On the scandalous appeal of Ernst Haeckel’s <i>H</i> <i>istory of Creation</i> ( <i>Natürliche Schöpfungsgeschichte</i> , 1868)

Abstract With its extensive international distribution and lengthy publishing history, some scholars consider Ernst Haeckel’s Natürliche Schöpfungsgeschichte (1868) to have had a greater impact on the public’s reception of the theory of evolution than Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859) (Oppenheimer, Jane M. 2016. Haeckel’s variations on Darwin. In Biological metaphor and cladistic classification , 123–136. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press; Richards, Robert J. 2008. The tragic sense of life: Ernst Haeckel and the struggle over evolutionary thought . Chicago: The University of Chicago Press: 223–224). The book was as provocative in its anti-clerical stance as it was in its scientific scope, claiming that evolution made “development” the “magical word” for solving all the riddles of our natural environment (Haeckel, Ernst. 1868a. Natürliche Schöpfungsgeschichte [Natural history of creation], 1st edn. Berlin: Georg Reimer: iv). This paper examines how Haeckel’s narrative strategies contributed to the book’s scandalous appeal and lasting reception. Its structural parallels to the biblical Genesis and its English translation – which omitted the fact that there was talk of a natural history of creation – suggest a deliberate blurring of theological and scientific registers, unsettling and attracting readers alike. On the one hand, the book garnered a wide following, especially among lay audiences and progressive cultural critics. On the other, it contributed to Haeckel’s marginalization in certain theological and scientific circles. Thus, analyzing Haeckel’s narrative reveals the careful balance required to deliberately “scandalize” narrative styles in order to make one’s case, whether in broader society or among specific readerships.