The Naked Truth: Viennese Modernism and the Body

The interdisciplinary study "The Naked Truth" explores Viennese modernism's corporeal focus by examining the second Vienna medical school's materialist influence on cultural forms, challenging the stereotype of the movement as cerebral and highlighting the contributions of diverse historical figures.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 328 pages
Publication date: 21 January 2022
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

Viennese modernism is often portrayed as a fin-de-siècle fascination with the psyche, but this simplistic view overlooks a rich cultural history of the body. The Naked Truth, an interdisciplinary masterpiece, addresses this gap by fundamentally reimagining the visual, literary, and performative cultures of Viennese modernism through an innovative focus on the corporeal. Alys X. George delves into the modernist fascination with the flesh by examining the second Vienna medical school, which revolutionized the field of anatomy in the 1800s. As she traces the impact of this materialist influence across a wide range of cultural forms, including exhibitions, literature, portraiture, dance, film, and more, George brings into dialogue a diverse group of historical protagonists, from canonical figures such as Egon Schiele, Arthur Schnitzler, Joseph Roth, and Hugo von Hofmannsthal to long-overlooked ones, including author and doctor Marie Pappenheim, journalist Else Feldmann, and dancers Grete Wiesenthal, Gertrud Bodenwieser, and Hilde Holger. George skillfully blends analyses of popular and "high" culture, challenging the notion that Viennese modernism was an exclusively male movement.

The Naked Truth offers a striking new interpretation of this fascinating moment in the history of the West, shedding light on the complex interplay of the physical and the aesthetic that shaped modernism. By exploring the corporeal dimension of Viennese modernism, The Naked Truth provides a fresh perspective on this era, challenging our assumptions and illuminating the rich cultural heritage of this remarkable movement.

Weight: 510g
Dimension: 228 x 268 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780226819969