Wider Cultural Influence
Wyneken's ideas on pedagogical eros, related through gay emigres to the USA, influenced the fiction and educationalist writings of Paul Goodman. He also influenced Homer Lane who settled in England in 1912 to run the 'Little Commonwealth' school in Dorset, and who became the mentor of A.S. Neill
Wyneken's ideas and influence allowed pedagogic eros to be treated in cultural productions such as the first ever feature-film on same-sex love, Mädchen in Uniform (Germany, 1931), based on the novel The Child Manuela by Christa Winsloe. Among many other cultural manifestations from this era in Germany are: Robert Walser's novel Institute Benjamenta (1908; English trans. 1995); and Erich Ernst's novel Symphony of Eros (1925). Colette's novel Claudine at School (1957 in English) reflects some of the influence of German ideas on teaching traditions in French boarding schools.
The theme has continued to be explored in literature and film; most recently in novels by David Cook (Happy Endings, 1989); Stephen Fry; and Alan Hollinghurst; in poetry and song lyrics by Pauline Stainer ("The Flute Lesson"), Momus ("The Guitar Lesson"), Rufus Wainwright ("The Art Teacher"), and Sting ("Don't Stand So Close to Me").
For a fuller discussion & bibliography of the appearance of the theme in books and films; see: Jo Keroes's book Tales Out of School: Gender, Longing and the Teacher in Fiction and Film (Southern Illinois University Press, 1999); and for a discussion of U.S. classroom issues see: Regina Barreca and Deborah Morse's The Erotics of Instruction (1998).
Read more about this topic: Gustav Wyneken
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