When Artists Became Intellectuals: Science as a Significant Other for the Female Artistic Persona

Julia Dahlberg

doi:10.21153/ps2018vol4no1art688

Authors

Julia Dahlberg University of Helsinki, Finland http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0376-4703

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21153/ps2018vol4no1art688

Keywords:

artistic personas, intellectuals, intellect, creativity, science

Abstract

The increasing appreciation of science posed an interesting challenge to art in the late 19th Century. Modernisation, professionalisation, secularisation and technical novelties all seemed to question the social status of the artist. Arguing that one possible way for individual artists to meet this challenge was to incorporate elements of the scientific persona with their artistic self, this article focuses on the Swedish-speaking, Finnish artist and writer Helena Westermarck (1857–1938). While constructing an intellectual comradeship with her brother, the internationally well-known sociologist and anthropologist Edward Westermarck (1862–1939), Helena Westermarck often referred to the exceptional intellectual and analytical capacities of the artist. Arguing that the prestige of science could be used to lend credibility to the artistic persona, the article will discuss some of the ideas that led Westermarck to gradually fashion her public appearance as an artist into the persona of a public intellectual, writer and self-supporting (single) woman on equal terms with her brother.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Julia Dahlberg, University of Helsinki, Finland

PhD, Department of philosophy, history, art- and cultural studies, University of Helsinki.

References

Bosch, M. 2016, ‘Scholarly Personae and Twentieth-Century Historians. Explorations of a Concept’, BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review, vol. 131, no. 4, pp. 33–54, DOI: http://doi.org/10.18352/bmgn-lchr.10263.

Bourdieu, P. 1990 [2014], The Logic of Practice. Polity Press, Cambridge.

Brandes, G. 1882, ’Henrik Ibsen. Andet Indtryk’, in G. Brandes 1900, Samlede skrifter. Tredie bind, Gyldendalske boghandels forlag, Kjøbenhavn, pp. 237–256.

Charle, C. 1990, Naissance des 'intellectuells' 1880–1890, Editions de Minuit, Paris.

Claesson Pipping, G., Sandbach Dahlström, C. 2016, ‘Spirit of the Age(s). The Reception of George Eliot in Sweden’ in E. Shaffer, C. Brown (eds.), The Reception of George Eliot in Europe, Bloomsbury, London, New York, pp. 103–119.

Dahlberg, J., 2018, Konstnär, kvinna, medborgare. Helena Westermarck och den finska bildningskulturen i det moderna genombrottets tid 1880–1910. Finska Vetenskaps-Societeten, Helsingfors.

Daston, L., Sibum, H. O. 2003, ‘Introduction. Scientific Personae and Their Histories’, Scinece in Context, vol. 16, no. 1–2, pp. 1–8.

Davidoff, L., 2012, Thicker than Water. Siblings and Their Realtions 1780–1920. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Eliaeson, S., Kalleberg, R. (eds.) 2008, Academics as Public Intellectuals, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle.

Frängsmyr, T. 1984, Vetenskapsmannen som hjälte. Aspekter på vetenskapshistorien, Nordstedt, Stockholm.

Claesson-Pipping, G. 2007, Men arbetet! Mitt arbete! Identitet och berättande i Helena Westermarcks yrkeskvinnobiografier, Makadam, Göteborg.

Claesson-Pipping, G., Sandbach-Dahlström, C. 2016, ‘Spirit of the Age(s). The Reception of George Eliot in Sweden’ in E. Shaffer, C. Brown (eds.), The Reception of George Eliot in Europe, Bloomsbury, London, New York, pp. 103–119.

Gedin, D. 2004, Fältets herrar. Framväxten av en modern författarroll. Artonhundraåttiotalet, Symposion, Stockholm, Stehag.

Goffman, E. 1959, The presentation of self in everyday life, Doubleday Anchor Books, New York.

H-a [Westermarck, H.], 1884 A, ’Den realistiska riktningen i den franska romanen’, Finsk Tidskrift vol, 17, no. 2, pp. 101–116, http://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/aikakausi/binding/497518, retrieved 7 October 2017.

H-a [Westermarck, H.] 1884 B, ’Den realistiska riktningen i den franska romanen 2’, Finsk Tidskrift vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 181–194, https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/aikakausi/binding/497511, retrieved 7 October 2017.

Hallberg, M. 2012, ”Gender and Philosophy of Science. The Case of Mary Hesse”, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 333–340, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2011.12.028, retrieved 9 April 2016.

Heyck, T. W. 1980, ‘From Men of Letters to Intellectuals. The Transformation of Intellectual Life in Nineteenth-Century England’, Journal of British Studies, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 158–183.

Hirvonen, M. 1993, Suomen kirjailijat. Finlands Författare. Writers in Finland. 1809–1916, Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura, Helsinki / Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, Helsingfors.

Hoberman, R. 2002, ‘Women in the British Museum Reading Room During the Late-Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth Centuries. From Quasi- to Counterpublic’, Feminist Studies vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 489–512, DOI: 10.2307/3178782.

Ihanus, J. 1999, Multiple Origins. Edward Westermarck in Search of Mankind, Lang, Frankfurt am Main.

Joyeux-Prunel, B. 2015, Les avant-gardes artistiques 1848–1918. Une histoire transnationale. Gallimard, Paris.

Kant, I. 1790 [1914], The Critique of Judgment, 2nd rev. ed., Macmillan et co, London, http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/kant-the-critique-of-judgement, retrieved 6 October 2017.

Karkama, P., Koivisto, H. (eds), 1997, Älymystön jäljillä. Kirjoituksia suomalaisesta sivistyneistöstä ja älymystöstä. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Helsinki.

Kete, K. 2012, Making Way for Genius. The Aspiring Self in France From the Old Regime to the New, Yale University Press, New Haven.

Koivisto, H. 1995, ’Ihmisryhm, jossa moraali ja äly yhtyvät. Intellektuellin käsitettä’ in L. Rossi, H. Koivisto (eds.), Monta tietä menneisyyteen. Turun yliopisto, Turku, pp. 107–135.

Konttinen, R. 1991, Totuus enemmän kuin kauneus. Naistaiteilija, realismi ja naturalismi 1880-luvull. Amélie Lundahl, Maria Wiik, Helena Westermarck, Helena Schjerfbeck ja Elin Danielson, Otava, Helsinki.

Konttinen, R., 2010, Naiset taiteen rajoilla. Naistaiteilijat Suomessa 1800-luvulla. Helsinki.

Lagerborg, R. 1951, Edvard Westermarck och verken från hans verkstad under hans tolv sista år 1927–39, Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, Helsingfors.

Lagerspetz, O., Suolinna, K. 2014, Edward Westermarck. Intellectual Networks, Philosophy and Social Anthropology, Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters, Helsinki.

Lloyd, G. 1984, The Man of Reason. "Male" and "Female" in Western Philosophy, Methuen, London.

McMahon, D. 2013, Divine Fury. A History of Genius, Basic Books, New York.

Paul, H. 2011, ‘Performing History. How Historical Scholarship is Shaped by Epistemic Virtues’, History and Theory, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 1–19, http://www.culturahistorica.es/paul/performing_history.pdf, retrieved 10 October 2017.

Paul, H. 2014, ‘What is a Scholarly Persona? Ten Theses on Virtues, Skills, and Desires’, History and Theory vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 348–371, DOI: 10.1111/hith.10717.

Paul, H. 2016 A, ‘Sources of the Self. Scholarly Personae as Repertoires of Scholarly Selfhood’, BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review, vol. 131, no. 4, pp. 135–154, DOI: http://doi.org/10.18352/bmgn-lchr.10268, retrieved 10 October 2017.

Paul, H. 2016 B, “Introduction. Repertoires and Performances of Academic Identity”, BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review, vol. 131, no. 4, pp. 3–7. DOI: http://doi.org/10.18352/bmgn-lchr.10261, retrieved 10 October 2017.

Ramsay, A. 1997, “Kvinnokagalen. Ett återfunnet manuskript med förord och kommentarer av Alexandra Ramsay”, in J. Strömberg & H. Swan (eds.) Historiska och litteraturhistoriska studier 72, Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, Helsingfors, pp. 147–174.

Seigel, J. 2012, Modernity and Bourgeois Life. Society, Politics and Culture in England, France and Germany Since 1750, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Tegengren, G. 1974, ’Helena Westermarck och hennes litterära produktion’ in E. Steinby (ed.), Historiska och litteraturhistoriska studier 49, Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, Helsingfors, pp. 340–392.

Timosaari, N. 2017, Edvard Westermarck. Totuuden etsijä, Gaudeamus, Helsinki.

Toftegaard Pedersen, A. 2016, Helena Westermarck. Intellektets idoga arbetare, Svenska folkskolans vänner, Helsingfors.

Westermarck, E. 1891, The History of Human Marriage, Machmillan, London.

Westermarck, E. 1927, Minnen ur mitt liv, Holger Schildt, Helsingfors.

Westermarck, H. s.a., Letter to Rudolf Westermarck (without date, probably around 1883), Helena Westermarck’s letters (box III), Åbo Akademi University Library, Turku.

Westermarck, H. 1894, George Eliot och den engelska naturalistiska romanen. En literär studie, Wenzel Hagelstam, Helsingfors, http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fd2010-00001699, retrieved 3 October 2017.

Westermarck, H. 1898, Personal notes ‘Motiv’(15 September 1898), Helena Westermarck’s archive (box 4), Åbo Akademi University Library, Turku.

Westermarck, H. 1901, Letter to Edward Westermarck (17 January 1901), Helena Westermarck’s letters (box VIII), Åbo Akademi University Library, Turku.

Westermarck, H. 1904, Fredrika Runeberg. En litterär studie, Söderström, Helsingfors, http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fd2010-00000225, retrieved 3 October 2017.

Westermarck, H. 1941, Mina levnadsminnen, Söderström, Helsingfors.