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

identified by Ziolkoski (see Chapter 3, section 1). Indeed, Ziolkowski identifies a
threefold pattern in the development of Hesse's 'Humor', moving 'from a desperate
gallows humor, through the rousing laughter of the Immortals, to the beatific smiling
irony of the Glass Bead Game' (1965, 69). 19 Without refuting Ziolkowski's argument,
Hesse's 'Humor', as it appears from his works, does not undergo substantial changes
throughout his career. Hermann Lauscher's 'fast feindselig[e] Ironie' (1900; SW 1,
224) prefigures the bitter irony and sarcasm of Haller in Der Steppenwolf (1927). Leo's
'frommes dienendes Bischofslacheln' (SW 4, 586) in Die Morgenlandfahrt (1932), or
indeed Vasudeva's 'helle[s] Lacheln' (SW 3, 443), is reminiscent of the benign smile
of God in Knulp (1915). 20 Richard's resounding laughter in Peter Camenzind (1904)
'Oh, wie er [Richard] lachen konnte' (SW 2, 60)-resonates with the immortal
laughter of Mozart: 'O wie lachte da der unheimliche Mann [Mozart]' (SW 4,198) in
Der Steppenwolf (1927) * Therefore, there is not so much an evolution in Hesse's
'Humor' certain qualities can indeed be found in any of the periods outlined by
Ziolkowski as more a shift in emphasis, an intensification in the recurrence of
certain symbols (e.g. the serene smile that expresses an all-embracing harmony) and
images such as the corrosive sneering laughter that surfaces more often and gain
prominence in a particular period.
Having clarified the meaning of 'evolution' in the present discussion, the
remainder of this section will highlight aspects of Hesse's 'Humor' taking into
account the turning points in his life and career (see the periodization given in
19 Boulby alludes to a similar triadic pattern in the development of Hesse's 'Humor' when he observes with
regard to Siddhartha: 'The harshness, the stoniness of Demian's trance face has been softened; the
hermaphroditic smile of the Buddha speaks a serenity which in a later novel is to be transformed into laughter'
(138). It is also worth underlining that the threefold pattern of the evolution of Hesse's 'Humor', as indicated by
Ziolkowski, does not fully overlap with the three phases of Hesse's life as outlined in the first section of Chapter
3.
20 See the end of section 6.5 in this chapter, note 56.
21 A further example is provided by a passage in Der Steppenwolf. The moment of bathos brought about by
Harry's almost imploring request at the end of the novel, 'Und wenn ich Ihnen, Herr Mozart, das Recht
abspreche, uber den Steppenwolf zu verfugen und in sein Schicksal einzugreifen?' (SW 4, 202), followed by
Pablo's reply, 'Dann [...] wurde ich dir vorschlagen, noch eine von rneinen hubschen Zigaretten zu rauchen'
(ibid.), recalls the way in which the narrator of'Sommerschreck' (1906), published some 20 years earlier than
Der Steppenwolf, interpolates a sequence full of pathos with the humorous remark 'der ich ohne Vorstrafen war':
' Aber war es nicht vielleicht allzu grausam, daB ich daftir nun durchs Feuer laufen muBte, nackt und mit Ketten
gefesselt mitten durch einen grofien, lodernden Feuerbrand? Hatte man mich, der ich ohne Vorstrafen war, nicht
einfach kOpfen kOnnen, oder meinetwegen ertranken oder hangen?' (1906, 348).
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