Colonialism in Greenland by Søren Rud

Author:Søren Rud
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

Neurasthenia Across Metropole and Colony: Class, Gender, and the Primitive

The links between the neurasthenia diagnosis and the (ongoing process of establishing) various identities in the city is evident in the Danish case. In his article on neurasthenia of 1886, Pontoppidan stated that unfortunately many middle-class women in Copenhagen would break down under the pressure of complicated life in the capital. Previously, according to Pontoppidan, not much was asked of a good wife: she should basically give birth to her husband’s children. Now, however, the complicated life in the city demanded women’s involvement in a variety of activities and, furthermore, the women were forced to share the practical concerns of their husbands. As Pontoppidan wrote, the complicated life in the capital would therefore “inevitably exceed her resources.”53 The class aspect is as clear as the gender aspect in the Pontoppidan text, where he connects the occurrence of neurasthenia with the fact that members of the middle class had adopted the diet of the upper classes without being able to enjoy this lifestyle in accordance with the original intention. This observation bears a certain resemblance to the excessive-consumption understanding of kayak fear presented above. In both cases, the adoption of the luxurious lifestyle by other classes or races/cultures is associated with danger.

What is significant, in relation to the analysis of kayak fear as neurasthenia, is that the neurasthenia diagnosis is articulated with such flexibility. The condition could function as the ambiguous sign of the civilizational advance of western culture, and could participate in the formation of identities by ascribing varying degrees of ability to cope with this complexity to various societal groups. The condition’s affiliations with class appear to have varied between countries. Generally, neurasthenia in England was associated with the upper class, whereas in Germany it was associated with both the middle and upper class. Similarly, in Denmark, according to Pontoppidan, mainly members of the middle class and upper class suffered from neurasthenia, not the lower (or higher) classes.54 In accordance with the general scientific trend in the latter part of the nineteenth century, ideas on degeneration and heredity issues were tied to the neurasthenia diagnosis especially in European contexts. Pontoppidan’s article clearly stated that the main cause of nervous disorders was heredity. At that time, acquired characteristics were thought to be inherited. The confusing and restless modern city life of an individual could lead to neurasthenia, or related disorders; this individual could then pass a nervous disposition on to his or her offspring. The children of the nervous parent(s) would then have a low tolerance to the unrest and haste of modern life and accordingly be more susceptible to neurasthenia.

What is interesting to note is how the evolution of the diagnosis and its convenient flexibility could be used indirectly to further colonial policy. Pontoppidan regretfully concluded that his time had not yet “matured enough” to acknowledge the radical measures required if one was to battle the pervasive degeneration.55 It was more feasible, Pontoppidan argued, to target the upbringing of children. According to Pontoppidan, the children of the capital were introduced to amusements prematurely.

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