Let the Bodies Hit the Floor: a Comparison of Corporal Morphology in Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Buchner’s Lenz (1836)
This article compares representations of corporal morphology in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) with Georg Büchner’s Lenz (1836). Focusing on anecdotes where corpses are the focus reveals a diverging literary style in representing the emerging science of morphology, or the study of the shape and...
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Istanbul University Press
2024-06-01
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| Series: | Studien zur Deutschen Sprache und Literatur |
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| Online Access: | https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/5D04E9784340410BBBDD1893703F334E |
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| author | Jameson Bradley Kısmet Bell |
| author_facet | Jameson Bradley Kısmet Bell |
| author_sort | Jameson Bradley Kısmet Bell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article compares representations of corporal morphology in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) with Georg Büchner’s Lenz (1836). Focusing on anecdotes where corpses are the focus reveals a diverging literary style in representing the emerging science of morphology, or the study of the shape and form of natural objects. When read through Immanuel Kant’s ‘Critique of Teleological Judgment’ from his Critique of Judgement and Johan Wolfgang von Goethe’s essay ‘On Morphology’, I argue that Shelley’s and Büchner’s works contain the seeds of critique of two very different effects of idealism, teleology, and the purposiveness of nature. Whereas idealist scientists and doctors proposed a distance between the observer and the object of study, in Kant’s words to perceive and act ‘as if’ the object has a purpose from a human-centered point of view, Goethe suggested a study of the morphology of living objects, which simultaneously affects the object and observer. A comparative methodology, where the focus is short anecdotes, follows close reading methods proposed by Erich Auerbach, Stephen Greenblatt, and Catherine Gallagher. The scenes where corpses are highlighted in Büchner’s Lenz and Merry Shelley’s Frankenstein reveals extreme examples of neutral descriptions of an ‘object’ and the observer’s intimate link with that which is observed. The goal of objectivity developing in eighteenth century scientific practices, when read through the chiastic structure of these two literary works-animation and failed animation of a material body-reveals unique critiques of Enlightenment Idealism: the failure of success in Frankenstein, and the success of failure in Lenz. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a14ebcab72f44039bb9c07899a12df2e |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2619-9890 |
| language | deu |
| publishDate | 2024-06-01 |
| publisher | Istanbul University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Studien zur Deutschen Sprache und Literatur |
| spelling | doaj-art-a14ebcab72f44039bb9c07899a12df2e2025-08-20T03:11:50ZdeuIstanbul University PressStudien zur Deutschen Sprache und Literatur2619-98902024-06-0151243610.26650/sdsl2023-1446598123456Let the Bodies Hit the Floor: a Comparison of Corporal Morphology in Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Buchner’s Lenz (1836)Jameson Bradley Kısmet Bell0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1488-599XBoğaziçi Üniversitesi, İstanbul, TürkiyeThis article compares representations of corporal morphology in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) with Georg Büchner’s Lenz (1836). Focusing on anecdotes where corpses are the focus reveals a diverging literary style in representing the emerging science of morphology, or the study of the shape and form of natural objects. When read through Immanuel Kant’s ‘Critique of Teleological Judgment’ from his Critique of Judgement and Johan Wolfgang von Goethe’s essay ‘On Morphology’, I argue that Shelley’s and Büchner’s works contain the seeds of critique of two very different effects of idealism, teleology, and the purposiveness of nature. Whereas idealist scientists and doctors proposed a distance between the observer and the object of study, in Kant’s words to perceive and act ‘as if’ the object has a purpose from a human-centered point of view, Goethe suggested a study of the morphology of living objects, which simultaneously affects the object and observer. A comparative methodology, where the focus is short anecdotes, follows close reading methods proposed by Erich Auerbach, Stephen Greenblatt, and Catherine Gallagher. The scenes where corpses are highlighted in Büchner’s Lenz and Merry Shelley’s Frankenstein reveals extreme examples of neutral descriptions of an ‘object’ and the observer’s intimate link with that which is observed. The goal of objectivity developing in eighteenth century scientific practices, when read through the chiastic structure of these two literary works-animation and failed animation of a material body-reveals unique critiques of Enlightenment Idealism: the failure of success in Frankenstein, and the success of failure in Lenz.https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/5D04E9784340410BBBDD1893703F334Egeorg büchnermary shelleyfrankensteinlenzcomparative literature |
| spellingShingle | Jameson Bradley Kısmet Bell Let the Bodies Hit the Floor: a Comparison of Corporal Morphology in Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Buchner’s Lenz (1836) Studien zur Deutschen Sprache und Literatur georg büchner mary shelley frankenstein lenz comparative literature |
| title | Let the Bodies Hit the Floor: a Comparison of Corporal Morphology in Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Buchner’s Lenz (1836) |
| title_full | Let the Bodies Hit the Floor: a Comparison of Corporal Morphology in Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Buchner’s Lenz (1836) |
| title_fullStr | Let the Bodies Hit the Floor: a Comparison of Corporal Morphology in Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Buchner’s Lenz (1836) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Let the Bodies Hit the Floor: a Comparison of Corporal Morphology in Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Buchner’s Lenz (1836) |
| title_short | Let the Bodies Hit the Floor: a Comparison of Corporal Morphology in Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Buchner’s Lenz (1836) |
| title_sort | let the bodies hit the floor a comparison of corporal morphology in shelley s frankenstein 1818 and buchner s lenz 1836 |
| topic | georg büchner mary shelley frankenstein lenz comparative literature |
| url | https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/5D04E9784340410BBBDD1893703F334E |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jamesonbradleykısmetbell letthebodieshittheflooracomparisonofcorporalmorphologyinshelleysfrankenstein1818andbuchnerslenz1836 |