SURREALISTIC TRENDS IN NIKOLAUS LENAU'S POETRY by Marietta A. Alker A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Humanities in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida June, 1974 SURREALISTIC TRENDS IN NIKOLAUS LENAU' S POETRY by Marietta A. Alker This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate's thesis advisor, Dr. Ernest L. Weiser, Department of Languages and Linguistics. It was submitted to the faculty of the College of Humanities and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. SUII:+OMMZE~ (Chairman) j{:C_~ ( . M ' u~ ~ / J/ ii ABSTRACT Author: Marietta A. Alker Title: Surrealistic Trends in Nikolaus Lenau's Poetry Institution: Florida Atlantic University Degree: Master of Arts in Languages and Linguistics Year: 1974 The nineteenth century Austrian poet Nikolaus Lenau used strange associations of words and ideas which are reminiscent of the bizarre combinations of realism and fantasy the surrealists used at the beginning of the twentieth century. Categories of surrealistic devices are set up, and surrealistic paintings and the poetry of Lenau are discussed using these guidelines. iii CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT. • • . • . • . • • . • . • . • • • • • • • . • . iii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1 CHAPTER II: SURREALISTIC TRENDS IN PAINTING AND IN POETRY......... 3 CHAPTER III: SURREALISTIC TRENDS IN NIKOLAUS LENAU'S POETRY....... 16 CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSION............................................ 36 BIBLIOGRAPHY. • • • • • • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 3 9 LIST OF PAINTINGS. • . • . • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • 42 iv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Hugo Schmidt makes the following statement in his book Nikolaus Lenau: "Expressing the confined areas of his inner life, Lenau created verbal equivalents that, in their haunting, and at times, surrealistic quality, point far into the future." 1 Following Schmidt's lead, the contemporary reader notes that Lenau used modern techniques a long time before surrealistic literature became current. In my thesis I intend to set up categories of stylistic devices used by the surrealists and then discuss them in the context of surrealistic painting and poetry and of some of Lenau's works. In most instances I shall only quote the passages which best illustrate the above mentioned stylistic devices and not the whole poem. When discussing surrealistic trends in Lenau's poetry, I shall put those passages of French surrealistic verse which show the same technique into the footnotes. It is not my intent to claim that Lenau was a surrealist. But several of his poems have surrealistic overtones that result from stylistic devices that are unusual in nineteenth century poetry. Lenau's poems remind one of what George Schmidt, the director of the Basel Kunstmuseum, discusses in referring to the surrealists: "Surrealistic art becomes a one-sided conversation, a 1Hugo Schmidt, Nikolaus Lenau (New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1971), p. 34. 1 2 2 soliloquy delivered into a tragic void." What Lenau shares with the surrealists is this "tragic void," Hugo Schmidt's "verbal equivalents," and the technique of combining reality and fantasy. The linking of unrelated words or images is another feature Lenau and the surrealists have in common. By fusing two or more conventional elements Lenau and the surrealists often found new ways to express their feelings. Thus they enriched the vocabulary and brought new beauty to poetry. There is no evidence of a direct influence of Lenau upon the surrealists. It is my intent to show through this thesis that he may be considered one of those early artists who are "better appreciated in the light of surrealism,which can be credited with having blazed a trail retrospectively for them."3 2George Schmidt, "What has the Art of Psychotics to Do with Art as Such," Insania Pingens (Basel: Published by Cibal, 1961), p. 19. 3william Gaunt, The Surrealists (New York: Putnam Publishing Company, 1972), p. 30. CHAPTER II SURREALISTIC TRENDS IN PAINTING AND POETRY Surrealism developed in France during the first half of the twentieth century. It first affected painting and later literature, sculpture and even photography. The writer Andre Breton became the leader of the movement and explained and defended it in his Manifeste du Surrealisme. 1 Breton worked informally with the writers Eluard, Aragon, Desnos, Peret, and Artaud, and the painters Ernst, Ray, Mira, Dali, Magritte, Tanguy, and Chagall. What makes surrealistic art unique is the mood it creates. William Gaunt states in his book The Surrealists that "by using fantastic and macabre effects, dreamlike situations, and the revela- tion of that source of marvel they consider the subconscious mind to be, the surrealist artists create a lonely and macabre atmosphere 2 that is immediately distinguishable from other art forms." In his book The History of Surrealism, Maurice Nadeau expresses the view that surrealistic man has a conflict between his rationality and his subconscious. He feels that the subconscious,which can only be explored in dreams is the true source of man's actions. 3 But the surrealists never entirely turned away from the world of their lAndre Breton, Manifeste du Surrealisme (Paris: Pauvert, 1962). 2 Gaunt, p. 7. 3Maurice Nadeau, The History of Surrealism (New York: The Macmillian Col, 1965), p. 48. 3 4 conscious perceptions and only linked these perceptions with their dream imagery. The representation of this world of fantasy was the new element which took the place of accurate nature descriptions which, according to Louis Aragon, was done better by photography. 4 The artistic aim of the surrealists was to establish a perfect balance between the exterior world and their own state of mind. The works 5 they created were called "meteors of imagination" by Salvador Dali. In relating the conscious and the subconscious the surrealists arrived at a new logic which stemmed from their readiness to combine contradictory elements. This new logic may be translated into the following list of artistic devices which I have conceptualized in such a way as to provide a basis for the comparison of Lenau and the surrealists: 1. The combination of abstract and concrete qualities. 2. The association of words and phrases not normally associated. 3. The placing of fragmentary images into an unrelated environment. 4. The putting of objects from the different realms of reality and illusion into close proximity. 5. The combination of different states of mind or dimensions of existence; e. g., the visible and invisible and the actually present and that which is present only in the 4Louis Aragon, "Painting and Reality," as quoted in Anna Balakian, Surrealism: The Road to the Absolute (New York: E.P. Dutton and Co., Inc., 1970), p. 175. 5Ibid. 5 fantasy through the intensity of desire. 6. The creation of mental or inner landscapes, pictures that compel the viewer or reader to turn inward, because the portrayal of the outer world is bereft of clues or orientation. 7. The creation of sudden sensations and impressions, that is of flashing images. Bizarre, fantastic pictures often result from the strange associations found in the works of the surrealists. The atmosphere of strangeness also leads to feelings of unconnectedness and alienation which in their extreme turn into sensations of cruelty and horror. The fragmentary images in unrelated environments often engender a feeling of dehumanization since the connection is broken between man and his customary milieu. Since surrealism first appeared in painting, this medium will be the first to be discussed. In most of the surrealist paintings a combination of abstract and concrete qualities can be found. It is best demonstrated in Yves Tanguy's works, especially in the painting Il faisait ce gu'il voulait. This is a mystical vision where everything seems to be in suspended animation in the semi-light of an atmosphere that is reminiscent of an arctic sunset. We find here an apocalyptic aspect of the universe with a tiny man in the background. This solitary human figure appears to be trying desperately to escape his loneliness. This is indicated by the imploring manner of his outstretched arms which are encircled by ribbons. He seems to sense the quality of doom that hangs over 6 the hostile landscape with its self-contained shadows. The hopeless­ ness of the human figure is underscored by the complete absence of any other human life and of any trace of warmth. The man appears to be giving way to the conical, geometric form and to an octopus-like mollusk which loom in the foreground .and may survive human life. There is a quality of unearthliness contained in this work which develops from the fusion of a realistic man and a dream setting. Associations of concepts which are usually disassociated can be found in Rene Magritte's Le Modele rouge. A foot and a boot, which are usually separate entities, are fused here to create a new object. At first glance we think that we have two boots in front of us. Further investigation reveals the perfectly realistic toes, and we have to accept the fact that our new objects start out as feet and end up being boots. In Marc Chagall's Time is a River without Banks we find the wings of a bird and a human hand attached to the body of a fish. These three elements, which we do not usually associate, were used by the artist to fabricate a new configuration which follows no laws of perspective. Unusual objects, like Chagall's strange fish, demonstrate total creativity and the surrealistic trend to depict fantastic unity by associating formerly separated concepts. The placement of fragmentary images into an unrelated environ­ ment can be seen in Max Ernst's L'Oeil de Silence. In this work the artist startles his audience by haphazardly placing several eyes into the rock. These eyes and the girl sitting in the right bottom corner are the only connection with reality.