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

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Chapter 1 Hesse's dialectics and creative process Every work of art functions as a system, the components of which are structured and integrated in a coherent whole with both internal and external connections. Symmetry and proportion help to shape the internal relations of a painting, and repetition plays a similar role in music and literature (e.g. refrains, anaphoras). External associations range from the historical or social context to references to other works of art (e.g. the use of allegory and parody). A work of art is thus a network of intra-, inter-, and extratextual elements: it consists of internal relations and correspondences as well as connections with the world outside itself. Referring to the novel, Karalaschwili points out that a work of art expresses an individual vision of the world endowed with a sort of universal resonance: '[Djer Roman ist, wie eine beliebige kiinstlerische Form, ein Weltmodell' (77). Within this vision, certain stylistic and poetical elements will more than others define and characterize the specific 'Weltbild' of an artist. 1 To a critic or indeed to anyone who is merely familiar with Hesse's work, the title of this thesis, 'dialectics of time', will immediately bring to mind one of the signature aspects of his art, the theme of opposites. Binary oppositions inform Hesse's thought and creative process, as well as his writing on a formal level (e.g. metrical patterns), to such an extent that his art comes to resemble a complex and dynamic network of antinomies. 2 Hesse's reception has been marked by similarly divergent, almost diametrically opposed, opinions: 'Das bipolare Prinzip wirkt sich in der Rezeption auch dahin aus' (Moritz, 69). There has always been a hiatus between the general appreciation of Hesse's vast readership and the more sceptical approach of some critics; his great international renown is at odds with his more limited reputation in his native country.3 1 'Weltbild' is part of the subtitle of Karalaschwili's text. 2 'Es [das Polar itatsdenken] ist ein holistisches Konzept, das sowohl einen iibergreifenden weltanschaulichen Lebensentwurf reflektiert als auch konkrete Manifestation auf sprachstruktureller Ebene fmdet [...] Hesses Werk [ist], kein polares, sondern ein multipolares Netzwerk' (Gommen, 20 and 45). 3 Oscillating between enthusiasm and rejection, Hesse's readership is similarly divided over the quality of a given work. As Hesse observes in a letter of July 1930: 'Wer mir zum "Siddhartha" gratulierte, lehnte meistens 13
This chapter explores this intriguing feature of Hesse's thought and creative process. I engage with the existing literature on the origins of Hesse's dialectics (section 1.1) and define its significance within his oeuvre (1.2). Three topics, all related to the idea of conflict or polarities, are examined in the subsequent sections: paradoxes (1.3), 'magical thinking' Hesse's 'formula' to bridge the gap between the inner reality of the self and the outer sphere of the world (1.4) and the contrast between intellectualism and naivety (1.5). The last section deals with another fundamental aspect of Hesse's artistry that has captivated his critics: autobiographical references and resonances in his works (1.6). 1.1 Thinking in polarities: Origins The idea of polarities has a pervasive influence on Hesse's art, and it is difficult to think of a scholar who has not commented on it, either extensively or in passing.4 While Moritz deals with it in a preliminary discussion in Die musikalische Dimension der Sprachkunst: Hermann Hesse, neu gelesen (2007), Gommen gives it sustained attention in her monograph, Polaritatstrukturen im Werk Hermann Hesses: Lyrik, Epik, Drama (2006). Karalaschwili's chapters (1986) "'Coincidentia oppositorum": Zur Poetik des Erzahlschlusses' (160-88) and, above all, 'Yin und Yang: Charakter und Weltbild des kunstlerischen Modells' (77-104) represent his main contributions to the topic. Wright draws analogies between Hesse and the Russian novelist Bulgakov in his article of 1983, where he identifies 'the theme of polarities' as a common denominator between the two writers. Binary contrasts are the focus of Field's article of 1974, 'Hermann Hesse: Polarities and symbols of Synthesis'. Stolte, whose title Hermann Hesse: Weltscheu und Lebensliebe (1971) hints at the polarised dynamics underlying the ebb and flow of Hesse's love for life, focuses on this aspect in his den "Demian" oder den "Klingsor" ab. Wer den "Steppenwolf' liebte, der fand den "Kurgast" schwach. Wer mir Lobspriiche tiber den "Goldmund" sagte, der tat es meistens nicht ohne durchblicken zu lassen, daI3 niemand mir auf den so unerfreulichen und miflgliickten "Steppenwolf hin ein so ansta'ndiges Werk zugetraut hatte' ('An einen Leser', GS VII, 493). 4 For Karalaschwili, 'So ware dies die Idee der Polaritat, die bis in die kleinsten Details des kunstlerischen Systems dringt und den Charakter der in Hesses Romanen dargestellten Wirklichkeit bestimmt' (78). 14
Page 1 and 2: HERMANN HESSE AND THE DIALECTICS OF
Page 3 and 4: Chapter 5 Eternity_________________
Page 5 and 6: Declaration The discussion on Tablo
Page 7 and 8: Abstract This thesis explores Herma
Page 9 and 10: century onwards.4 The discussion on
Page 11 and 12: An interest in eternity is not Hess
Page 13 and 14: die Zeit fur mich hat, wie ich die
Page 15 and 16: Menschen ihres fruhesten Lebens eri
Page 17 and 18: subject and countersubject in the l
Page 19: Finally, dates of publication have
Page 23 and 24: und Du, Freund und Feind, Tier und
Page 25 and 26: Karalaschwili accounts for this pas
Page 27 and 28: paradoxically, his personal 'freedo
Page 29 and 30: As Boulby perceptively notes, chara
Page 31 and 32: [D]ie Legende [1st] jene Literaturf
Page 33 and 34: the other hand, he is convinced tha
Page 35 and 36: ejection entails an act of the mind
Page 37 and 38: his way to enlightenment, is attune
Page 39 and 40: 'Fifty year old Harry Haller [...]
Page 41 and 42: eal self is transferred onto pairs
Page 43 and 44: consideration. 55 Clearly, any aspe
Page 45 and 46: This chapter, which is the necessar
Page 47 and 48: In the twentieth century, the adven
Page 49 and 50: 609). 14 Klingsor even calls on the
Page 51 and 52: This conception of music, reflected
Page 53 and 54: eproducing the soloist's frenzy, in
Page 55 and 56: Spafi'). A further point we drew at
Page 57 and 58: they revolve around a common 'home
Page 59 and 60: More recent literary employment of
Page 61 and 62: In the chapter 'Erwachen', after hi
Page 63 and 64: 'modulated' and developed, identify
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
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Klange alle wie die Stimme der Mutt
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father, soul and spirit. 59 To Gold
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evolution of his connections to mus
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Music means solace for Kuhn in Gert
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Furthermore, the erotic element of
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Hesse's penchant for 'klassische' (
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the aesthetic qualities of a piece
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creation is, for Hesse, the princip
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'Hesse had nothing against virtuosi
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undramatisch' (letter of 1898 to He
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As far as the formal plane is conce
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called 'absurd'. 53 The most conspi
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existence and the dismissal of any
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in that the former's opera paves th
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'Bine Arbeitsnacht' (1928), he poin
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debate on jazz but also by the Nazi
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catchy tunes threaten to drain art
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individuationis—accepting his lim
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Singen oder Summen oder auch nur da
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die Erden und Sterne harmonisch im
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in the euphoria of the 'Maskenball'
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Chapter 4 Memory, metamorphosis, an
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Hesse's approach to memory and the
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Hesse's main characters who, almost
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ich sah mich wahrend der ganzen Vor
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with music, which would eventually
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correlative' of childhood in Hesse.
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equally pressing desire to release
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mit Entsetzen erinnerte ich mich an
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Hesse ascribes his fascination with
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weigert sich, es will sich haufig a
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exceptions (see the myth of Pygmali
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internalized and replaced by transf
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to India ('Erinnerung an Mwamba').
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there are occasions when we experie
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Beschreibung einiger Augenblicke ku
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In the first place, time is no long
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Beja underlines that, for both Berg
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Karalaschwili refers to as the 'Zei
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(unity, memory, and music) merge in
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of Hesse's personal creed as well a
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Nichts war, nichts wird sein; alles
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The complex symbol of the river in
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as revealed by the opening line of
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While Mann's image of endless repet
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Glasperlenspiel). Clearly, 'authori
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spread very rapidly to the human sc
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poetic world: the metaphor of the s
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Verwandlungen, Goethe and Mozart-Pa
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und die Worte waren kleine schwarme
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After dealing with the rather probl
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greater foe than emotion' (Bergson,
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of experience may be arbitrary and
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identified by Ziolkoski (see Chapte
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Rad (1905-1906) is a noticeable exc
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however, the dualism of 'ideal' and
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'Witzbold und frechen Bettler' (SW
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from their own creation through an
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observed in Chapter 3 (section 2),
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works, and the motif (the mirroring
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hinein: Kindergesichter sufi und er
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As noted above (6.1) that the last
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Mozart play practical jokes on Harr
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superior wit. Furthemore, Mozart's
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The various sections do not [...] r
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Modernist distance from the norms o
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concludes that what might seem a sh
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Jahren war ich nicht mehr in dem sc
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irths and deaths, as portrayed in '
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Salvages' V; 1944, 30), as one of h
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HERMANN HESSE, Bibliography Betrach
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'Chapter 6: Siddhartha: The Way Wit
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Kilchenmann, Ruth J., 'Hermann Hess
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Theodorou, Panagiota, '«Das leiden
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Debord, Guy, The society of the spe
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Mann, Thomas, Doktor Faustus: das L
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Volkmann-Schluck, Karl H., 'Novalis
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Schmidt, Richard A.; Lee, Timothy D
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HERMANN HESSE AND THE DIALECTICS OF TIME Salvatore C. P. ...

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