German students, members of mostly right-wing fraternities called “kämpfende Verbindungen,” used to fence fiercely. When they were cut on the face, they tended the wound with salt to make sure there would be a good scar.
While my encounter with a sharp-knifed dermatologist wasn’t intended to leave a scar proving my masculinity, I’ve got something that reminds me of those students.
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About Scott Abbott
I received my Ph.D. in German Literature from Princeton University in 1979. Then I taught at Vanderbilt University, BYU, and Utah Valley State College. At Utah Valley University, I directed the Program in Integrated Studies for its initial 13 years and was also Chair of the Department of Humanities and Philosophy for three years. My publications include a book on Freemasonry and the German Novel, two co-authored books with Zarko Radakovic (REPETITIONS and VAMPIRES & A REASONABLE DICTIONARY, published in Serbo-Croatian in Belgrade and in English with Punctum Books), a book with Sam Rushforth (WILD RIDES AND WILDFLOWERS, Torrey House Press), a "fraternal meditation" called IMMORTAL FOR QUITE SOME TIME (University of Utah Press), and translations of three books by Austrian author Peter Handke, of an exhibition catalogue called "The German Army and Genocide," and, with Dan Fairbanks, of Gregor Mendel's important paper on hybridity in peas. More famously, my children are in the process of creating good lives for themselves: as a model and dance/yoga studio manager, as a teacher of Chinese language, as an ecologist and science writer, as a jazz musician, as a parole officer, as a contractor, as a seasonal worker (Alaska and Park City, Utah), and as parents. I share my life with UVU historian Lyn Bennett, with whom I have written a cultural history of barbed wire -- THE PERFECT FENCE (Texas A&M University Press). Some publications at http://works.bepress.com/scott_abbott/
My father had dueling scars, all over his face, acquired in Tuebingen during his days studying medicine and physics. The middle class boys making believe they were medieval knights. Fortunately yours won’t deface you as badly as his did his. x m.r
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You have a photo of your father? I’d love to see his face.
And the word “deface” is a good one.
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I lost all my photos nearly ten years ago during a flood, but am askng relatives. xmr
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hope the cells behave. sounds & looks serious.
this schmiss/scar stuff is overrated. but ‘deface’ is indeed a good word.
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thanks, it ought to be okay with a couple of fine dermatologists watching it.
lyn has begun to call me scarface, which makes me feel manly in that way i was socialized to feel.
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Do you have the original photo of the fraternity-student?
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no, the photo from the internet
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