Erna Pinner und Julian Huxley. Konstellationen des naturalistischen Diskurses im britischen Exil.

The article focuses on the intellectual and cultural intersections between literature and natural science in the British exile context, examining the popular scientific works and ideas of Julian Huxley, a British biologist and director of the London Zoo, and Erna Pinner, a German-Jewish artist and author. Both figures, shaped by the ideological, scientific, and sociopolitical upheavals of the early twentieth century—including colonialism, war, and the eugenics movement—shared a belief in scientific progress, though their approaches diverged. Huxley’s concept of transhumanism extended evolutionary theory into a moral imperative for human-directed evolution, while Pinner’s illustrated and literary works reflected eugenic and feminist discourses prevalent in Germany, emphasizing maternal instincts and animal behavior from a largely essentialist perspective. Their collaboration in London after Pinner’s exile from Nazi Germany illustrates the complex cultural dialogue between Britain and Germany, highlighting how their works, situated at the margins of mainstream science, continued to influence postwar scientific and ethical debates.