38 FOCIIS on L i leratllr
J~Dr.M elies. nBucher kritisc h gd escn. Zu Martine Monods d el"
Whisk y ocr KOlligiu.~\VcllfJiihll/ :. 43 (1955): 1375·76. "Like a Stone Thrown into Water:" The ){'Flllmericll,2 1. l1Kahlau, I li lde. l1uchbespreclmngcn. Die Wolke. Ocr Bibliolhckar 1 Testimony of Magnus Hirschfeld / 1958.5 1-52. " See D ecker, Bernhard I I. wT hc Wall as Seen T hrougll the Eyes of Border Guards: The HordeI' as a Literary 'Io pos within the Framework of Socialist Defense Readiness Education." 'Ihe Berlin wall. Rcpresctlca,ions David Prickett and Perspectives. Eds. Ernst Schiirer, Manfred Keune and Philip Jenkins. New York: Peter bll g, 1996. 119-125. 120. J'Kuitur li nd Fon sch rill, fOllnded in 1947, was owned by the Introduclory Lecture to "The First Institute for Sexual Science (19 19- Germ an-Soviet Fr iendship Society (G cscllschaft fUr DClilsch-Sowjet isd lC 1933)," an exhibit on loan to the Max Kade German Cullllr:'ll CCl1ler, Frcundschaft) before it became part of Yolk lind Weh . See Jacobs. University of C incin nati , OH USA, from the Magnlls-Hirschfeld 4°Transl:uion m ine. I. Gesellschaft e.Y., Berlin. The exllibit open ed at the row s 011 Literalllr " The 3gn.-clllcnt between Petain and H itler in October 1940. 4L11 Annual German Grad uale Student Conference, O ClOber 15-16, U As an interest ing dctail, C harlcs Spaak, co· writer of the script for 1999. Normalldie·Nib m!ll, was also t he scriptwriter o f fA G rallde "b lsion.
WQt·ks C ited t was in 1895 that Magnus Hirschfeld, a Jewish medical doctor ill I Magdeburg, published the pamphlet Sappho und Sok rales under ;1 Monod, Martine. ISMe/ tel que je I'ai V II, Paris: Les Editeurs Fran\"ais pseudonym. In the preface to a latcr work, Hi rschfeld expb ins to the Reunis, 1968. reader that he " . .. was moved to write [Sappho lind SokralCs] by the ---. i.e Nllage. Paris: Les Edileurs fram;ais Reunis, 1955. suicide of a young officer, Olle of my patients, who shot himself on the
---. i.e Whiskydel a Reillc. Paris: Les Editeurs Fran~aisR Cllllis, 1954. ni ght he m:trried, and left me his co nfession" (Sex xii). j-jirschfeld de· ---. Malacerta. Paris: Les Ed iteurs Fran~aisRcu nis, 1950. scribes Sappho lind Sokraces as " . . . a stone thrown il1to water which, - . Normandie·NjemcfI. Paris: Les J1:1itcu rs Fr.m r;ais Rcu nis, 1960 . fall ing, sets up waves that go on spreading" (Sex xii). Hi rschfeld's in Stendh al [Maric·H enri Beyle]. U! rouge elle noir. Lausanne: l1:1it1011s tention was to move homosexuality from lhe arena of illness to a nattl Renconu e, 1968. ral condition. The wo rk also serves a sociological function as an at tempt by H irschfeld to legiti mize homosexuality to th e bourgeois so ciety at large. In this paper 1 wish to 'lIla IYl.£ one) what Hirschfeld meant to achieve via his writings, two) how he presents his theories, and three) to what extent his arguments were sllccessful. '10 this en d I will examine the writin gs of some of H irschfeld's contemporaries.
Redef ini ng tlte "U r:l11ian "
H irschfeld founded his research largely 0 11 the works of Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, a German lawye r. Like Hirschfeld, Ulrichs Was ho mosexual, and ti le prejudice that he encoulltered led him Lo analyze himself, others like him, and their position ill society. In lhe 1860s,
rY)Clls 011 L il era /III" Volume 7 (2000) 40 {"{Jells 011 Uleratur l cstimony of Magnus Ilirschfeld 41
Ulri chs publ ished his twelve-volume rvrsdmngclI tiber dtls I?iifhsel der 1 [i rsch reid 's creed of per SC;e''1ll1m ad jusliliam-th rolll~llSCi Cli ce 10 jus
tice (Ooslcrliuis VI. 2~G).Th ro ugh his Illstitute, his wrilill~S,;lIld his II/tl1lmnfilllili chcn Liebe. UI richs' tlI COI"Y, in brief, calls for 1h e rccoi;l1 i lion of a "Third Sex", a term which H irschfeld would fllso usc. Ac many public speeches, Ilirschfeid Struve lo m;lke hom()~cxllalsa ppea r "hi gh ly respcctable" to society at ge (Moose 187). cording LO Ulrichs. homosexllals, or "Uran;:ms" (Urni"ge). rcprcsC Ill br an intcrmccii:llc, aud therefore, thi rd gender between the male :md the Ilespeclabilily and Ilomo sexu:lIily female. Ulrichs felt that OIiC'S sexual orientation was inll :l.lC, and there fore nalUr:t1. This would become the basis for Hi rschfeld's theo ry of scxuality. Th rough his works, U lrichs hoped to cm:mcip:llC homo Th e notion of resJ>Cctability was of paramount im porlallce for sex uals and win them the same societal respect enjoyed by hClcrosex u I li rschfcld in order to full y real i7.£ emancipation and acceptance of :1ls. With the o nset of Prussian rule in H annover in 1866 :mel t he sub the ho mosex ual within bourgeois Wilhel mine German society. 1\ sequent illlroduclion of :uni-holllosexlI:11 laws, Ulriclls fled to Bavaria. person's respectability was two-tiered: respectability Ilot onl y in the Ilomoscxuality was lOlernted there umil 1872, wh ell the Pnlssiall stat sense of bein g a good citizcn, but also in the sense of one's sexual y. al .s 110 .a fl ules were extcnded to all parts of Germany. Most Ilot:lbl e of these was mo ralit [ Iirschfeld's pOrimy of homosexuals i by me ns at the in f:lInous Pllmgmph 175, a law that made male-male sex acts crimi terin g according to loday's standards. Yet in all of Ius wo rks, 1.11I'Schfcld nal acts (Kennedy 109). ill ter weaves conceptions of sexu:1lmorality, patriotism and Images of ideal cilizens_ An ideal citizcn in Wilhelmine Germany was of course Such were the legal parameters in Germany about twenty ye~n; bter when Magnus H irschfeld published Snppho lind Sokmtes. It is someone who understood his or her place in society and who did not therefo re no surprise that he published under a pseudonym. Indeed, devi:ne from it . ·1·llcse were- and ill some sense still rcmain - key traits I lirschfeld neve r publicl y ca me Out regarding his homosex ua lity. As of a respectable perso n. I 'irschfeld hoped that if he ~ollldwi .. a re historian George Mosse notes, I lirschfeld's" . . . putative homusexual spectable illl;lge for homosex ual s, he could ensure a f.. ·st step toward ity made Sigmund Freud can him ' flabby and ul1appeliz.ing'" (14 1). their inclusion inu) hetcrosex ual society. Il irsch fcld revived Ul rich's ideas and published them with his friend Max Spohr in 1898. As historian Jamcs Jones states, the maill illlpelUs T h c Respcctabilily of Hcd in's "'O.-illes Gesch lcch t" behind Hirschfeld's research is that which prompted him to publish Snppho lind Sokrales- lo remove the "tragic effects" of the link between A prime example of H irschfeld's literary strategy was his b ook Ber· homosexuality and mental disease (60). In her swdy Magllll5 Hmchfeld: fim D riues Geschlec/Jt, which was published in 190~.A co lleague had A Port.rait ofll Pioneer i" Sem/ogy, hi storian Chari one Wolff calls I Ii rsch lIrged him to produce:1 s.wd y ~h:nwo~ld be understood by the pllblic feld "the Humanitar ian Physician " (33). She writcs that he: at large. What followed IS a IHghly enjoyable account of I~omosexual nerl ill at the turn of the cc ntury. Ilirschfeld lIses a style akll'l to that o f ... dcvoted hilllsc.lf to a revo lutionary work plan which a tour book, accompanying heterosexual bourgeoi s Wilhelm ine soci would combine the study of biology and psychology ety to the must-sees of homosexual Berlin. Hirschfeld ex pl.lins to ~he wit h reference to the many va riations of human love. rcader that the Ur(lllierin is so by nature, and that most lay a hIgh He decided to write about his findings in a forlll which Y.llue 0 11 keeping tllei r nature a secret (Berlin 15). ln do illl) so, a certain would be understood by all. (33) split-personality develops along the lincs of &rltfs':lCns~hby day and Geschiechlsmensch by night. This could then mamfcst Itsel f through Unlike U lrichs, Hi rschfeld was a [rained physician. He is best know n sam c-sex love o r transvcstism. for Ilis work as t he leader of the /USlIlUl fur Sexuniwiuemcha{t in Ber Beriim Driues Geschlechl offe rs many colorful accOllnts o f the ho lin , whicll he headed fro m 1919- 1930. The Institute put illlo p ractice mosexual subculture. Yet it is ho w Hirschfeld intcgr:\tt:s the life stories 42 Fowl on Literatlll" "cstimany of Magllus Ilirschfeld 43 of individuals frollllhis SUOCUitUI-ethat makes Berlins Driues Gescblccht is to ask him/herself if, after readillg thesc cases, persccution of these such a significa nt book. Ilirschfcld's descriptions of the meeting places individuals should be allowed to contiuue. More directly stated, thc alld partie'; of the homosexual subculture engage the reader's :ltlC Il reauer should ask hilll/ herself if S 175 should bc repealed. The ho lion . These na n':llivcs introduce the rC:lcler to Berlin's Third Sex. Illosexuals that I lirSchfeld pon raycd were boad citize ns, kept to tlICII1- p rcSC IllS I lirschfcld the story o f a love-struck eighteen-yea r-old boy selves (IIOt lIecessarily by choice), showed good personal taste, and (Bcrlm 34), takes the reader into the homes of committed S:UlI C-SCX persollal COlltrol. According to the very bOlllgeois norms of the day, ll rebt.io ships (/Jerli,?38-39), and tells of mothers of homosex uals, these were respcctablc men and WOI1lCIl.
die oft in ubcrschwcnglicllcr Weise das Gluck prciscn, Die '/ram'UCsliICl1:Th e "T h ird Sex" and the Law dafi ihr Sohll ei ncn so gro!hnigclI Freund, ihrc -lodllcr cine so ausgc7..cichnclc Frculldin gefunden; dicsc In 1910 I lirschfeld published Die 1ralJs'UCslilen (7ransveslites), a work I' rcundschaft sci ihncl1 viclli cbcr, :tIs wcnll sich illr based o n scientific method which featured case studies, analyses of 501111mil M:idchcn hcrumtricbc. ihrc Toclner sieh von these studies, and a discussion of the phenomenon of the WlIlsvcstilC. Mannern den I lof maehen lieBe. (Ber/in 43-44) Hirschfeld coined the term "tr:msvestilC": "For the sake of brevity we will label this drive as trallsvestism (from "tl"aIlS" - over or Opposile, 'fh cre arc many tal es, most notable of which are the tcarful and "vestis" _ dothing)" ('/Tansvcslllcs 124). lie documents seventecn oncs. Ili rsddc1d invokes empathy from the reader hy drawing a ll the C:lscs which rallge from: Mr. A, the typical "Urani;"lIl"; Mr. B., who forclnoSl helCl'Oscxual fanlily hol iday: Cllristmas. Christillas is :U l e\'CIIl was married; and I-Jelen N., who said of herself: "I cann ot repon any with whidl everyone can idemify. By recounting tragic storit!s of Christ thing of much importance from my childhood, only that I had the mas, I Ii rschfeld depicts the dark side the exclusio n h scxuals of of omo one burning desire that I was rea lly :I boy" (cited in Transvestites 95). caused by S 175. It is precisely at Christmas, at a time for family, for Hirsch feld links the urge to crossc:lrcss to the individual's childhood, belonging, that the homosexual fccls the most alone. "Mehr als :111 noted that there was a sense of shame in each case, and connected ;edem andercn Tage Whit an diescm FeSle der urnisehe Junggeselle these feel ings of shame with one's sexual drive, In the chapler "Trans seil! einsames Los" (Berlm 50). Th e homosexual is fated to stand apart vest ism and Homosexuality," Hirschfeld analyses the case of Friiulein from society, apart fmlll his/ her family. I lirschfcld then narrates t wo T. , whose body is "thoroughly feminine," but whose mind "stands in different C hristillas scenes. The first is that of two well-to-Jo homo glaring cOlllradicti on to her body" ('lr{lIIsveslilCs1 53). As he had writ sexual partners, their friends and their servants. The second portrays a ten in Snppho lind Sokrales, Il irschfcld points oUllhat usexually abnor drunken student brought to the brink of suicide after his fathe.· lc:m ls mal persons who are forced into a lifestyle that stands op posed to lheir of the student's sexual orielltatio n (Berlin 57-61) . These gb.-ingly dif nature often therebY fall in to depressed mental states that at times lead ferent depictions of the homosexual at C hristmas function on differ to suicide" (7ransvesliles 154). In this statement, H irschfeld invokes ent levels. Not only do they underscore the diversity of ci rcumstance empathy from the reader for Fraulei n '1"., yet underscores the belief within the homosexual subculture, btll they also underscore the need that Fraulein T. is irtdeed sexually abnormal. The point of Hirschfeld's for societal compassio n for hOlliosexuals. argument is to defend Fraulein T.'s right to wear men's clothing: to llil "Schfeld cnds Ber/im OrilleS Geschlecht by quoting Jesus: "Wcr deny her this right would lead an otherwise irrepll)3chable individual unter Euch frei von Schuld ist, der werfe den erslen Stei n auf sic" (139). to the brink of suicide Clramvestiles 154). T hi s is ccnainly an ambiva Hcrc, "sic" is no longer the adulteress from Jesus' parable, but homo lent portrayal of the tr,lnsvestitc, yet one that the bourgeois society of sexuals. This is clearly a response to the sex uallransgressio ll of adul the day might accept. As in Berims Orlltes Geschh'Cht,II irschfeld brings tery all too common within heterosexual bourgeois society. ·rlle reader stories of suffering and sllicide to the foreground to emphasize the ·lcstimo llY of Magnus Ili rschfcld 44 [ OCIIS 011 Li t era l l/I" 45
sexual bars ill Berlin doubled from fo rty in 1914 to eighty III 1929. tragic effects th:lt socielal exclusion :111 persecution have 0 11 homo sexuals :lnd t mnsvestites. Somc Germa ns saw this Weimar tolcr.lllce as a sign of dec tion. Followin g B:"lb's arg,lIIllCtll, the Gemeillschrifi der £igenen rcpre hOIllOSCXU:11s:1!ike . In rcspO,l.1SC to 1 !irschfdd's refu sal to testify, 15r:ltld sents a cornplclc rcsponsc to the qucstion of cmancip::ltion. T he ho published dlC poem "Del" UbCrtll l!lLsch," which" ... pr:li scd 1ll:ndi riess, cOlldemned feminiuity, ,HId LOyed \Vith :1mi·Scmltisll1" (Mosse mosexual should not be co nsidered to be "11 impaired indi vidual, but 42). The title and contents of t he pocm reveal the group's b'>Cisllc:ln rathcr a form of "strong, pulsing, flourishing lifc" (66). Thesc words lng.s, proving that not all homosexuals were politically left of center. in vokc a sense of urgcncy, a battlc cry that chargcs homosexuals to be g, life EW:1ldTscheck, a regular contribuLOr lO Ocr Eigrne. nOl on ly wrOle in stron virile, and full of . Bab's writings, intendcd for homosexual 19251il31 Hi rschfeld's Sciclilific 1-lum:1nilarian Commiltee was a dan rcadcrs, purposely lack thc delicacy of Hirschfeld's works, which were ger to the German people, but he also caricatured Hirschfeld as "Or. intended for the heteroscxual bourgcoisie. Fcldhi rsch" in DCTEige1/e :lnd ridiculed Hi rschfeld in Brand's maga . Although his theories are no longcr scientifically valid, Magnus Hirschfeld represents thc beginnings of ti le homoscx ual cmancipation :'-,inc Die 7;mte (7he Fairy) (Ooslcrhlli.~I. 6). Contributors to DCTEigcl1c made up tile Gemeinschaft dc,' Eigel/en, a homosexual elite that ab not o nly in Gcrman y but "Iso throughout the world. I lis writings horred contempOr:lry medical theories. No str:lnger to tbeir attack come "t a time when scxu:llity was widel y discussed within mcdical was Magn us Hirschfeld and his theory of the effeminate Urani:m. The circles ~e.g.Kraff t-Ebing and Freud) as well as in literary circles (e.g. Gemeimchafi did not describe themselves or Olhers as "Ur:llliall" or Wcdckmd, Salome, and Schnitzler) in Germany and Austria. These "homosexual," as these words h,lci a strongly medical an<\ feminine works arc more than scholarly works. They are an appeal to the hel cOllllolatioll. For the Gememscha{t. their relations reflccted the Ger erosexual society for acceptance of the homosexual in sociely. Thc man traditions of Lieblmgl1l11me(chiYrllr ic love), and FTCu"deshebc( love closing lines of lJie TraflStJ(miu!1Ireflcclthis sentiment: "The more wc of friends) (Oosterhuis //30). Edwin Bab, an inlCllcctual of Hirschfeld 's delve in tO the esscnce of person laity, the morc we learn that in this is mOI ni vc:w, wtUte many articles fOI' Der Eigenc. Bab stresses the difference world ... nothing 'e attractive and worthicr of knowin g and bet ween the goals of the Geme i1lSc/)a/t and those of H irsch feld, whose experiencing thall people" (424). From all age th:u questioncd thc cx c1usion of a sexual minority, Il irsch reld's testi mony to the worthiness Committee". . unjustly assigned 'UI':lIIian peu icoars to pro folLnd minds and heroes'" (Oosterhuis /I 31). l lowever, B:lb does recognize of all people still resonates today. I lirschfeld's efforts toward the repeal of S175. As to Ilirschfdd's theory on homosexuality, Bab correctl y points out that: University o!Ci,lonnati According to Dr. llirschfeld, lhe homosexual is 110 Works C itccl longer mentally ill, but is indeed deformed, JUSt I ike B.1b, Edwin. "Same-Sex love, or Lieblingm;,me: A Word On Its Essence t he owner of a hal'Clip .... Dr. Hirschfeld has drawn and Its Significance." Der Eigene. 1899. Trans. Hubert Kennedy. dlC Un/ing ftUm the prison and the madhouse and Ed. 1 larry Oosterhuis. jOlinratof HOII/osexuality 22. 1-2 (1991) : 53- btUught him into the o ffices of the medical doctor Hooks, 1991. Codes of Die Marquise von 0. .. : Modes of Jones, Jarnes. "We oJlhe '(hird Sex": Literary Reresenlalions of Homosexuality ill Wilhelmine Gem/any. German Life and Civilizatio n 7. N ew Signification in Kleist's N ovella and York: Peler Lang, 1990. Kenm.-dy, Il llbcrt C. "T he 'Third Sex' Theory of Karl i Icimich Ul nchs." Rohmer's Film jOllmal o!Homosexualiry 6. 1-2 (1980/81) : 10) · 11. Mosse, George L. Nat iollalism and Sexllality: Respectabi/ityand Abnormal Sexuality ill Modem Etlrope. New York: Howard Fertig, 1985. Ooslcrhuis, Harry. ~HO!TlosexualEmancipat ion in Germany Before 19)): Joanna Kedzierska Stimmel Two Traditions." jOllnla! 0/Homosexuality 22. 1-2 (1991) : 1-21. •__ . [ L O pposing the Doctors; introduction. JOllmal 0/ J-/omosexlltI{ity 22. \-2 (199 1) : 29-33. "\V Thilc most of the scholarl y research 0 11 Heinrich von Kleist's ._, VI. Male Bonding and H omosexua lity in Ge rman Nationalism. jOlin/a/ W Die Marquise von 0. .. seems to agree that the novella presents of Homosexuality 22. 1-2 (1991) : 241-247. "one of the most bizarre and intriguing stories,"1 very few critics at Wolff, Charlotte. MagmlS Hirschfeld: A Portrait of a Pioneer in Sexology. tempt to deci pher the pro nounced "bizarreness" of the text in st ruc wndon: Quartet Books. 1986. tural terms. Most of the research foclIses on thematic, socio-cultural, or psyclloallalyt ical readings of tl lC story and tncs to givc a conclusive meanin g to the dcscribcd cllamctcrs and evcnt~,and, consequcnLly, LO tile text it~elr.U ltimately, I believe that the attempts to attach one meaning to this multi-facetcd !lovell::! prove to be a futile undertaking. By posing insightful questions about lilllits of knowledge and inter Ilretation, the text itself refuses such one-dimensional classifications. ·fh e pluralism of Kleist's text best demonstrates the juxtaposi tion of the cinematic interpretation of the novel la. My intention is not to dctermine whcther Eric Rohmer's Die Marquise ooll 0.. "does jus ti ce" to the literary sourcc. Such a comparison would be very limiting and indeed misleading, since both media, literJ.lure and the cinelll cern if (and in what way.~)the na rrative changes that Rohmer made in his reading of Kleist impact the plurality of the text. 1 Fiinl and Ii terature are Iin ked by a f ul1dament:li structural simi b rilY - lhey are bOlh communication acts in which information is encoded by the a.ddresser (writer or film-maker) and decoded by the addressee (reader or SpeCl~1l0r)of the coded message. Chr istian Metz notes that bOlh "Iiter-Hure and the cinema arc by their nature con· demned to cOllllotation, since dellotation always prccedes their arllS- ruC//s on Lilcm(lIr Volume 7 (2000)