Dueling: The Cult of Honor in Fin-de-Siècle Germany
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
The question of what it takes "to be a man" comes under scrutiny in this sharp, often playful, cultural critique of the German duel--the deadliest type of one-on-one combat in fin-de-siécle Europe. At a time when dueling was generally restricted to swords or had been abolished altogether in other nations, the custom of fighting to the death with pistols flourished among Germany's upper-class males, who took perverse comfort in defying their country's weakly enforced laws. From initial provocation to final death agony, Kevin McAleer describes with ironic humor the complex protocol of the German duel, inviting his reader into the disturbing mindset of its practitioners and the society that valued this socially important but ultimately absurd pastime. Through a narrative that cannot restrain itself from poking fun at the egos and prejudices that come to the fore in the pursuit of "manliness," McAleer offers both an entertaining and thought-provoking portrait of a cultural phenomenon that had far-reaching effects.
The author employs a wealth of anecdotes to re-create the dueling event in all its variety, from the level of insult--which could range from loudly ridiculing a man's choice of entrée in an upscale restaurant to, more commonly, bedding his wife--to such intricacies as the time and place of the duel, the guest list, the selection of weapons and number of paces, dress options, and the decision regarding when to let the attending physician set up his instruments on the field. As he exposes the reader to the fierce mentality behind these proceedings, McAleer describes the duel as a litmus test of courage, the masculine apotheosis, which led its male practitioners to lay claim to both psychic and legal entitlements in Wilhelmine society. The aristocratic nature of the duel, with its feudal ethos of chivalry, gave its upper-middle-class practitioners even more opportunity to distinguish themselves from the underclasses and other marginalized groups--such as Socialists, Jews, left-liberals, Catholics, and pacifists, who, for various reasons, were stigmatized as incapable of "giving satisfaction." The duel, according to McAleer, was thus a social mirror, and the dueling issue political dynamite.
Throughout these accounts, the author sustains a personal voice to convey the horror and fascination of what at first appears to be simply a curious fringe activity, but which he goes on to reveal as an integral element of German society's consciousness in the late nineteenth century. In so doing, he strengthens the argument that Germany followed a path of development separate from the rest of Europe, leading to World War I and ultimately to Hitler and the Nazis.
Originally published in 1994.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Related to Dueling
Titles in the series (6)
Engineers of Happy Land: Technology and Nationalism in a Colony Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Regulating the Social: The Welfare State and Local Politics in Imperial Germany Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSocial Bodies: Science, Reproduction, and Italian Modernity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gibeon, Where the Sun Stood Still: The Discovery of the Biblical City Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Colonialism and Revolution in the Middle East: Social and Cultural Origins of Egypt's Urabi Movement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related ebooks
ABOUT SIXTY: Why Every Sherlock Holmes Story is the Best Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ashtray: (Or the Man Who Denied Reality) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 12, No. 30, September, 1873 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCromwell Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Spectacle of Intimacy: A Public Life for the Victorian Family Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKillingford: The Hieromonk's Tale, Book Two Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA History of Wood-Engraving Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVienna in the Age of Uncertainty: Science, Liberalism, and Private Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Crafting of Absalom and Achitophel: Dryden’s Pen for a Party Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Disordered Police State: German Cameralism as Science and Practice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMcGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alchemy and Authority in the Holy Roman Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The True Story of Canada's "War" of Extermination on the Pacific - Plus the Tsilhqot'in and other First Nations Resistance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScience for All: The Popularization of Science in Early Twentieth-Century Britain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wanderings of a Spiritualist Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Wanderings of a Spiritualist: "What one man can invent, another can discover." Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLife in the Roman World of Nero and St. Paul Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Good Life in the Scientific Revolution: Descartes, Pascal, Leibniz, and the Cultivation of Virtue Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNuts to crack; or Quips, quirks, anecdote and facete of Oxford and Cambridge Scholars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeizing the Enigma: The Race to Break the German U-Boat Codes, 1939–1943 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sinking of the Lusitania Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInitiative in Evolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWar Underground: The Tunnellers of the Great War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Camford Visitation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKnossos and the Prophets of Modernism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Richard Owen: Biology without Darwin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Story of My Life, volumes 4-6 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Odyssey: A Sigma Force Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
European History For You
Mein Kampf: English Translation of Mein Kamphf - Mein Kampt - Mein Kamphf Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Dry: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Oscar Wilde: The Unrepentant Years Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book: The Script Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Law Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England: 400 – 1066 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mein Kampf: The Original, Accurate, and Complete English Translation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGalileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of English Magic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Victorian Lady's Guide to Fashion and Beauty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of the Trapp Family Singers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Celtic Mythology: A Concise Guide to the Gods, Sagas and Beliefs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jane Austen: The Complete Novels Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forgotten Slave Trade: The White European Slaves of Islam Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Greek Mythology: Captivating Stories of the Ancient Olympians and Titans: Heroes and Gods, Ancient Myths Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Dueling
0 ratings0 reviews