1 Masks of Fiction The Function of the Nietzschean Mask in the Works of Hermann Hesse Adam Keith Roberts Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Languages, Cultures and Societies Centre for World Literatures September 2016 2 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. The right of Adam Keith Roberts to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. © 2016 University of Leeds and Adam Keith Roberts 3 Acknowledgments This project could have never come to fruition without the invaluable guidance of Dr. Ingo Cornils, whose constant support, advice, gracious time, and attentive feedback has consistently helped me to hone my research skills and to shape my work into a cohesive dissertation. I would also like to thank Professor Stuart Taberner, whose additional support and guidance has been equally helpful throughout the course of this project. Beyond my supervisors, I wish to thank Jennifer Staton for her ongoing support, patience, and encouragement, along with her gracious feedback and editorial assistance throughout all stages of this PhD. Furthermore, I extend my appreciation to Andrea Basso, whose feedback and advice has helped me to get a handle on and clarify some of the more difficult theoretical aspects of this project. I also thank Dr. Elizabeth Ward, who has been a great advisor on climbing over many of the commonly overlooked humps of being a PhD student. Finally, I wish to thank all my family and friends who have supported and encouraged me throughout the course of this project. 4 Abstract This project examines the crucially informative role that masks and notions of masking have historically played in shaping western conceptions of identity. Specifically, it explores how this historical pattern is particularly transformative in the works of one of the early twentieth century’s most important writers, Hermann Hesse. Major elements of this development are illustrated by highlighting significant parallels between Hesse and the Irish poet W.B. Yeats, whose literary engagement with masks and identity are starkly similar to Hesse’s. Hesse’s works are commonly read as narratives of a ‘search for the Self’. However, very little scholarly attention is given to exploring what this concept of ‘Self’ actually means in Hesse’s works. By placing acute critical attention on the roles of masks in Hesse’s novels, this project reveals how Hesse’s literary portrayals of identity develop significantly from his first to his final novel (Peter Camenzind in 1904 and Das Glasperlenspiel in 1943). Importantly, the project illustrates how Hesse’s early literary depictions of masks and identity come from a deeply entrenched medieval conception of a ‘fixed’ Self, but, as his career progresses and his portrayals of the ‘Self’ develop, the rhetorical instrument of Friedrich Nietzsche’s ‘Mask’ begins to inform Hesse’s literary representations of identity. This project illustrates how Hesse altogether transforms his portrayals of the ‘Self’ through this rhetorical device. In doing so, it reveals the pertinent role of masks in Hesse’s works and amplifies Hesse’s voice in a long historical dialogue regarding masks and identity. 5 Table of Contents Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………………………-3- Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………….-4- Introduction………………………………………………………………………………. -8- The Work in Progress……………………………………………………………………...-9- What is the‘Self’?...........................................................................................................-10- Project Outline………………………………………………………………………….-12- Chapter 1: Literature Review…………………………………………………………….-18- 1.1 Chapter Introduction………………………………………………………………..-18- 1.2 The Biographical Approach………………………………………………………..-19- 1.3 New Bricks, Old Foundation: the Biographical Effect……………………………..-25- 1.3.1 The Psychological Angle……………………………………………………….-26- 1.4. Towards a New Method……………………………………………………………-31- Chapter 2 From Mask to Self: A Brief History…………………………………………..-34- 2.1 Chapter Introduction………………………………………………………………..-34- 2.2 From Theatrical Expression to Sinister Disguise…………………………………..-34- 2.2.1 Early Modern to Modern Conceptions of the Self and the Mask………………-38- 2.3 The Nietzschean Mask: an ‘Impression’ of the Self……………………………….-46- 2.4. Chapter Conclusion………………………………………………………………..-53- Chapter 3 From Self to Mask: A Parallel Development Between Hesse and Yeats……..-54- 3.1 Chapter Introduction………………………………………………………………..-54- 3.2 The Nietzschean Influence…………………………………………………………-56- 3.3 Analysis…………………………………………………………………………….-62- 3.3.1 The Two Trees and Never Give All the Heart…………………………………..-63- 3.3.2 Peter Camenzind and Gertrud………………………………………………….-68- 3.3.2.1 Peter Camenzind…………………………………………………………...-69- 3.3.2.2 Gertrud……………………………………………………………………..-78- 6 3.3.3 The Mask and The Player Queen……………………………………………….-92- 3.3.3.1 ‘Man is Nothing Till He is United to an Image’…………………………..-101- 3.3.3.2 The Change is Now Complete…………………………………………….-106- 3.4 Chapter Conclusion……………………………………………………………….-109- Chapter 4 Mask of Fiction: Fictional Narrative as Semiotic Mask in Der Steppenwolf..-111- 4.1 Chapter Introduction………………………………………………………………-111- 4.2 The Effects of the Novel’s Structure……………………………………………...-112- 4.2.1 Novel Summary………………………………………………………………..-112- 4.2.2 Previous Views on the Novel’s Structure……………………………………..-115- 4.2.3 Relying on Unreliability: the Editor’s Validating Frame…………………….-118- 4.3. Unmasking through Masking: The Magic Theatre and the Masked Ball………..-123- 4.4 Chapter Conclusion……………………………………………………………….-130- Chapter 5 Masked Bildungsroman: Das Glasperlenspiel and the External Self………..-134- 5.1 Chapter Introduction………………………………………………………………-134- 5.2 Summary…………………………………………………………………………..-138- 5.3 Narrative Framing………………………………………………………………...-142- 5.3.1 The Superficial Claim…………………………………………………………-142- 5.3.2 Ironic Tensions………………………………………………………………..-148- 5.3.2.1 ‘Einmal würde ich das Lachen lernen‘.......................................................-158- 5.4 The Intended Meaning: The Bildungsroman...........................................................-163- 5.4.1 The Three Lives: Masks as the Transitory Garb of an Entelechy.....................-164- 5.4.1.1 Knecht’s Masks of Fiction...........................................................................-169- 5.5 Parallels, Self-Exploration, and Masked Expressions in the Lives.........................-177- 5.5.1 Der Regenmacher..............................................................................................-179- 5.5.2 Knecht’s Poetry: Klage and Stufen....................................................................-186- 5.5.3 Indischer Lebenslauf.........................................................................................-194- 5.5.3.1 The Yogi.......................................................................................................-202- 7 5.5.4 Der Beichtvater.................................................................................................-212- 5.6 Awakenings, Transcendences, and Stages..............................................................-217- 5.7. The Castalian Dystopia: Ideology and Servitude...................................................-227- 5.8 Chapter Conclusion.................................................................................................-232- Conclusion........................................................................................................................-235- A Step Toward Never Defining the ‘Self’?...................................................................-235- Synopsis.........................................................................................................................-236- The Daily Masquerade..................................................................................................-238- Bibliography.....................................................................................................................-243- 8 Introduction This project identifies and explores a significant conceptual and philosophical development that has been overlooked in the works of one of Germany’s most well-known and influential authors, Hermann Hesse (1877-1962). It demonstrates how shifting perceptions of masks and their relation to conceptions of personal identity from ancient Greece up through the early twentieth century play an instructive and transformative role in Hesse’s literary representations of ‘the Self’. (The meaning of this concept of ‘Self’ is explained in detail in Chapter 2.) Through close literary analysis, I will show that Hesse’s early portrayals of the Self and masks (found in his novels Peter Camenzind [1904] and Gertrud [1910]) are products of a deeply rooted medieval conception that personal identity is defined by a fixed and stable internal essence, which the protagonists of these early novels attempt to uncover; however, in his later novels (namely, Der Steppenwolf [1927] and Das Glasperlenspiel [1943]) his representations break from this traditional conception. I will demonstrate that, in these two novels, Hesse inverts his portrayals of the Self