Uncovers the interplay of the physical and the aesthetic that shaped Viennese modernism and offers a new interpretation of this moment in the history of the West. Viennese modernism is often described in terms of a fin-de-siècle fascination with the psyche. But this stereotype of the movement as essentially cerebral overlooks a rich cultural history of the body. The Naked Truth, an interdisciplinary tour de force, addresses this lacuna, fundamentally recasting the visual, literary, and performative cultures of Viennese modernism through an innovative focus on the corporeal. Alys X. George explores the modernist focus on the flesh by turning our attention to the second Vienna medical school, which revolutionized the field of anatomy in the 1800s. As she traces the results of this materialist influence across a broad range of cultural forms—exhibitions, literature, portraiture, dance, film, and more—George brings into dialogue a diverse group of historical protagonists, from canonical figures such as Egon Schiele, Arthur Schnitzler, Joseph Roth, and Hugo von Hofmannsthal to long-overlooked ones, including author and doctor Marie Pappenheim, journalist Else Feldmann, and dancers Grete Wiesenthal, Gertrud Bodenwieser, and Hilde Holger. She deftly blends analyses of popular and “high” culture, laying to rest the notion that Viennese modernism was an exclusively male movement. The Naked Truth uncovers the complex interplay of the physical and the aesthetic that shaped modernism and offers a striking new interpretation of this fascinating moment in the history of the West.
Alys X. George is an award-winning researcher and educator, specializing in modern Austrian and German culture and cultural history. She lives in New York City and Vienna, and has taught at New York University, the University of Notre Dame, and Stanford University.
Table of Contents
Note on Translations Introduction 1. The Body on Display: Staging the Other, Shaping the Self Science and Spectacle: “Exotic” Bodies on Display Fictional Encounters? Peter Altenberg’s Ashantee (1897) Somatic Utopias: Viennese Hygiene Exhibitions Literary Life Reform: Peter Altenberg’s Pròdrŏmŏs (1906) Nature and Culture on Stage 2. The Body in Pieces: Viennese Literature’s Anatomies Becoming the Blade: Vivisection as the Primal Scene In the Dissecting Room: Arthur Schnitzler and Marie Pappenheim Viennese Symptoms, Human Fragments: Joseph Roth’s Journalism The Politics and Poetics of Viennese Corpses: Carry Hauser and Joseph Roth Corpse as Capital: Ödön von Horváth’s Faith, Hope, and Charity (1932) 3. The Patient’s Body: Working-Class Women in the Clinic Finding a Voice: The Poetics of Pregnancy (Marie Pappenheim and Ilka Maria Ungar) Egon Schiele in the Clinic In the Women’s Clinic: Architecture, Gaze, Film Speaking for Suffering Mothers: Else Feldmann and Carry Hauser The Politics and Public Visibility of Proletarian Bodies 4. The Body in Motion: Staging Silent Expression Body Language and Crisis of Language Hugo von Hofmannsthal and the Power of Pantomime Self and Other: Exploring Identity through Free Dance Making Modern Dance Viennese Celluloid Gestures and the Cinematic Body The Worker’s Body: Modern Dance, Machine Culture, and Social Democracy Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes Index
