Monism and/as Revolution. MARIE EUGENIE DELLE GRAZIE’S critique of monism in her “modern” epic poem "Robespierre" (1894)

Abstract

Scientific and philosophical revolutions often pave the way for social and political change. The concept of “monism” in Germany and Austria in the last decades of the nineteenth century can be read as a discursive marker of such a paradigm shift, inspired by Darwinism and positivism. However, theories that identified as monism were not only diverse, but often contradictory and incompatible with one another, especially in regard to their ethical implications. This article examines the epic poem Robespierre published in 1894, in which the poetess, the Vienna-based MARIE EUGENIE DELLE GRAZIE, displays, confronts and criticises a variety of monisms. This article interprets the epic poem as an illustration of DELLE GRAZIE’S understanding of monistic literature and relates delle Grazie’s choice of setting – the French Revolution – to the consciousness of revolutionary change in eighteenth-century France and nineteenth-century Austria.