Washington University in St. Louis Washington University Open Scholarship Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations Arts & Sciences Spring 5-15-2019 Impossible Communities in Prague’s German Gothic: Nationalism, Degeneration, and the Monstrous Feminine in Gustav Meyrink’s Der Golem (1915) Amy Michelle Braun Washington University in St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, German Literature Commons, and the History Commons Recommended Citation Braun, Amy Michelle, "Impossible Communities in Prague’s German Gothic: Nationalism, Degeneration, and the Monstrous Feminine in Gustav Meyrink’s Der Golem (1915)" (2019). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1809. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/1809 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Arts & Sciences at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures Program in Comparative Literature Dissertation Examination Committee: Lynne Tatlock, Chair Elizabeth Allen Caroline Kita Erin McGlothlin Gerhild Williams Impossible Communities in Prague’s German Gothic: Nationalism, Degeneration, and the Monstrous Feminine in Gustav Meyrink’s Der Golem (1915) by Amy M. Braun A dissertation presented to The Graduate School of Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2019 St. Louis, Missouri © 2019, Amy M. Braun Table of Contents Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………………..iii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………...vi Introduction: Prague’s Impossible Communities: History, the Gothic, and Der Golem …..1 Impossible Communities ...................................................................................................... 18 Literature Review .................................................................................................................. 33 Publication History of Der Golem ........................................................................................ 38 Structure of Dissertation ....................................................................................................... 42 Chapter One: Reflections on the German Experience: Meyrink’s Biography, Nationalist Reception, and Reflections in Der Golem .................................................................................. 46 The German Experience: Historic Problems of Language, Ethnicity, and Identity ............. 51 The Outsider, Dandy, and Celebrity ..................................................................................... 62 Nationalist Reception of Der Golem ..................................................................................... 66 The “Meyrink-Hetze” ........................................................................................................... 69 Blending Fact and Fiction: Meyrink and Der Golem ........................................................... 76 Nationalism and the “Prague Novel” .................................................................................... 82 Der Golem as a Gothic Iteration of the “Prague Novel” ...................................................... 89 Chapter Two: The Czech Awakening: The Finis Ghetto and the Loss of Communal Memory in Prague’s Minority Communities ......................................................................... 106 The Rise of Czech Nationalism in Prague .......................................................................... 115 Pernath’s Imprisonment and Stereotypical Caricatures of Czechs ..................................... 119 Pernath’s Reaction to the Finis Ghetto ............................................................................... 124 The Traumatic Effects of the Finis Ghetto ......................................................................... 132 The Loss of Ghetto Memory by Muting Traumatized Survivors ....................................... 135 Meyrink’s Ghetto as a Microcosm for Turn-of-the-Century Prague .................................. 141 Pernath’s Transcendence through Death ............................................................................ 147 The Czech Awakening and An Idyllic Prague .................................................................... 156 The Castle as a Site of German (Habsburg) Authority in Prague ....................................... 165 Chapter Three: Forbidden Love in Prague’s German Gothic: Decadence, Degeneration, and the Monstrous Feminine ................................................................................................... 169 Degeneration: Morel, Lombroso, Weininger, and Nordau ................................................. 178 The “Jewish Question” and Antisemitism in Prague .......................................................... 184 The Dangers of “Sex-Crazed” Jewish Women ................................................................... 188 The Degenerate, Monstrous Feminine in Der Golem: Rosina and Angelina ..................... 192 Rosina: The Degenerate Jewish Prostitute .......................................................................... 197 Angelina: The Decadent Femme Fatale ............................................................................. 205 Two Monstrous Women: Rosina and Angelina .................................................................. 219 The Path to Degeneracy: Class, Ethnicity, and the Ghetto ................................................. 225 The Absence of the Ideal Feminine .................................................................................... 231 Coda: The Metaphorical Leveling of Identities ..................................................................... 236 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 243 Primary Literature ............................................................................................................... 243 Secondary Literature ........................................................................................................... 244 ii Acknowledgments A number of dedicated individuals helped me bring this project to fruition. I would like to thank the faculty and staff in the Germanic Languages and Literatures Department and Comparative Literature Program at Washington University in St. Louis. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Paul Michael Lützeler for helping me embark on the early stages of doctoral research and for supporting me through personal hurdles during the writing process. Thank you to Dr. Matt Erlin, the Chair of the Germanic Languages and Literatures Department, for helping me put out the many small fires that often arise throughout one’s graduate studies—particularly those that arose during this project. A special thanks also goes to Dr. Gerhild Williams for introducing me to the broad field of monster literature; the theoretical frameworks I encountered as her research assistant provided the intellectual foundation for my dissertation. I thank Dr. Ervin Malakaj for helping me brainstorm the thesis of my project during its early development, Dr. Erin McGlothlin for her insightful (and witty!) feedback on my writing, Dr. Elizabeth Allen for helping me rekindle my love of languages and see my own research in a different light, and Dr. Caroline Kita for encouraging me to pursue my interests through involvement with the Austrian Studies Association, where I connected with specialists in Bohemian and Habsburg history. Many friends, loved ones, and institutions supported me at all stages of writing and research. Thank you to Kayak’s Coffee and New Day Gluten Free for hosting my countless all- day writing sessions and providing me with an endless supply of peanut butter energy bites and frosted vegan sugar cookies; they facilitated the creative process. A warm thanks also goes to Anne, Richard, and Winston Hefler for giving me a warm place to stay and feeding me amazing, home-cooked meals as I wrote my dissertation. Lorna Kahn at the Millikan Hand Center and Dr. Larry Burrell also deserve thanks for helping me restore full functionality of my hands following injuries, allowing me to (finally!) put my thoughts onto paper. I am deeply grateful for the iii assistance of my writing tutor, Susan Lowther at Washington University’s Writing Center, for helping me fine-tune my writing and tracking down every missing “a,” “the,” and “to” that had escaped my vision. I also want to thank Tina Werner, Jenny Pötzsche, Michelle Devillar, my YWCA ladies, and—most of all—Megan Garza for their continued encouragement regarding personal obstacles that accompanied the project. Jeremy Sanders deserves a special thanks for being my rock, as well as my biggest and loudest cheerleader (literally and figuratively). I also would like to thank the chair of my dissertation, Dr. Lynne Tatlock. I could not have completed this project without her. Lynne’s thoughtful advice, impeccable vocabulary, and careful attention to detail not only helped me develop as a writer, but seeing how she conducts herself in diverse social settings also taught me how to apply, with confidence, skills acquired