Song of Deer

Song of Deer
Song of Deer (German: Lied der Reh [li:t  de:ɐ̯  ʁe:]) is a 1898 manifesto by then German noble Lord Heros Sooniecher. First published by Enke Verlag in Stuttgart in 1898, Song of Deer was later recognized as one of the world’s most influential documents on social Darwinism. The work presents an analysis on evolution of modern species and their sociological conflicts, using the relationships between Cervine and Lupine to illustrate the viewpoints.

Song of Deer summarizes Sooniecher’s theories on the varying stages of evolution in different species, namely those of Canine which, according to his own believes, vastly exceed those of others. The book questions the validity of the status sapience in Cervine, frequently blurring the line between anthropomorphic and feral.

The book and its ideals were one of many works to shape the Zeitgeist of northern Germany which was thought to be one of degeneracy sparked by a general feeling of ennui, cynicism and pessimism that was prominent in the 19th century. The themes of Song of Deer were highly controversial and have been cited as a major influence on specicism and as a generator of the science of geopolitics, including the theory of absolutation.

Inception and intentions
Sooniecher began work on Song of Deer sometime in 1897, when living in Paris. His experience of fin de siècle had major influence on the tone of his work. The first draft was written by hand in his apartment in the 16th arrondissement and consisted of over 100 pages of lose paper and scraps containing thoughts and notes he had collected over the year. These papers would later produce a script on a typewriter in a single night. It is stamped December 10th 1897 and differs from the final publication only in minor detail, such as spelling and formatting. The original 1898 document was preserved throughout the 20th century and is today part of the Fritz Reuter Literary Archive (FRLA) in Berlin.

Song of Deer was intended to serve as a think piece and de facto guideline for the European rulers, whom saw themselves in conflict with the rising ideas of positivism, naturalism and objectivism. The time was characterized by a fluctuation between spirit of optimism, diffuse fear for the future and regression, a mood of the “end of time”, weariness with life and the world, fascination with death and transience, easy living and frivolity and decadence. A general crisis plagued the leading social classes, because basic values of social life appeared to be endangered in the wake of World War One. The European ruling classes overreacted to the crisis phenomena and in a "great fear that circulated amongst the rulers” a continuous military rearmament took place: "Militarization took on a dimension beyond any historical comparison." Sooniecher writes “For the first time in my life, I see the values of art, cultural heritage, legacy and – to my great despair - even my very lust for living endangered. It is with great grievance that I realize how everything I cherish runs a risk of being burned at the stake. I fear for what this means for the world; something must be done.”

Naming
The title “Lied der Reh” is an erroneous spelling of “Lied des Rehs” or “Lied der Rehe” (Song of [the] deer, Song of deer, plural) that stems from common vernacular in 19th century Germany which popularized the abbreviation of contextual genitive to be used as a stand-in plural. Sooniecher does not cite any reason as to the naming of his work, however it is speculated to be a romanticization of the distinctive vocalizations of common deer (Capreolus capreolus), which Sooniecher refers to as “singing” in many portions of the text.

Contents
The arrangement of chapters is as follows:

•	Introduction: Europe at Wits End

•	Chapter 1: Modern Species

•	Chapter 2: The Theory of Absolutation

•	Chapter 3: The Crucible of Resolve

•	Chapter 4: Why we need the Deer

•	Chapter 5: Sexuality as a Cultural Asset

•	Chapter 6: Into the new Century

Analysis
In Song of Deer, Sooniecher uses the concept of “predator and prey” as a recurring theme to branch into other subjects, such as the difficulties of modern society to accommodate for the varying needs of different species living in increasingly homogenic habitats that were facilitated by the ongoing industrialization. The narrative describes his process of becoming increasingly fascinated with the idea that sexual deviancy is especially developed in Cervine and that they feel drawn to the supposed “aura of dominance a large predator instills.”

He goes on to describe how he develops the firm believe that prey species must inherently be “of lesser state in the wheel of evolution, would a more advanced state command them to establish dominance themselves.” Based on this Sooniecher argues that the key to a functioning society that can house different species is to “unravel in great detail the exact discrepancies in evolutional stages and develop a system to determine how each of them can benefit the society it is part of in the most efficient manner.”

Social Darwinism
The idea of whether Sooniecher’s work is of speciesist nature is subject of debate among historians. While some historians argue that his thesis was ahead of its time, many would discredit the manifesto as delusional.

The British historian Emerick Cowell writes that “[He] frequently shifts between sensible concepts, such as dividing cities into several habitats to better suit the needs of individuals, but just as quickly bases this theorem on the inherently bigoted idea that some of them are simply unfit to live to the same standards as others and should thus subordinate themselves to the rule of a “more advanced” species which is, unsurprisingly, the Wolf.”

In Song of Deer, Sooniecher writes about his grievances with the decline of the arts in Germany and how he believes that deviancy, decadence and excess will help to nourish culture and artistic liberty. He believes that the decline can mostly be attributed to a hard push against the established class-systems and “prominence of lesser developed species in society.” He goes on to argue that in order to maintain a society that can flourish and grow, it is necessary to divide it based on their biological capabilities. He envisions a conducive to resiliency and enduring civilization as follows: "“The most ideal form of civilization in respect to the improvement of the species they harbor, would be one in which life was costly; where monetary gains were chiefly derived from ones prolificacy and skill and inheritance; where man had a chance of showing his abilities and - if highly gifted - was enabled to achieve a fulfilling life and be recognized in his greatness; where one would be urged to strive for achievements and improvement, not burdened by an oppressive crush to sustain oneself and their family but acknowledgement that without improvement, life is vapid; where sexuality is cherished and mating with those further in the wheel of evolution is encouraged.”"Sooniecher was also highly interested in laws of inter-special marriage. He describes a desire for regulating relationships between species in general, in particular when and how such pairings of couples would be allowed. His desire was to create a system that would grant romantic relationships and especially marriage only among biologically compatible species as well as imposing restrictions based on social class. Recognizing however that such regulations have shown to be of very little effect in prior history he writes that “if one examples the very way of couples bonding in love, it is inevitable that the population will detest and revolt against the idea.” Instead, Sooniecher proposes that “if one were to instead emphasize the importance of marriage and childbirth by virtue of social benefits, the populace will naturally gravitate towards partnering with their own kin and, more importantly, will seek to ascend in class.”

Absolutation
In the chapter “The Theory of Absolutation”, Sooniecher describes his idea of an "ideal state of being", an individual who has risen or strives to rise above an ordinary life which is considered mundane and negative. The term draws parallels to the Dionysius of Halicarnassus’s concept of the “Hyperanthropos” but differs from it in that it describes a status more so than an individual.

From Sooniecher’s point of view, it is the task of any given species to produce a type that is more highly developed than its former counterpart. Sooniecher refers to this process as “reaching absolutation”, a phrase that has both a spiritual and a biological meaning to him. Sooniecher first uses the term absolutation in his earlier writings in reference to Will to Power in Friedrich Nietzsche’s "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" where he refutes Nietzsche’s idea of there only being a singular state of the universe that will keep repeating itself over and over and instead argues that “Man must make its own destiny and those who comfort themselves to the idea of inevitability will only hamper progress.”

Sooniecher adopted the term from microbiology where it describes a state of complete saturation in cells, meaning the cell is at a biological peak where is has no direct need to interact with its environment and can be self-sustaining. According to Sooniecher, absolutation describes the “Amalgam of mental and biological peaks, a being that has reached its apex of physical attractiveness and has overcome the nihilism of its existence as an individual; it is supremely built, confident in its own self and abilities; able to form decisions without concerning itself with the morale of the ones beneath it.”

Initial publication and banning
Song of Deer was first published in late February 1898 by Enke Verlag in Stuttgart in the state of Baden-Wüttenberg. It was released as a hardcover with light green backing in this first edition, which printed around 1000 copies to be distributed to Germany. After this initial wave of printing, 4000 more were printed in late March; 3000 in German and 1000 in French which were exported to Paris, where interested readers were already awaiting the translated work.

Although a pamphlet included in the original wave of printing stated that Song of Deer would be printed in “English, French, German, Italian, Flemish and Danish languages”, the initial printings only saw German and French. Around July-August of 1898, Polish and Danish translations were available and by the end of the year, an English translation was published in Denmark and also made its way towards England.

In 1899, Enke Verlag approached Sooniecher for permission of a print as a paperback to sate demand and decrease printing costs of the expensive Büttenpapier Sooniecher demanded the book to be printed in, but Sooniecher declined. Song of deer continued to be in print until the early 1900s before availability began to decline in preparations of World War I. Sales records after 1900 were largely lost, but it is estimated that in total, between 12.000 and 13.000 copies of the book must have been printed considering references in contemporary media and advertisements in countries outside Germany and France. It saw limited print after World War I before printing and publication was banned in 1936, as the NSDAP had outlawed the printing of books written by certain species, which included Wolves.

Current availability
Enke Verlag, which held the sole printing rights to Song of Deer, decided to not continue printing the book after the end of World War II, for fear of the books ideologies leading to potential lawsuits. In 1948, Sooniecher purchased the rights to print back from Enke but no new official copies have been produced since. Many copies were destroyed in the two World Wars but because the book never faced a confiscation order for already distributed copies after its banning, it survived well into the 21st century. A PDF format of the book in German, French, English, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Danish and simplified Chinese is available at the website of the German Historical Institution Paris (Deutsches Historisches Institut Paris, DHIP).

In 2002, number 32 of the original print run from 1898 sold for 1.2 Million Euros at an auction in Vienna to an anonymous bidder.