in the Berliner Singakademie. BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM
“NARRATIVE HISTORY” AMOUNTS TO FABULATION, THE REAL STUFF BEING MERE CHRONOLOGY
Bettina Brentano von Arnim “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX
CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM
1811
March 11, Monday: Captain Paul Cuffe’s 69-ton Traveller arrived at Freeport, Sierra Leone. He would trade his goods, visit the British governor, meet native leaders, and make himself familiar with the situation in that British colony.
He would establish there a “Friendly Society” of traders who dealt only in trade goods, and not at all in human beings.
Near Nottingham, England, a group of workers began a wild protest against the new textile machinery (knitting frames) that was impacting their jobs. They would be termed Luddites or “Ludds” (reputedly after a Ned Ludd). By the following year Luddites would be active in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire, and Leicestershire. Although the Luddites avoided violent acts against persons, government crackdowns would include mass shootings, hangings, and deportations. It would require 14,000 British soldiers to quell the rebellion. The movement would effectively die in 1813 except for a brief resurgence at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1816.
The Spanish defenders of Badajoz surrendered the city to the French.
Elisabeth Catharina Ludovica Magdalena Brentano got married with Ludwig Achim von Arnim. The couple would produce 7 children. BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM
Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 2nd day 11 of 3 Mo // My H has been engaged in assisting brother David in removing from his house (which he has sold) to one owned by John Williams in Thames Street - I have been occupied as usual— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS
HISTORY’S NOT MADE OF WOULD. WHEN SOMEONE REVEALS THAT A PAIR OF NEWLYWEDS WAS TO PRODUCE 7 CHILDREN, S/HE DISCLOSES THAT WHAT IS BEING CRAFTED IS NOT REALITY BUT PREDESTINARIANISM (THE RULE OF REALITY IS THAT ANY NUMBER OF UNCONCEIVED CHILDREN AREN’T KNOWN ABOUT YET).
Bettina Brentano von Arnim “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX
BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE
1831
January 21, Friday: Giacomo Meyerbeer was appointed a member of the Commission d’Enseignement du Conservatoire de Paris.
Ludwig Achim von Arnim died of a stroke in Niederer Fläming, Germany. The widowed Bettina Brentano von Arnim would need to decide whether to continue in her active public life.
NOBODY COULD GUESS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT
Bettina Brentano von Arnim “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX
CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM
1835
Bettina Brentano von Arnim’s BRIEFWECHSEL MIT EINEM KINDE (CORRESPONDENCE WITH A CHILD).
“MAGISTERIAL HISTORY” IS FANTASIZING: HISTORY IS CHRONOLOGY
Bettina Brentano von Arnim “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX
BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE
1840
Bettina Brentano von Arnim’s DIE GÜNDERODE. GÜNDERODE
LIFE IS LIVED FORWARD BUT UNDERSTOOD BACKWARD? — NO, THAT’S GIVING TOO MUCH TO THE HISTORIAN’S STORIES. LIFE ISN’T TO BE UNDERSTOOD EITHER FORWARD OR BACKWARD.
Caroline von Günderode “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX
CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM
1842
The initial portion of Margaret Fuller’s translation of CORRESPONDENCE OF FRÄULEIN GÜNDERODE WITH BETTINA VON ARNIM was published in Boston by E.P. Peabody. A copy of this would find its way into Henry Thoreau’s personal library.
GÜNDERODE
Although the planned following 3 volumes of Fuller’s translation of the fictitious correspondence between Bettina Brentano von Arnim and Caroline von Günderode would not materialize, the project would eventually HDT WHAT? INDEX
BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE
be completed by Mrs. M. Wesselhoeft and would appear anonymously in Boston in 1861.
THE FUTURE IS MOST READILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT
Caroline von Günderode “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX
CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM
1843
Bettina Brentano von Arnim’s DIES BUCH GEHÖRT DEM KÖNIG.
THE FUTURE CAN BE EASILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT
Bettina Brentano von Arnim “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX
BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE
1844
Bettina Brentano von Arnim’s CLEMENS BRENTANOS FRÜHLINGSKRANZ.
CHANGE IS ETERNITY, STASIS A FIGMENT
Bettina Brentano von Arnim “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX
CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM
1847
A German settlement in Texas near where Elm Creek flows into the Llano River was named “Bettina” in honor of Bettina Brentano von Arnim (obviously they didn’t expect that the settlement would need to be disbanded in the following year).
WHAT I’M WRITING IS TRUE BUT NEVER MIND YOU CAN ALWAYS LIE TO YOURSELF
Bettina, Texas “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX
BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE
1848
The settlement at Bettina in Texas was dispersed.
DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION? GOOD.
Bettina Brentano von Arnim “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX
CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM
1849
Bettina Brentano von Arnim’s AN DIE AUFGELÖSTE PREUßISCHE NATIONALVERSAMMLUNG. HDT WHAT? INDEX
BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE
1859
January 20, Thursday: Bettina Brentano von Arnim died in Berlin, Germany surrounded by her children.
In the afternoon Henry Thoreau went up the Assabet River.
January 20: A second remarkably pleasant day like the last. P. M.–Up river. I see a large white oak perfectly bare. Among four or five pickerel in a “well” on the river, I see one with distinct transverse bars as I look down on its back, – not quite across the back, but plain as they spring from the side of the back, – while all the others are uniformly dark above. Is not the former Esox fasciatus — There is no marked difference when I look at them on their sides. I see in various places on the ice and snow, this very warm and pleasant afternoon, a kind of mosquito perhaps, a feeble flyer, commonly resting on the ice. The green of the ice and water begins to be visible about half an hour before sunset. Is it produced by the reflected blue of the sky mingling with the yellow or pink of the setting sun? What a singular element is this water! I go shaking the river from side to side at each step, as I see by its motion at the few holes. I learn from J. Farmer that he saw to-day in his woodlot, on removing the bark of a dead white pine, an immense quantity of mosquitoes, moving but little, in a cavity between the bark and the wood made probably by some other insect. These were probably like mine. There were also wasps and what he calls lightning-bugs there.
THE FALLACY OF MOMENTISM: THIS STARRY UNIVERSE DOES NOT CONSIST OF A SEQUENCE OF MOMENTS. THAT IS A FIGMENT, ONE WE HAVE RECOURSE TO IN ORDER TO PRIVILEGE TIME OVER CHANGE, A PRIVILEGING THAT MAKES CHANGE SEEM UNREAL, DERIVATIVE, A MERE APPEARANCE. IN FACT IT IS CHANGE AND ONLY CHANGE WHICH WE EXPERIENCE AS REALITY, TIME BEING BY WAY OF RADICAL CONTRAST UNEXPERIENCED — A MERE INTELLECTUAL CONSTRUCT. THERE EXISTS NO SUCH THING AS A MOMENT. NO INSTANT HAS EVER FOR AN INSTANT EXISTED.
Bettina Brentano von Arnim “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX
CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM
1861
GÜNDERODE, by Mrs. M. Wesselhoeft, in two parts paged continuously (Boston: T.O.H.P. Burnham). Fictitious correspondence interspersed with poems and dialogues of Caroline von Günderode. English translation of this 1840 German book by Bettina Brentano von Arnim had been begun by Margaret Fuller in 1842, but then for some reason that project had gotten suspended.
GÜNDERODE
BETWEEN ANY TWO MOMENTS ARE AN INFINITE NUMBER OF MOMENTS, AND BETWEEN THESE OTHER MOMENTS LIKEWISE AN INFINITE NUMBER, THERE BEING NO ATOMIC MOMENT JUST AS THERE IS NO ATOMIC POINT ALONG A LINE. MOMENTS ARE THEREFORE FIGMENTS. THE PRESENT MOMENT IS A MOMENT AND AS SUCH IS A FIGMENT, A FLIGHT OF THE IMAGINATION TO WHICH NOTHING REAL CORRESPONDS. SINCE PAST MOMENTS HAVE PASSED OUT OF EXISTENCE AND FUTURE MOMENTS HAVE YET TO ARRIVE, WE NOTE THAT THE PRESENT MOMENT IS ALL THAT EVER EXISTS — AND YET THE PRESENT MOMENT BEING A MOMENT IS A FIGMENT TO WHICH NOTHING IN REALITY CORRESPONDS.
Caroline von Günderode “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX
BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE
1990
Milan Kundera, in his novel IMMORTALITY, explored the life and literary relationships of Bettina Brentano von Arnim, particularly her relationship with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
FIGURING OUT WHAT AMOUNTS TO A “HISTORICAL CONTEXT” IS WHAT THE CRAFT OF HISTORICIZING AMOUNTS TO, AND THIS NECESSITATES DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN THE SET OF EVENTS THAT MUST HAVE TAKEN PLACE BEFORE EVENT E COULD BECOME POSSIBLE, AND MOST CAREFULLY DISTINGUISHING THEM FROM ANOTHER SET OF EVENTS THAT COULD NOT POSSIBLY OCCUR UNTIL SUBSEQUENT TO EVENT E.
Bettina Brentano von Arnim “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX
CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM
1991
A portrait of Bettina Brentano von Arnim appeared on the 5-Deutchemark note. HDT WHAT? INDEX
BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE
2002
Evidence came to the fore that Bettina Brentano von Arnim had been the one Ludwig van Beethoven referred to as “Immortal Beloved.”
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In addition to the property of others, such as extensive quotations and reproductions of images, this “read-only” computer file contains a great deal of special work product of Austin Meredith, copyright 2015. Access to these interim materials will eventually be offered for a fee in order to recoup some of the costs of preparation. My hypercontext button invention which, instead of creating a hypertext leap through hyperspace —resulting in navigation problems— allows for an utter alteration of the context within which one is experiencing a specific content already being viewed, is claimed as proprietary to Austin Meredith — and therefore freely available for use by all. Limited permission to copy such files, or any material from such files, must be obtained in advance in writing from the “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project, 833 Berkeley St., Durham NC 27705. Please contact the project at
“It’s all now you see. Yesterday won’t be over until tomorrow and tomorrow began ten thousand years ago.” – Remark by character “Garin Stevens” in William Faulkner’s INTRUDER IN THE DUST
Prepared: November 4, 2015 HDT WHAT? INDEX
CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM
ARRGH AUTOMATED RESEARCH REPORT
GENERATION HOTLINE
This stuff presumably looks to you as if it were generated by a human. Such is not the case. Instead, someone has requested that we pull it out of the hat of a pirate who has grown out of the shoulder of our pet parrot “Laura” (as above). What these chronological lists are: they are research reports compiled by ARRGH algorithms out of a database of modules which we term the Kouroo Contexture (this is data mining). To respond to such a request for information we merely push a button. HDT WHAT? INDEX
BETTINA BRENTANO VON ARNIM CAROLINE VON GÜNDERODE
Commonly, the first output of the algorithm has obvious deficiencies and we need to go back into the modules stored in the contexture and do a minor amount of tweaking, and then we need to punch that button again and recompile the chronology — but there is nothing here that remotely resembles the ordinary “writerly” process you know and love. As the contents of this originating contexture improve, and as the programming improves, and as funding becomes available (to date no funding whatever has been needed in the creation of this facility, the entire operation being run out of pocket change) we expect a diminished need to do such tweaking and recompiling, and we fully expect to achieve a simulation of a generous and untiring robotic research librarian. Onward and upward in this brave new world.
First come first serve. There is no charge. Place requests with