Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Hohendahl, Peter Uwe

Titel

The New Man: Theories of Masculinity around 1800

Ist Teil von

• Goethe yearbook, 2008, Vol.15 (1), p.187-215

Ort / Verlag

Rochester: North American Goethe Society

Erscheinungsjahr

2008

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

ProQuest_Literature Online_英美文学在线

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• [...]the instructions extend to details such as tone of voice and correct pronunciation (72-82).The author's broad treatment of the proper use of the German language as an important aspect of masculinity is an uncommon feature that once more underlines the proximity of physical and moral aspects in Siede's conception. [...]in 1817, he specifically mentions the soldier (Krieger) as one of the embodiments of the new ideal of manliness and claims that the defense of the freedom and autonomy of a people rests on physical as well as spiritual strength motivated by patriotic feelings.10 The emphasis on the military use of physical education after 1806 may strike us as potentially narrow and even misleading; yet such criticism misses the central point of the argument.The proponents of physical education and the military reformers of the early nineteenth century had a common goal; they meant to create a different idea of the citizen as a member of a civil society that is separate from the state (and the monarchy). [...]this shift is significant for the conception of masculinity.The education reform primarily concerned male students, since girls did not attend the Gymnasium or the university. [...]the institutional application of the concept of Bildung referred mostly to boys and young men.The discussion about the education of girls was largely treated as a supplement to the education of male students.19 While there was no lack of works on the education of women around 1800, they focused on the role of women within the (new) family, but paid no or little attention to the public sphere and the state. Within the family structure he clearly occupies a privileged position supported by the new idea of manliness developed in the masculinity discourse around 1800 and private law. Because of his dominant position within the family one can easily confuse him with the older patriarch (which early feminism frequently did), but it is important to realize that he is part of a new historical configuration in which he has to share his energy between the (nuclear) family and civil society with a stronger emphasis on public service.