Correspondences (Dec 2022)
Children of Baldur: Understanding the Construction of Masculinity within Göthicism and the Manhem Society
Abstract
The article focuses on how a nineteenth-century Swedish nationalistic movement, Göthicism, understood masculinity. The primary example used is Manhemsförbundet (the Manhem Society), an initiatory and educational organization active between 1815–1823. Most of its material was produced by the author Carl Jonas Love Almqvist (1793–1866). The society was at the center of cultural trends and debates in Sweden, notably those about education and how young males can best be of service to the nation. Göthicism and the Manhem Society urged Swedes to look inwards and develop their own national character, arguing that foreign influences made Sweden decadent and weak. Göthicism then sought answers to Sweden’s problems in the pre-Christian past. The Manhem Society attempted to further put Göthicism into practice. The Society developed a structure similar to freemasonry with degrees based on Old Norse mythology, where the candidate was to follow a mythical narrative of the story of Baldur that led from darkness to light. The degrees also included physical training and exercises to shape a manly character. The article argues that the initiations of the Manhem Society were used to create a form of masculinity that was an expression of middle-class ideals about character.
