buesch-2000FocusSample-001.tif 38 FOCIIS on L i leratllr J~Dr. Melies. nBucher kri tisc h gd escn. Zu Mart ine Monods d el" Whisk y ocr KOll igi u .~ \VcllfJiihll/:. 43 (1955): 1375·76. ){'Fl llmericll,2 1. l1Kahlau , I li lde. l1uchbespreclmngcn. Die Wolke. Ocr Bibliolhckar 1 / 1958.5 1-52. " See D ecker, Bern hard I I. wT hc Wall as Seen T hrougll t he Eyes of Border Guards: The HordeI' as a Literary 'Io pos within the Framework of Socialist Defense Readiness Educat ion ." 'Ihe Berlin wall. Rcpresctl ca,ions and Perspectives. Eds. Ernst Schiirer, Manfred Keune and Philip Jenkins. New York: Peter bllg, 1996. 119-125. 120. J'Kuitur li nd Fon sch rill , fOllnded in 1947, was owned by the Germ an-Soviet Friendship Society (G cscllschaft fUr DClilsch-Sowjet isd lC Frcundschaft) before it became part of Yolk li nd Weh . See Jacobs. 4°Transl:uion m ine. I. " The 3gn.-clllcnt between Petain and H itler in October 1940. U As an interest ing dctail, C harlcs Spaak, co· writer of the script for Normalld ie·Nib m!ll, was also t he scriptwriter o f fA G rallde "blsion. WQt·ks C ited Monod, Martine. ISMe/ tel que je I'ai V II, Paris: Les Editeurs Fran\"ais Reunis, 1968. ---. i.e Nllage. Paris: Les Edileurs fra m;ais Reunis, 1955. ---. i.e Whiskydela Reillc. Paris: Les Editeurs Fran~a is RCllllis, 1954. ---. Malacerta. Paris: Les Ed iteurs Fran~ais Rcu nis, 1950. - . Normandie·Njemc fI . Paris: Les J1:1itcu rs Fr.m r;ais Rcu nis, 1960 . Stendhal [Maric·H enri Beyle]. U! rouge elle noir. Lausanne: l1:1it10 11s Renconue, 1968 . "Like a Stone Thrown into Water:" The Testimony of Magnus Hirschfeld David Prickett Introduclory Lectu re to "The First Institute for Sexual Science (1 9 19- 1933), " an ex hibit on loan to the Max Kade German Cullll r:'ll CCl1ler, University of C incinnati , OH USA, from the Magnlls-Hirschfeld­ Gesellschaft e.Y., Berl in. The exllibit opened at the row s 011 Literalllr 4L11 Annual German Grad uale Student Conference, O ClOber 15-16, 1999. I t was in 1895 t hat Magnus Hirschfeld , a Jewish med ical doctor ill Magdeburg, published the pamphlet Sappho und Sok rales under ;1 pseudonym. In the preface to a latcr work, Hi rschfeld expbins to the reader that he " . .. was moved to write [Sappho lind SokralCs] by the suicide of a young officer, Olle of my patients, who shot himself on the ni ght he m:t rried, and left me his confession" (Sex xii). j-jirschfeld de· scribes Sappho lind Sokra ces as " . . . a stone th row n il1to water which, fall ing, sets up waves that go on spreading" (Sex xii). Hi rschfeld's in­ tention was to move homosexual ity from lhe arena of illness to a nattl­ ral cond ition. The wo rk also serves a sociological function as an at­ tempt by H irschfeld to legiti mize homosexuality to the bourgeois so­ ciety at large. In this paper 1 wish to 'lIla IYl.£ one) what Hirschfeld meant to achi eve via hi s writings, two) how he presents his theories, and th ree) to what extent his arguments were sllccess ful. '10 this end I will examine the writings o f some of H irschfeld's contemporaries. Redefini n g tlte "Ur:l11 ian " H irschfeld founded his research largel y 0 11 the wo rks 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 ilera /III" Volume 7 (2000) 40 {"{Jells 011 Uleratur Ulrichs publ ished his twelve-vo lume rvrsdmngclI tiber dtls I?iifhsel der II/tl1lmnfilllilichcn Liebe. UI ri chs' tlI CO I"Y, in brief, cal ls for 1 he rccoi; l1 i­ lion of a "Third Sex", a term which H irschfeld would fll so usc. Ac­ cording LO Ulrichs. homosexllals, or "Uran;:ms" (Urni"ge). rcprcsC Ill an intc rmccii :llc, aud therefore, thi rd ge nder between the male :md the female. Ulrichs fe lt 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:mci p:llC homo­ sex uals and win th em the same societal respect enjoyed by hClcrosexu­ :1ls. With th e o nset of Prussian rule in H ann over in 1866 :mel t he sub­ sequent illl roduclion of :uni-holllosexlI:11 laws, Ulriclls fled to Bavaria. Ilomoscx uality was lOlernted th ere umil 1872, whell the Pnlssiall stat­ ules were extcnded to all parts of Germany. Most Il ot:lbl e of these was the in f:lInous Pll mgmph 175, a law that made male-male sex acts crimi­ nal acts (Kennedy 109). Such were the legal parameters in Germany about twenty ye~ n; bter when Magnus H irschfeld publi shed Snppho lind Sokmtes. It is therefo re no surprise that he pu blished under a pseudonym. Indeed, I lirschfeld neve r publicl y came Out regarding his homosex ua lity. As historian George Mosse notes, I lirschfeld's" . . . putati ve homusexual­ ity made Sigmund Freud can him ' flabby and ul1appeliz.ing'" (14 1). Il irsch fcld revived Ul rich's ideas and published them with his friend Max Spohr in 1898. As histo rian Jamcs Jones states, the maill i lllpelUs behind Hi rschfeld 's research is that which prompted him to publish Snppho lind Sokrales-lo remove th e "tragic effects" of the link between homosexuali ty and mental disease (60). In her swdy Magllll5 Hmchfeld: A Port.rait ofll Pioneer i" Sem/ogy, hi storian Chari one Wolff calls I Ii rsch­ feld "the Humanitarian Physician " (33). She writcs that he: ... dcvoted hilllsc.lf to a revo lutionary work plan which would combine the study of biology and psychology wit h reference to th e man y va riations of human love. He decided to write about his findings in a forlll which would be understood by all. (33) Unlike U lrichs, Hi rschfeld was a [ rained physician. He is best know n fo r Il is work as t he leader of the /USlIlUl fur Sexuniwiuemcha{t in Ber­ lin , whicl l he headed fro m 1919- 1930. The Institute put illl o p ractice l cstimony of Magnus Ilirschfeld 41 1 [i rsch reid 's creed of per SC;e''1ll1m ad jusliliam-th roll l~ ll SCiCli ce 10 jus­ tice (Ooslcrliuis VI. 2~G). Th ro ugh his Il lstitute, his wril i ll~S, ;lIld hi s many pu blic speeches, Ilirsc hfeid Struve lo m;l ke h om()~cx lla l s appea r "hi gh ly respcctable" to society at brge (Moose 187) . Ilespeclabi lily and Ilomosexu:lIily The notion of resJ>Cctability was of paramount im porlallce for I li rschfcld in order to full y real i7.£ emancipation and acceptance of the ho mosex ual within bourgeois Wilhel mine German society. 1\ perso n's respectability was two-t iered: respectability Il ot onl y in the sense of being a good citizcn, but also in the sense of one's sexual mo rality. [ Iirschfeld's pOrimyal of homosexuals i.s by 110 me.a ns flat­ terin g according to loday's standards. Yet in all of Ius wo rks, 1.11I'Schfcld ill terweaves conceptions of sexu:1lmorality, patriotism and Images of ideal cilizens_ An ideal citizcn in Wilhelmine Germany was of course someone who understood his or her place in society and who did not devi:ne from it . ·1·llcse were-and ill some sense stil l rcmain - key traits of a respectable pe rso n. I 'irschfeld hoped that if he ~ollld wi .. a re­ spectable illl;lge for homosex ual s, he could ensure a f .. ·st step toward their inclusion inu) hetcrosex ual society. T h c Respcctabi lily of Hcd in's "'O.-illes Gesch lcch t" A prime example of H irschfeld 's literary strategy was his b ook Ber· fim D riues Geschlec/Jt, which was published in 1 90~. A co lleague had lIrged him to produce:1 s.wdy ~h:n wo~ld be understood by the pllblic at large. What followed IS a IH ghl y enjoyable account of I~ omosexual nerl ill at the turn of the ccntury. Ilirschfeld lIses a style akll'l to that o f a tour book, accompa nying hete rosexual bourgeois Wilhel m ine soci­ ety to the must-sees of homosexual Berlin. Hi rschfeld ex pl.lins to ~h e rcader that the Ur(lllierin is so by nature, and that most lay a hI gh Y.llue 0 11 keeping tllei r nature a secret (Berlin 15). ln do illl) so, a ce rtain split-personality develops along the lincs of &rltfs':lCns~h by day and Geschiechlsmensch by night. This could then mamfcst Itsel f through sam c-sex love o r transvcstism. Beriim Driues Geschlechl offe rs many co lorful accOllnts o f the ho­ mosexual subculture. Yet it is ho w Hirschfeld intcgr:\tt:s th e life stories 42 Fowl on Literatlll" of individuals frollllhis SUOCUitUI-e that makes Berlins Driues Gescblccht such a sign ifica nt book. Ilirschfcld 's descriptions o f the meeting places alld partie'; of the homosexual subculture engage the reader's :ltlCIl ­ lion . These na n':l l ivcs introduce the rC:lcler to Berlin's Third Sex. I lirschfcld p rcSC IllS th e story o f a love-struck eighteen-yea r-old boy (Bcrlm 34), takes the reader into the homes of committed S:UlIC-SCX rebt.io ll ships (/Jerli,? 38-39), and tells of mothers of homosex uals, die oft in ubcrschwcnglicllcr Weise das Gluck prciscn, dafi ihr Soh ll ei ncn so gro!hnigclI Freund, ihrc -lodllcr cine so ausgc7..cichnclc Frculldin gefunden; di csc I' rcundschaft sci ihncl1 viclli cbcr, :tIs wcnll sich illr 501111 mil M:idchcn hcrumtricbc. ihrc Toclner sieh von Man nern den I lof maehen lieBe. (Ber/in 43-44) 'fhcre arc many tal es, most notable of which are the tcarful oncs. Ili rsddc1d invo kes empathy from the reader hy drawi ng a ll the forclnoSl helCl'Oscxual fanlily hol iday: C llristmas. Christil las is :U l e\'CIIl with whidl everyone can idemify. By recounting tragic storit!s of Christ­ mas, I Ii rschfeld depicts the dark side of the exclusio n of homoscxuals caused by S 175. It is precisely at Christmas, at a time for family, for belonging, that the homosexua l fccls the most alone. "Mehr als :111 ;edem andercn Tage Whit an diescm FeSle der urnisehe Jun ggeselle seil! einsames Los" (Berlm 50). The homosexual is fated to stand apart from society, apart fmlll his/her family. I l irschfcld then narrates t wo differen t C hristillas scenes. The first is that of two well-to-Jo homo­ sex ual partners, th eir friends and their se rvants. The second portrays a drunken student brought to the brink of suicide after his fathe.· lc:m ls of the student's sexual orielltatio n (Berlin 57-61) . These gb.-ingly dif­ ferent dep ictions of th e homosexual at C hristmas function on differ­ ent levels. Not only do they underscore the diversity of ci rcumstance within the homosexual subculture, btll they also underscore the need for societal compassio n for hOlliosexuals. llil"Schfeld cnds Ber/im OrilleS Geschlecht by quoting Jesus: "Wcr unter Euch frei vo n Schuld ist, der werfe den erslen Stein auf sic" (139). Hcrc, "sic" is no longer the adulteress from Jesus' parable, but homo­ sexuals. This is clearly a response to the sexuallransgressio ll of adul­ tery all too common with in heterosexual bourgeois society. ·rlle reader "cstimany of Magllus Ilirschfeld 43 is to ask him/herself if, after readillg thesc cases, persccution of these indi viduals should be allowed to conti uue. More directly stated, thc reauer should ask hilll/ hersel f if S 175 shou ld bc repealed. The ho­ Illosexuals that I lirSchfeld pon raycd were boad citize ns, kept to tlICII1- selves (IIOt lI ecessaril y by choice), showed good personal taste, and persollal COlltro l. According to the very bOlllgeois norms of the day, these were respcctablc men and WOI1lCIl. Die '/ram'UCsliICl1: The "T h ird Sex" and the Law In 1910 I lirschfeld publ ished Die 1ralJs'UCslilen (7ransveslites), a work based o n scientific meth od which featured case studies, analyses of these studi es, and a discuss ion of the phenomenon of the WlIlsvcstilC. Hirschfeld coined the te rm "tr:msvestilC": "For th e sake of brevity we will label this drive as trallsvestism (from "t l"a IlS" - over or Opposile, and "vestis" _ dothing)" ('/Tansvcslllcs 124). li e documents seventecn C:lscs which rallge from: Mr. A, the typical "Urani;"lIl"; Mr. B., who was married; and I-Jelen N., who said of hersel f: "I cann ot repon any­ thing of much importance from my ch ildhood, only that I had the one burning desire that I was rea ll y :I boy" (cited in Transvestites 95). Hi rsch feld links the urge to crossc:lrcss to the individual's childhood, noted that there was a sense of shame in each case, and connected these feel ings of shame with one's sexual drive, In the chapler "Trans­ vest ism and Homosexuality," Hi rschfeld analyses the case of Friiulein T. , whose body is "thoroughly feminine," but whose mind "stands in glaring cOlllradiction to her body" ('lr{lIIsveslilCs 153) . As he had writ­ ten in Snppho lind Sokrales, Il irschfcld points oUllhat usexually abnor­ mal persons who are forced into a lifestyle that stands opposed to lheir nature often therebY fall in to depressed mental states that at times lead to suicide" (7ransvesliles 154). In thi s statement, H irschfeld invokes empathy from the reader for Fraulei n '1"., yet underscores the belief that Fraulein T. is irtdeed sexuall y abnormal. The point of Hi rschfeld's argument is to defend Fraulein T.'s right to wear men's cloth ing: to deny her this right would lead an otherwise irrep ll)3chable individua l to the brink of suicide Clramvestiles 154). T hi s is ccnainly an ambiva lent portrayal of the tr,lnsvestitc, yet one that th e bourgeois society of the day might accept. As in Berims Orlltes Geschh'Cht, II irschfeld brings stories of su fferi ng and sllicide to the foreground to emphasize the 44 [ OCIIS 011 Lit eral l/I" t ra gic effects th:lt socielal exclusion :111 persecuti on ha ve 0 11 homo­ sex ual s :l nd t mnsvestites. . Art~r l~rcs.entil~ g case slUdies and scientific ana lysis, I lirschfeld ap­ pl ies IllS flndlllgs III a legal con text. H e discusses the isslle o f t r:H15VeS­ t ism ill the Bible and associates its condem nat ion to misimcrprCt:llion of DculcrOilolny, the book of laws from the Old l cst:unclll (Transves­ f i les 242). In the chapter "Tr:msvestism and the Law," H irschfeld ciles cases froll1 all ovcr the world includ ing cases in the United Slales, and concludes that: Crossd rcssing in " free" England and A merica, too, even if it does not di sturb the peace, is considered dislll rb­ ;ng the peace. There, in general , of course, only men who :Ire found Out :lre pu nished, whi le women :J p­ pC:l nng Cisllc:ln­ lng.s, proving that not all homosexuals were politically left of center. EW:1ld Tscheck, a regular contribuLOr lO Ocr Eigrne. nOl only wrOle in 19251il31 Hi rschfeld 's Sciclilific 1-lum:1nilarian Commiltee was a dan­ ger to the German people, but he also caricatured Hirsc hfeld as "Or. Fcldhi rsch" in DCT Eige1/e :lnd ridiculed Hi rschfeld in Brand's maga­ :'-,inc Die 7;mte (7he Fairy) (Ooslcrhlli .~ I. 6). Contributors to DCT Eigcl1c made up tile Gemeinschaft dc ,' Eigel/en, a homosexual elite that ab­ horred co ntempOr:lry medical theories. No str:ln ger to tb eir attack was Magn us Hirschfeld and his theory of the effeminate Urani:m. The Gemeimchafi did not describe themselves or Olhers as "Ur:llliall" or "homosexual," as these words h,lci a strongly medical an<\ feminine cOllllolatioll. For the Gememscha{t. their relations reflccted the Ger­ man traditions of Lieblmgl1l11me (chiYrllric love), and FTCu"deshebc (love of friends) (Oosterhuis //30). Edwin Bab, an inlCllcctual of Hirschfeld 's ni vc:w, wtUte many articles fO I' Der Eigenc. Bab stresses the difference bet ween the goals of the Geme i1lSc/)a/t and those of H irsch feld, whose Committee". . unjustly assigned 'UI':lIIian peu icoars to pro folLnd minds and heroes'" (Oosterhuis /I 31). l loweve r, B:lb does recognize I lirschfeld's efforts toward the repeal of S 175. As to Ili rschfdd's th eory on homosexuality, Bab correctl y points out that: According to Dr. llirschfeld, lhe homosexual is 110 longer mentall y ill, but is indeed deformed, JUSt I ike t he ow ner of a hal'Clip .... Dr. Hirschfeld has drawn dlC Un/ing ftUm the prison and the madhouse and btUught him into the o ffi ces of the medical doctor