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

waste land (1922), and his Four quartets prompts several comparisons in relation to
music, time, and eternity. 26 Rilke, who expressed his encouragement to the young
author of Eine Stunde hinter Mitternacht (1899), is relevant to the discussion on
metamorphosis for Die Sonette an Orpheus (1923) and, in the context of our discussion
on eternity in Chapter 5 (section 4), for the poem 'An die Musik' (1918). 27 Moreover,
we will refer to Camus' The myth of Sisyphus (1942) with regard to Hesse's
connections with Existentialism (see especially Chapter 3, section 3) and eternity
(Chapter 5, section 3). 28
Three further observations on the scope, approach, and methodology have to
be made by way of conclusion. Firstly, although dreams are connected with Hesse's
idea of time, and both Freud and Bergson registered similarities between the
psychological mechanisms underlying humour and dreams, no specific discussion
on dreams has been included, since this would have excessively widened an already
broad area of investigation, not allowing adequate scrutiny of each single strand and
eventually resulting in an approximate and non-cohesive study.
Secondly, although we have not intentionally restricted our investigation to a
specific genre or category, most of our observations and references are to Hesse's
narrative fiction which, more than his prolific poetic production, has attracted our
attention and stimulated our reflection. Moreover, the reader will certainly notice
that a large part of our arguments draws on or points to Der Steppenwolf which, for
reasons that will be justified throughout this thesis, we tend to regard as the pinnacle
of Hesse's narrative production. 29
26 Attention is drawn to similarities between Hesse's and Eliot's concept of eternity, especially in Chapter 5
(sections 2 and 4).
27 Rilke's praise of Eine Stunde hinter Mitternacht was not, however, without reservations on the overall poetic
qualities of Hesse's small collection of poems (see Freedman 2005, 83-84). Furthermore, Rilke's response to
Hesse's poetry, which he often regarded as stylistically 'flach und uninteressant' (Freedman 2005, 86), was
generally rather tepid.
28 Despite Hesse's veneration for Mozart and Bach, and his consistent reference to their music as an unsurpassed
fusion of aesthetic and ethical qualities, it is Wagner, whose music Hesse often criticises, who offers significant
elements of comparison with Hesse's artistry in Chapter 3 (section 3).
29 The originality of Der Steppenwolf rests on the modernity of its structure (see Chapter 2) and also on the
poetic aims and orientations it expresses (see Chapter 3). The novel deals with all the themes with which this
research project is concerned: the clash between ideal and reality, also articulated as the contrast between time
and eternity; humour and music, central themes in the autobiographical Kurgast too; memories as a burden, and
metamorphosis (see the 'transformation' of Pablo into Mozart in Chapter 4, section 5).
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