The composition and fate of the hero has been the subject of culture and literature since antiquity. \u00a0The idea of one individual, surpassing common constraints and achieving greatness has long held an important place in the human psyche. \u00a0The creation of the New Man, by both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, transformed the concept of a new , modern human being into their own unique ideal. \u00a0Peter Fritzsche and Jochen Hellbeck argued in Beyond Totalitarianism<\/i> that the Nazi hero exemplified the optimal Aryan purity and perfection, while Soviet Russia allowed every individual to achieve greatness through self-reformation into the proletarian socialist.<\/p>\n
The relationship between the physical body and this transcendent state of being occurred in both ideologies. \u00a0Soviet Russia concentrated its efforts in creating the ideal proletarian New Man by changing the human body through modernization and mechanization. \u00a0One example, Bogdanov underwent blood transfusions in order \u201cto create a communal proletarian body.\u201d ((Peter Fritzche and Jochen Hellbeck, \u201cThe New Man in Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany,\u201d in Beyond Totalitarianism<\/i>, ed. Michael Geyer and Sheila Fitzpatrick (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 316)) \u00a0In this case the individual attempted to change their blood, the very essence of their being, in order to create a New proletarian Man. \u00a0Although the physical transformation of the body into the New Man faded from mainstream Soviet ideology, the body (this time young, healthy, and robust) remained a secondary indicator of the ideal Soviet New Man. ((Fritzche and Hellbeck, \u201cThe New Man\u201d in Beyond Totalitarianism<\/i>, 320))<\/p>\n
Similarly, Nazi Germany utilized the physical as a representation for the important ideas meant to create the New Man. \u00a0The racial purity espoused by the Nazi Party was meant to guarantee a superior race of human beings capable of world domination; by perfecting the body through race the German people could once more achieve greatness. ((Fritzche and Hellbeck, \u201cThe New Man\u201d in Beyond Totalitarianism<\/i>, 328)) \u00a0The body must therefore be continuously transformed through generations of racially pure matches in order to create the ideal New Man. \u00a0Moreover, the idealized Aryan eclipsed racial purity and applied to clothing, exercise, and, diet. ((Fritzche and Hellbeck, \u201cThe New Man\u201d in Beyond Totalitarianism<\/i>, 329)) \u00a0The New Man relied on physical and aesthetic, not just mental enlightenment; similar to the concept of the New Man in Stalinist Russia.<\/p>\n
In both Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany, the regimes attempted to create a New Man by manipulation not only of the mind, but also the body. \u00a0How does this physical manipulation relate to the construction of the modern state?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The composition and fate of the hero has been the subject of culture and literature since antiquity. \u00a0The idea of one individual, surpassing common constraints and achieving greatness has long held an important place in the human psyche. \u00a0The creation … Continue reading