HERMANN HESSE AND THE DIALECTICS OF TIME Salvatore C. P. ...
HERMANN HESSE AND THE DIALECTICS OF TIME Salvatore C. P. ... HERMANN HESSE AND THE DIALECTICS OF TIME Salvatore C. P. ...
and their tendency toward daydreaming, solitary walking, musing, reverie and meditation. (Nalbantian, 24) In Chapter 2 (section 5), we stressed the importance of the Romantic legacy in Hesse in relation to the musical context. This influence is, however, also discernible in Hesse's approach to memory: Erinnerung ist fur [Hesse] die Kunst, »einmal Genossenes nicht nur festzuhalten, sondern immer reiner auszuformen«, das Zufallige zum Typischen und Giiltigen zusammenzufassen, das Vergangliche festzuhalten, das Flussige und Wandelbare zu kristallisieren. (Michels, 'Nachworf to KF, 383) Hesse's words and Michels's framing comment clearly express the view that memory is an ongoing process which, far from faithfully recalling the past, continually reshapes it. The allying of memory and 'the self during the Romantic period, which led to the flourishing of the genre of autobiography (see previous section), resonates in Hesse, who, as discussed in 1.6, tends to scatter references to his private life throughout his works. 'Eine Senate', a short story of 1906, serves the purpose of illustrating this quality of Hesse's writing. Hesse was very close to his sister Adele and regarded her as one of the few who had access to their common childhood memories; she was also his confidante during his turbulent marriage with Mia, whom Hesse married in 1904 (see 3.1). Their relationship is mirrored in the protagonist's rapport with her brother. Hedwig Dillenius finds it impossible to establish any intellectual connection with her husband and seeks understanding and solace in her sibling who 'gehorte zu ihr, er hatte dieselbe Art, denselben Geist, die gleichen Erinnerungen wie sie, er sprach dieselbe Sprache' (SW 6, 458). The influence of Hesse's private memories on his works is occasionally reversed, with memories of fictional events intruding into his life, as Hesse's account of a 'deja vu' suggests in 'Eine Konzertpause' (1947): 'und es fiel mir ein, dafi so, wie ich vor dieser gebannten Pforte stand, einst Joseph Knecht vor der Zellentiire des Paters Jakobus gestanden und einer Senate zugehort hatte' (Musik, 108). 109
Hesse's main characters who, almost without exception, embody the type of the 'Suchender' (or 'self-seeker' in Ziolkowski's terms, see 2.3), have to come to grips with their past in their quest for their own identities: Hermann Lauscher strives to recall as many images of his childhood as he can, Kuhn has to face up to the incident that crippled him as an adolescent, Harry Haller regards his past as thorny, and his sense of guilt is often reawakened by memories (see 4.4). 6 4.2 Hesse and memory In emphasizing the different modalities of memory, King points out: We remember in different ways at different times: the same memories can be recalled voluntarily, and resurface involuntarily. Moments of the past can be invoked by words, smells, tastes, and sounds: we represent these moments to ourselves in visual images, in stories, in conversations. When people try to articulate the ways in which they remember, metaphor seems inevitable. (9) In Hesse's works, each sense can act as a catalyst for recollection, and memories are portrayed through metaphors calling on various senses. At the outset of Hermann Lauscher, for example, the narrator of the autobiographical 'Meine Kindheit' claims that his recollection of the past begins with the scent of flowers or a song. In Nurnberger Reise, September reminds the narrator of the passing of time, 'es war September geworden [...] Zu keiner Zeit spiire ich wie in diesen Tagen den Ruf der Verganglichkeit' (SW 11,141). The evocative power of sounds, too, plays a central role in the process of reminiscing for Hesse's characters. In Eine Stunde hinter Mitternacht, the queen begs the court minstrel to play the violin because 'ihr Klang ist mir lieb, denn er erinnert mich meiner fernen Heimat' (SW 1, 201). Music has a similar effect on Hesse himself who, in a memorial page for a former schoolmate (Paul Eberhard) who committed suicide, maintains: Plotzlich aber schlug der Spieler den ersten Takt des Trauermarsches an, und ich erwachte jah wie von einem unvermuteten Stofi, doch erwachte ich nicht 6 As Boulby observes: 'Hesse's love and enthusiasm were above all else directed to memories of his own childhood, which Lauscher already sees as being at an insufferable distance, a lost world of innocence' (7). 110
- Page 65 and 66: movements of a tripartite sonata. M
- Page 67 and 68: In addition, Hesse's main character
- Page 69 and 70: Drin eins das andre halt, Zeigen si
- Page 71 and 72: Klange alle wie die Stimme der Mutt
- Page 73 and 74: father, soul and spirit. 59 To Gold
- Page 75 and 76: evolution of his connections to mus
- Page 77 and 78: Music means solace for Kuhn in Gert
- Page 79 and 80: Furthermore, the erotic element of
- Page 81 and 82: Hesse's penchant for 'klassische' (
- Page 83 and 84: the aesthetic qualities of a piece
- Page 85 and 86: creation is, for Hesse, the princip
- Page 87 and 88: 'Hesse had nothing against virtuosi
- Page 89 and 90: undramatisch' (letter of 1898 to He
- Page 91 and 92: As far as the formal plane is conce
- Page 93 and 94: called 'absurd'. 53 The most conspi
- Page 95 and 96: existence and the dismissal of any
- Page 97 and 98: in that the former's opera paves th
- Page 99 and 100: 'Bine Arbeitsnacht' (1928), he poin
- Page 101 and 102: debate on jazz but also by the Nazi
- Page 103 and 104: catchy tunes threaten to drain art
- Page 105 and 106: individuationis—accepting his lim
- Page 107 and 108: Singen oder Summen oder auch nur da
- Page 109 and 110: die Erden und Sterne harmonisch im
- Page 111 and 112: in the euphoria of the 'Maskenball'
- Page 113 and 114: Chapter 4 Memory, metamorphosis, an
- Page 115: Hesse's approach to memory and the
- Page 119 and 120: ich sah mich wahrend der ganzen Vor
- Page 121 and 122: with music, which would eventually
- Page 123 and 124: correlative' of childhood in Hesse.
- Page 125 and 126: equally pressing desire to release
- Page 127 and 128: mit Entsetzen erinnerte ich mich an
- Page 129 and 130: Hesse ascribes his fascination with
- Page 131 and 132: weigert sich, es will sich haufig a
- Page 133 and 134: exceptions (see the myth of Pygmali
- Page 135 and 136: internalized and replaced by transf
- Page 137 and 138: to India ('Erinnerung an Mwamba').
- Page 139 and 140: there are occasions when we experie
- Page 141 and 142: Beschreibung einiger Augenblicke ku
- Page 143 and 144: In the first place, time is no long
- Page 145 and 146: Beja underlines that, for both Berg
- Page 147 and 148: Karalaschwili refers to as the 'Zei
- Page 149 and 150: (unity, memory, and music) merge in
- Page 151 and 152: of Hesse's personal creed as well a
- Page 153 and 154: Nichts war, nichts wird sein; alles
- Page 155 and 156: The complex symbol of the river in
- Page 157 and 158: as revealed by the opening line of
- Page 159 and 160: While Mann's image of endless repet
- Page 161 and 162: Glasperlenspiel). Clearly, 'authori
- Page 163 and 164: spread very rapidly to the human sc
- Page 165 and 166: poetic world: the metaphor of the s
and their tendency toward daydreaming, solitary walking, musing, reverie<br />
and meditation. (Nalbantian, 24)<br />
In Chapter 2 (section 5), we stressed the importance of the Romantic legacy in Hesse<br />
in relation to the musical context. This influence is, however, also discernible in<br />
Hesse's approach to memory:<br />
Erinnerung ist fur [Hesse] die Kunst, »einmal Genossenes nicht nur<br />
festzuhalten, sondern immer reiner auszuformen«, das Zufallige zum<br />
Typischen und Giiltigen zusammenzufassen, das Vergangliche festzuhalten,<br />
das Flussige und Wandelbare zu kristallisieren. (Michels, 'Nachworf to KF,<br />
383)<br />
Hesse's words and Michels's framing comment clearly express the view that memory<br />
is an ongoing process which, far from faithfully recalling the past, continually<br />
reshapes it. The allying of memory and 'the self during the Romantic period, which<br />
led to the flourishing of the genre of autobiography (see previous section), resonates<br />
in Hesse, who, as discussed in 1.6, tends to scatter references to his private life<br />
throughout his works.<br />
'Eine Senate', a short story of 1906, serves the purpose of illustrating this<br />
quality of Hesse's writing. Hesse was very close to his sister Adele and regarded her<br />
as one of the few who had access to their common childhood memories; she was also<br />
his confidante during his turbulent marriage with Mia, whom Hesse married in 1904<br />
(see 3.1). Their relationship is mirrored in the protagonist's rapport with her brother.<br />
Hedwig Dillenius finds it impossible to establish any intellectual connection with her<br />
husband and seeks understanding and solace in her sibling who 'gehorte zu ihr, er<br />
hatte dieselbe Art, denselben Geist, die gleichen Erinnerungen wie sie, er sprach<br />
dieselbe Sprache' (SW 6, 458).<br />
The influence of Hesse's private memories on his works is occasionally<br />
reversed, with memories of fictional events intruding into his life, as Hesse's account<br />
of a 'deja vu' suggests in 'Eine Konzertpause' (1947): 'und es fiel mir ein, dafi so, wie<br />
ich vor dieser gebannten Pforte stand, einst Joseph Knecht vor der Zellentiire des<br />
Paters Jakobus gestanden und einer Senate zugehort hatte' (Musik, 108).<br />
109
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