HERMANN HESSE AND THE DIALECTICS OF TIME Salvatore C. P. ...

harbinger of that 'memory crisis' marking the end of the nineteenth century and then
remerging at the end of the following century. 3
At the end of the nineteenth century, memory also assumes a crucial position
for psychoanalysis. By breaking with the idea that all important events of the past of
an individual are accessible through memory, psychoanalysis brings slips and lapses
to the fore. Proust investigates 'involuntary memory' while Bergson recognises 'the
hitherto overlooked role of the body in modes of remembering' (Whitehead, 102).
New perspectives emerge in the course of the twentieth century: Halbwachs's
and Nora's studies on collective memory; the idea of memory as trauma resulting
from the events and experiences of the two world wars; and the 'work on the "neural
networks" which create and destroy memories in a continuous process' (see King,
25).
The 'inscription' and expression of memory through narrative plays a major
role in the life and work of writers generally, the process of writing itself being
inextricably bound to memory. Both writing and reading require time, and call upon
the memory of the writer and the reader. The ability to remember is fundamental for
a writer to maintain the unity of a plot, retain a broad vocabulary, or pursue
linguistic 'deviations' from standard usage. Unlike most visual artists (e.g.
photographers, painters, and sculptors), writers and composers have to rely to a
large degree on memory.4 Indeed, their works develop and unfold through time, and
a number of their techniques, such as accumulation in music and climax in literature,
would be inconceivable without the temporal dimension of memory. Furthermore,
some writers, including Hermann Hesse (see 1.6), draw on their personal experiences
and memories to such an extent that 'it is eas[y] for us to view the man mirrored in
his work' (Freedman 1973,155).
The first section of this chapter deals with the intersection between memory an
identity in Hesse's life as well as in the psychology of his characters (4.1), while
3 'In 1872', Ziolkowski observes, 'Nietzsche struck a blow against academic history in his "Untimely thoughts"
on "the use and disadvantage of history for life", where he lists five reasons why the "oversaturation" of his age
in history is "hostile and dangerous for life" (2007, 147).
4 Time undoubtedly affects cinema and performing arts such as dance and theatre to a greater degree than it
influences sculpture or photography.
107