In 1926: living at the edge of time - Monoskop

106 ARRAYS
of powder on his cheeks. His eyes are larger than life, with a deep and
melancholy glow. He has put on rouge in addition to the powder-those
dull carmine highlights on his cheeks can be nothing but makeup. 'Odd,'
muses the professor. 'You'd think a man would be one thing or the
other-not both a melancholic and a user of cosmetics" (506). Only one
of the guests at the Cornelius party, a fellow named Moller, departs from
the prevailing code of extreme body-stylization. In contrast to the disciplined
tautness of those who want their bodies to be pale or reflective
surfaces, Moller's clothing is ostentatiously loose and his body is heavy
and natural. At the same time, he is the only guest who prefers traditional
German folk music to fashionable "jazz dances" [see Dancing],
and who plays his own guitar instead of rendering up his body to the
rhythms of the gramophone. Moller is described as "a typical Wandervogel"-that
is, a member of a proto-Fascist youth movement. "He has
a wild tangle of hair, horn-rimmed spectacles, and a long neck, and
wears kneesocks and a belted shirt. His regular occupation ... is banking,
but he is something of an amateur folklorist and collects folksongs
from all localities and in all languages. He sings them, too, and at Ingrid's
command has brought his guitar" (506). Moller's preference for shorts
resonates with Hitler's views. Hitler has expressed concern that tight
pants might be excessively confining for the bodies of young men-and
might thus jeopardize Germany's future: "In particular, among our
young people, clothing must be seen in the context of education. The
boy who runs around in the summer wearing long pants ... loses an
important incentive for strengthening his body" (Hitler, 457).
Related Entries
Bars, Boxing, Dancing, Employees, Endurance, Stars, Telephones, Wireless
Communication, Authenticity vs. Artificiality, Center = Periphery
(Infinitude)
References
Les Annees-memoire: 1926. Paris, 1988.
Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (1926). Munich, 1941.
John Kobler, Ardent Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. New York, 1973.
Fritz Lang, Metropolis (1926). New York, 1973.