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

Achtbar, insoders liebe Briider und Schwestern. [...] Erstlich, [...] will ich mich
gegen euch bedanken, beide der Gunst und Freundschaft, von mir unverdient,
so ihr mir erweisen wollen durch euer Hereinkommen zu Fufi und Wagen. 65
(495)
By discrediting his narrator, an event which never occurs in Hesse, at least not in
such terms, Mann employs 'a mode of narration that is not only authoritative, but
also displays an ironic self-awareness of its own mediating role' (Midgley, 5). 66
Although Boulby observes that self-irony is integral to the style of Das
Glasperlenspiel, where '[t]he reflective posture is, in fact, itself directly ironized' (299),
and Vahlbusch seeks to demonstrate that the statements of the narrator of Unterm
Rad should not be taken at face value (see especially his section 'Tendentiousness',
26-39), the lack of an ironic interplay between the different levels of narration has
often been regarded, along with Hesse's didactic tone and the marked biographical
character of his fiction, as one of the shortcomings of his artistry which has
undermined the significance of his contribution to twentieth-century literature. 67
'Despite all', Stewart comments:
there is indeed a sense in which Hesse's writing claims the kind of validity
unredeemed by irony that belongs to the nineteenth rather than the
twentieth century. [...] For all his stress on humour, it is perhaps precisely that
which Hesse lacks as writer. [...] Ultimately [he] has not fully achieved that
65 Midgley illustrates a similar example of Mann's use of narrative irony through the free indirect speech
(Erlebte Rede) in the context of the Buddenbrooks (see Midgley, 4-5)
66 Considering the similarities linking the narrative framework ofDoktor Faustus and Das Glasperlenspiel,
Boulby draws attention to the distance between Mann's and Hesse's employment of irony, as illustrated by the
different characterisation and function of their respective narrators: 'The analogy [of the 'mock biographer' of
Das Glasperlenspiel], both formal and to some extent psychological, with Mann's Serenus Zeitblom suggests
itself. But it does not take us very far; unlike Mann's narrator, Hesse's lacks self-pity as he lacks self-criticism'
(note 56, 276). Similarly, Field observes: '[the] reciprocal dependence of "nature" and "spirit" [in Siddhartha]
offers one of many points of comparison with Thomas Mann's treatment of the theme in The Transposed Heads.
The major difference lies in Mann's hilariously ironical and satirical handling of the material, while Hesse
maintains an exalted poetic tone' (1970, Chapter 6, section 2, para. 7 of 15). Theodorou, who stresses the
modernity of Der Steppenwolf, therefore misses the point when he ascribes the same 'Distanzirung' achieved by
Mann's narrative irony to Hesse's novel: 'Wahrscheinlich gibt es in Hesses ganzem Werk keine einzige Stelle,
an der er so «modern» ist wir am Ende der Steppenwolf-Erzahlung. [...] Nur hier hat Hesse jene Verbindung von
Ergriffensein und Distanzierung erreicht, die wir sonst nur bei Thomas Mann kennen' (148).
67 Boulby, who stresses that 'Hesse can only be evaluated as a didactic writer' (242), brings out this aspect in the
context ofNarzifi und Goldmund: 'symbol[s are] not allowed to speak for [themselves], but [are] interpreted by
commentary; but this technique [...] was always an integral feature of Hesse's work, for [his] lyrical novels are
also all didactic novels, poem and tract are combined in them' (ibid.). According to Magris, Hesse is at times
guilty of the 'poetic sin' of explicitly describing those truths (such as the unity of life) that poetry only really
captures when it does so indirectly, and through a fleeting glimpse (see Magris 1977, XXX; my translation). The
discussion in Chapter 1 (section 6) touches upon the criticism scholars level at the personal tone of Hesse's
fiction.
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