Abstract/Details

Sonorous Bodies: Representations of Female Sexuality in fin-de-siècle Austro-German Opera, from the Wiener Moderne toward the Weimar Republic

Hulley, Kathleen.   State University of New York at Stony Brook ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  2012. 3688289.

Abstract (summary)

This dissertation examines shifting musical and visual representations of female sexuality in fin-de-siècle Austro-German opera, and demonstrates the ways in which these operatic representations attest to the changing conceptions of women during this era. From theatrical, visual, and literary representations, to legal and medical writings, numerous discourses proliferated regarding "normal" and "abnormal" femininity, often in relation to the health of society. Moreover, with the era's widespread belief that theater and opera fulfilled a social and often didactic role, the stage was understood as a place that could not only shape and regulate society, but also offer new social paradigms.

In this dissertation, I contextualize and examine the sonic and visual representations of female sexuality in several fin-de-siècle operatic works: Wagner's Parsifal (1882); Strauss's Feuersnot (1901), Salome (1905), Elektra (1909), and Der Rosenkavalier (1911); Lehár's Die lustige Witwe (1905); Zemlinsky's Der Traumgörge (1906), Schreker's Der ferne Klang (1912); and Max von Schillings's Mona Lisa (1915). Each chapter focuses on a different musical and textual manifestation of the sexual "Woman" (from "the hysteric" and "the fallen woman," to "the muse"), with the aim of illustrating the transformations and contradictions in relation to historical conceptions of female sexuality and femininity. For these various manifestations, specific moments in the above-mentioned operas are analyzed. Moreover, a central concern of this research is the "cultural work" that these operas performed: How did these operas actively participate in shaping attitudes about women through their musical and visual presentation of the female characters? And what response did these representations garner? As this project demonstrates, the multiple layers of these operas—from the vocal and the orchestral music, to the prescribed bodily movements in the stage directions—articulate the changing cultural norms of respectable femininity of the era.

Indexing (details)


Subject
Music;
Womens studies;
Gender studies
Classification
0413: Music
0453: Womens studies
0733: Gender studies
Identifier / keyword
Social sciences; Communication and the arts; Austria; Fin-de-siècle; Germany; Opera; Representation; Women
Title
Sonorous Bodies: Representations of Female Sexuality in fin-de-siècle Austro-German Opera, from the Wiener Moderne toward the Weimar Republic
Author
Hulley, Kathleen
Number of pages
491
Degree date
2012
School code
0771
Source
DAI-A 76/08(E), Dissertation Abstracts International
Place of publication
Ann Arbor
Country of publication
United States
ISBN
978-1-321-66693-9
Advisor
Auner, Joseph; Minor, Ryan
Committee member
Fuller, Sarah; Lee, Sherry D.
University/institution
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Department
Music
University location
United States -- New York
Degree
Ph.D.
Source type
Dissertation or Thesis
Language
English
Document type
Dissertation/Thesis
Dissertation/thesis number
3688289
ProQuest document ID
1673181695
Copyright
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/docview/1673181695