The Enlightening Supernatural: Ghost Stories in Late Eighteenth- Century Germany
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THE ENLIGHTENING SUPERNATURAL: GHOST STORIES IN LATE EIGHTEENTH- CENTURY GERMANY Rory E. Bradley A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Ph.D. in the Carolina-Duke Graduate Program in German Studies Chapel Hill 2016 Approved by: Eric Downing Thomas Pfau Jonathan Hess Jakob Norberg Gabriel Trop © 2016 Rory E. Bradley ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Rory E. Bradley: The Enlightening Supernatural: Ghost Stories in Late Eighteenth-Century Germany (Under the direction of Eric S. Downing) This dissertation explores the place of ghosts in late eighteenth-century German texts, where they appear with surprising frequency despite widespread disbelief in their ontological reality. These ghosts could simply be lingering remnants of superstition in an age where they no longer belong, but my project argues that they play a central role in the Enlightenment and its ideal of progress. The key texts analyzed in this context include three versions of the story of the Weiße Frau, as well as works by Immanuel Kant, Karl Philipp Moritz, Friedrich Schiller, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. In various ways, these texts demonstrate how the presentation of a ghost creates new possibilities in philosophy and aesthetics, as well as opportunities for critique. For some, the ghostly encounter produces an “Enlightening” suspense, disrupting the normal conditions of one’s understanding and creating a demand for resolution that propels one towards the future. Some recognized a dangerous manipulative potential in such suspense, and they used ghost stories to critique Enlightenment thought or imagine alternative aesthetic models. In all of these works, the ghost does not function simply as a relic of the past that needs to be left behind; it features prominently as a means of considering the present and imagining the future. The relationship between the Enlightenment and superstitious beliefs has either been oversimplified as a basic opposition, or complicated by the recognition that the commitment to reason works as a new form of superstition. Prior scholarship has recognized the German ghost story as a primarily nineteenth-century phenomenon. This dissertation uncovers the roots of the iii German ghost story in unlikely texts from the eighteenth century and suggests that the relationship between ghostly apparitions and the Enlightenment was more complementary than oppositional. Ghosts do not only represent the persistence of the past, they also disrupt the normal conditions of the present in a way that enables progress towards new possibilities in aesthetics and thought. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project would not have been possible without the guidance, support and generosity of many friends, family members, faculty mentors and colleagues. I would like to thank Eric Downing, who guided me not only through this dissertation, but through a significant portion of my graduate education. Without his patience and confidence in me, I would not have had the time, courage or persistence to follow this project to all the places it took me, nor would I feel so excited and ready to move towards what lies ahead. I am grateful also to the members of my dissertation committee: to Jonathan Hess, whose his clear and insightful advice on writing and scholarship was some of the best I have ever received; to Thomas Pfau, whose challenging standards have become the yardstick by which I try measure my work; to Gabrial Trop, whose inspiring calls for daring thought help to counterbalance the moments when I reach for the safe interpretation, rather than the best one; and to Jakob Norberg, whose penetrating questions manage to surprise, challenge and encourage me all at once. The spirit of their insightful critiques will serve as helpful guides in the years to come. Other faculty members assisted by offering advice, support and intellectual enrichment during the years in which I discovered, researched and wrote this dissertation. My heartfelt thanks go to Richard Langston, who graciously let me into the orbit of his work with Negt and Kluge and then continued to find ways over the years to engage my interests in theory and intellectual history. My thanks go also to Christophe Fricker, whose course on literary translation enriched and inflected the rest of my intellectual work in ways that continue to surprise me. Ann Marie Rasmussen was a source of regular and gracious support when it was most needed. v Christina Wegel and Corinna Kahnke helped me navigate the challenges of language teaching and take on that task with confidence and independence. William Donahue’s generative spirit afforded me many opportunities that supported and enriched my time as a graduate sudent . A number of colleagues in the Carolina Duke Program also made this project possible. I would like to thank Melanie, Erik and Lindsey for being such a wonderful part of my cohort, and thus putting up with me the longest as we all pursued our various intellectual tracks. Their work inspired and informed my own in many ways. I am grateful also to Tres, whose friendship and intellectual acumen contributed to this project in numerous ways. My thanks go also to Matt for being a willing conversation partner as we studied theory in our spare moments. I would be remiss not to acknowledge the pioneering administrators and faculty members at both Duke University and the University of North Carolina who established the Carolina Duke Graduate Program in German Studies that supported my research and studies. They looked past basketball rivalries and differing shades of blue to truly create a unique academic program. Valerie, Pam, Dorothy and Margy all kept the wheels turning and the lights on; without them, I would not have had the administrative support needed to finish this project. This dissertation also owes its existence to the loving support of family. I would not have reached the endpoint without their belief in me, their unwavering support, and their willingness to listen to me talk about the successes and challenges of this work. Finally, I feel tremendous gratitude for the love, intelligence and patience of my wife, Liz. She offered invaluable feedback, asked brilliant questions and gave amazing advice that shaped and improved every aspect of this dissertation. What’s more, she willingly and even happily rode beside me on the roller coaster of this work from start to finish. I can imagine no better partner for the journey. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . 1 CHAPTER ONE. 37 A Ghost, A Grammatical Error, and A Revolutionary: Three Renditions of the Weiße Frau in the Eighteenth Century CHAPTER TWO . 71 On the Usefulness of Ghosts: Immanuel Kant’s Träume Eines Geistersehers CHAPTER THREE . 109 Sonnenmetaphorik and Abendmetaphorik: The Supernatural Aesthetics of Karl Philipp Moritz’s Fragmente aus dem Tagebuch eines Geistersehers CHAPTER FOUR. 152 The Perils of Suspense: Friedrich Schiller’s Der Geisterseher CHAPTER FIVE . 192 Goethe’s Search for a Cognitively Productive Ghost Story EPILOGUE. 248 What Ghosts Conceal: Intepretations of Hamlet WORKS CITED. 263 vii INTRODUCTION “Je n’y crois pas aux fantômes, mais j’en ai peur.” I do not believe in ghosts, but I am afraid of them. 1 --Madame du Deffand PHILALETH: Also; was verstehen Sie unter einem Gespenst? PHOBERON: (nachdenkend) Ein Gespenst ist—ist—sonderbar genug! Ich sahe eins, und weiβ doch nicht was es ist. --Friedrich Wilhelm Klaeden, Über die Gespensterfurcht2 In 1789, when Christoph Martin Wieland penned an essay addressing the debate over the question “Was ist Aufklärung,”3 he described the Enlightenment as an ongoing process of shining light into every dark corner of the world, illuminating every shadowy place. The darkness to be banished is comprised of the “Masse der Vorurtheile und Wahnbegriffe” 4 that still preoccupy far too many people; the light that will banish it is characterized by the “Scham vor Unwissenheit und Unvernunft, die Begierde nach nützlichen und edelen Kenntnissen, und 1 The earliest textual record of this witticism comes from: Charles G. Harper, Haunted Houses: Tales of the Supernatural With Some Account of Hereditary Causes and Family Legends, 3rd ed. (1907; rpt. London: Cecil Palmer, 1927), p. v. Harper records the exchange slightly differently: “‘Do you believe in ghosts?’ asked a gentleman of Madame du Deffand. ‘No,’ replied the witty lady, ‘but I am afraid of them.’” As others have quoted it, it expresses the same sentiment in various forms. The version used for this epitaph is my translation of Richard Alewyn’s German version of it in: “Die Lust an der Angst,” in: Probleme und Gestalten: Essays (Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1974): 316. 2 Friedrich Wilhelm Klaeden, Über die Gespensterfurcht: Gespräche und Briefe (Halle: 1784): 6. 3 Christoph Martin Wieland, “Ein paar Goldkörner aus – Maculatur oder sechs Antworten auf sechs Fragen,” in: Teutschen Merkur (April 1789): 94-105. 4 Ibid. 104. 1 besonders […] der Respekt vor der menschlichen Natur und ihren Rechten unter allen Ständen.”5 Wieland’s definition intentionally lacks subtlety, because he does not think the Enlightenment is difficult to define. Everybody already knows what it is, he reasons, so long as they have learned to recognize the difference between light and dark. The Enlightenment occurs when the light gets bigger and the dark gets smaller; if one knows which one is which, then answering the question “Was ist Aufklärung?” is a very simple task. Ghosts and ghost stories clearly belong to the darkness of superstition and “Unvernunft,” but the eighteenth century—the century of the Enlightenment—was enormously preoccupied with them. Philosophical texts debated the belief in ghosts, journals and newspapers were full of reports of ghostly sightings, and poems, plays and novels featuring ghosts were some of the century’s most popular. This dissertation considers works by many of the canonical figures of eighteenth-century German letters, including Immanuel Kant, Karl Philipp Moritz, Friedrich Schiller and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.