Exotik, Erotik Und Haremkultur: Zur Gender-Problematik Im Deutschen Orientalismus Des 19
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ABSTRACT Title of Document: EXOTIK, EROTIK UND HAREMKULTUR: ZUR GENDER-PROBLEMATIK IM DEUTSCHEN ORIENTALISMUS DES 19. UND FRÜHEN 20. JAHRHUNDERTS Melda Ina Baysal Walsh, Doctor of Philosophy, 2014 Directed By: Professor Dr. Elke P. Frederiksen, Department of Germanic Studies Arabian nights, oriental women, the harem, exoticism, and eroticism: what else comes to mind when thinking of the colorful world of the Orient? In order to challenge these Western stereotypes, which have been abundant since the Middle Ages and reflect only a few of the many prejudices contained in the Western understanding of “Orientalism”1, my study examines cultural representations of oriental, African and occidental women in literary texts by nineteenth- and early twentieth-century German and Austrian writers (Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Ida Hahn-Hahn, Peter Altenberg, Else Lasker-Schüler) as well as in the visual arts. Stereotypical images of oriental women are 1 “Orientalism”, a term used by Edward Said in his book Orientalism (1978) to describe a Western tradition which has been influenced by 18th and 19th Century European imperialism in both academia and the arts, represents a Western view which is full of prejudices towards the East. According to Said, Orientalism is a product of empire and the belief by the Western world of outclassing Eastern cultures in power and knowledge. Said claims that “at no time in German scholarship during the first two-thirds of the nineteenth century could a close partnership have developed between Orientalists and a protracted, sustained national interest in the Orient. […] What German Oriental scholarship did was to refine and elaborate techniques whose application was to texts, myths, ideas, and languages almost literally gathered from the Orient by imperial Britain and France.” (Orientalism, 1979. pp. 17, 19). based on assumptions and claims made by eighteenth-century Western philosophers and travellers (e.g. Kant, Herder, Forster), creating misinterpretations of the Orient which appeared to be the perfect place to act out “male” fantasies. While using cultural studies approaches including oriental, post-colonial, and gender studies, this dissertation establishes a new theoretical framework on Gender and Orientalism, and aims to contribute significantly to a new understanding of the Orientalism debate within the German and European contexts. An in-depth discussion of the “harem” as cultural text and multifaceted metaphor discloses this realm as a space for cross-cultural female encounter where hybrid identity formations of culturally diverse women arise. EXOTIK, EROTIK UND HAREMKULTUR: ZUR GENDER-PROBLEMATIK IM DEUTSCHEN ORIENTALISMUS DES 19. UND FRÜHEN 20. JAHRHUNDERTS By Melda Ina Baysal Walsh Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2014 Advisory Committee: Professor Dr. Elke P. Frederiksen Professor Dr. Julie Koser Professor Dr. Rose-Marie G. Oster Professor Dr. Marsha Rozenblit Professor Dr. Gabriele Strauch © Copyright by Melda Ina Baysal Walsh 2014 ~ Dedication ~ For my son Luke Derin, my sister Demet, my husband Devin, my parents Birgit & Ali, and my advisor Professor Dr. Elke P. Frederiksen ii ~ Acknowledgements ~ If my life was a tapestry, you would be the most important threads! First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my advisor Professor Dr. Elke P. Frederiksen, a woman I look up to for her ambition, wisdom, academic knowledge, remarkable mentorship, patience and encouragement. Thank you for all your support, care, inspiration, and guidance, and for devoting all of your time. I would like to warmly thank Professor Dr. Monika Shafi who encouraged me to join the Ph.D. program. Without you, I would have not taken this path, and I would have not experienced the pride of finishing a doctoral dissertation. My sincere thankfulness and appreciation also goes to the Department of Germanic Studies in the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures as well as the College of Arts and Humanities, and the Graduate School at the University of Maryland for their continuous support and research opportunities provided. I would also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my family: Luke, for his unconditional love, his patience, and his smiles! Demet, for her ongoing encouragement, sisterly love, and moral support! Devin, for his endurance, love, patience, and support in the most stressful times! Birgit, for her parental care, unconditional love, and devotional support! Ali, for his moral support, realistic perception, unconditional love and wisdom! Debra, Jim, Anne, Ian, Ryan, and Ziad for their encouraging words, their love and moral support! Hanna and Daniela, for their friendship, for believing in me, and for reminding me that life is also about non-academic matters! And my friends, fellow students and colleagues Katharina Rudolf, Petra Volkhausen and Regina Ianozi, for their constructive and valuable criticism and support! THANK YOU iii ~ Table of Contents ~ Einleitung ........................................................................................................................... 1 Kapitelübersicht .............................................................................................................. 3 Zur Entwicklung orientalisch-okzidentaler Beziehungen seit dem Mittelalter ............... 8 Edward Saids Orientalismus-Thesen ............................................................................ 11 Der Harem als „neuer“ Forschungsgegenstand - Eine „Metapher“ der westlichen Denktradition ................................................................................................................ 16 Edward Saids Orientalismus in der Forschung ............................................................ 23 Theoretisch-methodologischer Rahmen ........................................................................ 30 New Historicism ............................................................................................................ 33 Postkolonialismus ......................................................................................................... 36 Gender Studies .............................................................................................................. 39 1. Kapitel ...................................................................................................................... 45 Orientalische Paradigmen im 18. Jahrhundert ............................................................ 45 Diskurse des 18. Jahrhunderts – Notwendigkeiten für eine Auseinandersetzung mit der Fremde .......................................................................................................................... 49 Expeditionen in die Fremde - Sehnsucht nach Exotik ................................................. 55 „Race“ als kulturelle Erscheinung zur Abgrenzung von Fremdem und Vertrautem ... 59 Orientalische Mysterien – die „Funktion“ des weiblichen Körpers ........................... 75 2. Kapitel ...................................................................................................................... 80 (De-) Konstruktion weiblicher Orienttopoi: Ida Hahn-Hahn und Else Lasker- Schüler ............................................................................................................................. 80 Zum Haremstopos in der westlichen Kultur ................................................................. 97 Allegorien orientalischer Frauen in Europa .............................................................. 108 Ida Hahn-Hahn im Spiegel der Reiseliteratur ............................................................ 114 Ida Hahn-Hahn: feministische (De-) Konstruktion orientalisch-weiblicher Paradigmen ..................................................................................................................................... 129 (De-) Konstruktion des Haremstopos bei Ida Hahn-Hahn ......................................... 144 Else Lasker-Schülers orientalische Schreibpraxis ...................................................... 149 iv (De-) Konstruktionsmotive des Harems und der orientalischen Frauen: Ein Brief meiner Base Schalôme (1911) .................................................................................... 162 Schlussbetrachtungen ................................................................................................. 173 3. Kapitel .................................................................................................................... 176 Haremssphären: Exotik, Erotik und hybride Identitätsformationen in den Texten von Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Peter Altenberg und Else Lasker-Schüler ............... 176 Zum Verständnis des Hybriditätsbegriffes .................................................................. 184 Räume orientalisch-westlicher und afrikanisch-westlicher Hybridität: Ein theoretischer Einblick zur Einführung der Untersuchungsaspekte ............................ 192 Das Märchen der 672. Nacht im Spiegel zeitgenössischer (Orient-) Diskurse .......... 198 Exotisch-erotische Haremssphären – hybride kulturelle Erscheinungen im Märchen der 672. Nacht ............................................................................................................. 207 Peter Altenberg - Ein „Beobachter“ der Völkerschauen ........................................... 215 Die hybride Darstellung der Ashanti-Frauen