The first version of the story Melusine was published during the end of the Feudal era. On the other hand, Undine was written in 1811. Since the 14th century, the world changed in many ways, including the colonization of the Americas. The development of capitalism was in full swing. Also, the Industrial Revolution is a relevant consideration for the period. I also wonder what the story means in the context of the Black Forest producing many of the modern fairytales that we know of today
After my first read of the story, I noticed that the author has somewhat romanticized the appearance and beauty of nature. This makes me wonder if the separation of Man from nature during the Industrial Revolution is what caused this. When de la Motte Fouque writes, “They wander over the pure sand of the sea”, it makes me think that there is already a disconnect from the natural environment because of the way it is so highly described. I doubt a society connected closely to nature would write this story with such an emphasis on the beauty of nature because they likely see it all the time.
The ending of the story makes me further convinced that this story could be a call to acknowledge the separation of humans and nature that didn’t always exist. When Undine references the natural elements of the world as her family and explains that the soul of her kind is carried on into nature, it highlights that modern humans (in the 19th century) are often living in more urban settings without a connection to the natural world.
In future stories, I am curious to see the continued development of the relationship between humans and the natural environment. I would also like to see some modern stories from non-Western parts of the world and compare the differences between the cultural norms.
Absolutely wonderful focus and query. You are right to situate the stories in a historical trajectory (and we will talk more about this in class tomorrow) and to question what they say about human relationship to the environment in specific times. I think this is a great topic for either midterm assignment or a final essay. I would just ask you to ground your analysis further in the text- to develop your claims via explication (we will also talk more about this in class tomorrow). This is wonderful work. Keep going!
I think this was a really insightful take on the relationship between humans and the natural world around this time. I think urbanization, especially today, has made a major separation between us and nature. I think this makes people appreciate natural beauty in a much different way than one might have if we didn’t have such a disconnect with nature. I’m also interested to see if there are different cultural norms from other parts of the world and how their perspective compares to the ones we’ve read.
Hey River, I really dig that you’re always on top of the historic and cultural shifts happening as the stories are being written (especially because thats never been my strong suit) because it really provides a different lens to read the stories. Something I hadn’t picked up on until reading your blog was the reference to the Black Forest, which I hadn’t considered to be the root of many fantasy stories but realized a video game I enjoy called “Valheim” has all these mystical beings and monsters in a section of the map called the Black Forest. It is starting to freak me out how prevalent mermaids/mermaid stories are in present day media and technology as I would have never realized had I not taken this class!