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. ...
of time and the intrinsic difficulty of its definition, it pursues an indirect approach. 18 Indeed, the way Hesse's characters relate to their memories, for example their mixed feelings towards their past, often offer more important insights into the character's appreciation of time than do their dialogues. Hesse's use of the literary device of 'epiphany' is at times more revealing of his attitude towards time than are his direct statements on the subject. His descriptions of timeless music and his idea of humour as a feature of immortality can achieve a much more vigorous poetic formulation than any of his direct pronouncements on eternity. The exploration of temporality will therefore draw on five interconnected themes, five inflections of time within Hesse's works: music, memory, metamorphosis, eternity, and humour. These themes, which share the same elusiveness of time it is equally difficult to pin down and describe their essence as well as the psychological responses they trigger might seem completely unrelated, at first glance. However they all point to time, as this thesis shall show, and interlock, to a greater or lesser degree, in Hesse's literary production. First and foremost, tempo and rhythm are primary elements of music which, like writing, unfolds through time; and time, in turn, participates in the very essence of music as noted by Hesse: 'das Wesen der Musik [ist] Zeit' (Letter of c. 1940; Musik, 177). Scholars (Valentin, Diirr, Ziolkowski, Moritz, Karalaschwili), biographers (Freedman, Limberg), and Hesse himself, have repeatedly stressed the importance of music in his life and work, as Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 will illustrate. Chapter 4 focuses on memory first and then on metamorphosis. 19 Memory, which is inconceivable without the concepts of past and present, acts as a bridge to the childhood of many of Hesse's characters and, in a perspective redolent of Rousseau's theories, Hesse identifies the ability to reconnect to childhood as being the true gift of a poet: 'es ist den Dichtern gegeben, dafi sie sich mehr als andere 18 Although we all tend to have an instinctive, empirical knowledge of what time is, it is difficult to come up with an exhaustive definition. In Confessiones (c. 397 A.D.), Saint Augustine gives a measure of the elusiveness of the subject in his well-known answer to the question of what time is: 'Provided that no one asks me, I know. If I want to explain it to an inquirer, I do not know' (Book XI, 230). 19 The emergence of 'epiphanies' in Hesse's work will be discussed at the end of the chapter (section 6) as a link with the discourse on the fleeting at the beginning of Chapter 5.
Menschen ihres fruhesten Lebens erinnern' (ESM, SW 1,185). Metamorphosis, which like memory is closely connected with the identity of a person, certainly implies a transformation in time. In Kurzgefasster Lebenslauf (1921-1924), metamorphosis appears as the ability of the artist, as well as of the child, to manipulate the external reality of the material world. Siddhartha comes to the realisation that all creatures and objects of creation take part in an ongoing process of transformation in the eternal flux of being (section 5). In Piktors Verwandlungen (1922), metamorphosis is represented as the only condition for happiness: '[w]enn [alle Wesen] nicht die Gabe der Verwandlung besitzen, verfallen sie mit der Zeit in Traurigkeit und Verkumme- rung und ihre Schonheit geht verloren' (SW 9,190). Hesse's perspective on eternity and its images in his works will be discussed in Chapter 5. An Artist's concern with immortality relates to an interest in a possible dimension beyond death. By implication, this interest also betrays the hope that, by virtue of some imperishable quality in their work, it may stand the test of time and transcend the boundaries of their epoch. It is no accident, therefore, that, in Der Steppenwolf, Mozart and Goethe are explicitly portrayed as members of what Hesse terms 'die Gemeinschaft der Unsterblichen' (letter of 1959, Musik 188). Hesse conspicuously draws on music to illustrate those qualities which, in his opinion, make a work of art of everlasting significance. 20 Musical forms, furthermore, such as the fugue foster his imagination and elicit images of eternity (see section 5.2 on 'simultaneity'). Mozart and Goethe, as Immortals, share two further interdependent qualities in Der Steppenwolf: self-transcendence and humour, the latter being the main thread for the concluding chapter (Chapter 6). As Goethe puts it, seriousness is an incidental characteristic of time, which stems from its overestimation on men's part, while humour informs the realm of eternity: Der Ernst [...] ist eine Angelegenheit der Zeit; er entsteht [...] aus einer Uberschatzung der Zeit. [...] In der Ewigkeit aber [...] gibt es keine Zeit; die 20 In this context, see Chapter 3, especially in connection with Hesse's appreciation of Wagner (section 3) and jazz (section 4). 8
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of time and the intrinsic difficulty of its definition, it pursues an indirect approach. 18<br />
Indeed, the way Hesse's characters relate to their memories, for example their mixed<br />
feelings towards their past, often offer more important insights into the character's<br />
appreciation of time than do their dialogues. Hesse's use of the literary device of<br />
'epiphany' is at times more revealing of his attitude towards time than are his direct<br />
statements on the subject. His descriptions of timeless music and his idea of humour<br />
as a feature of immortality can achieve a much more vigorous poetic formulation<br />
than any of his direct pronouncements on eternity.<br />
The exploration of temporality will therefore draw on five interconnected<br />
themes, five inflections of time within Hesse's works: music, memory,<br />
metamorphosis, eternity, and humour. These themes, which share the same<br />
elusiveness of time it is equally difficult to pin down and describe their essence as<br />
well as the psychological responses they trigger might seem completely unrelated,<br />
at first glance. However they all point to time, as this thesis shall show, and interlock,<br />
to a greater or lesser degree, in Hesse's literary production. First and foremost, tempo<br />
and rhythm are primary elements of music which, like writing, unfolds through<br />
time; and time, in turn, participates in the very essence of music as noted by Hesse:<br />
'das Wesen der Musik [ist] Zeit' (Letter of c. 1940; Musik, 177). Scholars (Valentin,<br />
Diirr, Ziolkowski, Moritz, Karalaschwili), biographers (Freedman, Limberg), and<br />
Hesse himself, have repeatedly stressed the importance of music in his life and work,<br />
as Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 will illustrate.<br />
Chapter 4 focuses on memory first and then on metamorphosis. 19 Memory,<br />
which is inconceivable without the concepts of past and present, acts as a bridge to<br />
the childhood of many of Hesse's characters and, in a perspective redolent of<br />
Rousseau's theories, Hesse identifies the ability to reconnect to childhood as being<br />
the true gift of a poet: 'es ist den Dichtern gegeben, dafi sie sich mehr als andere<br />
18 Although we all tend to have an instinctive, empirical knowledge of what time is, it is difficult to come up<br />
with an exhaustive definition. In Confessiones (c. 397 A.D.), Saint Augustine gives a measure of the elusiveness<br />
of the subject in his well-known answer to the question of what time is: 'Provided that no one asks me, I know.<br />
If I want to explain it to an inquirer, I do not know' (Book XI, 230).<br />
19 The emergence of 'epiphanies' in Hesse's work will be discussed at the end of the chapter (section 6) as a link<br />
with the discourse on the fleeting at the beginning of Chapter 5.