[PDF] Outsiders and Others: Queer Frienships in Novels by Hermann Hesse

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SE-141 89 Huddinge

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© Oscar von Seth

Parts of chapters four and five have been published previously as Oscar von Seth,

Tracing the Wolf in Hermann Hesses

ist who is characterized as an outsider. This outsider comes to know himself through friendship with another man. The friend is desired by the outsider and tends to embody some form of otherness; he is almost always portrayed as different"rebellious, beautiful, enigmatic, and inspiring"and he comes to play a key role in the protagonists personal development and journey through life. The hypothesis in this study is that the friendships formed by these characters are queer friendships, that is, that they challenge hetero- normative conceptions of relationality, sexuality, and desire. The studys main theoretical apparatus encompasses a selection of queer theories and concepts, including (among others) José Esteban Muñozs conceptualization of the horizon as a signifier for queer utopiaŽ as well as Heather Loves thoughts on backwardness.Ž Eve Kosofsky Sedgwicks early queer-theoretical work on male homosocial desire and Jack Halberstams recent theorizing about sexuality and wildness are also drawn on. The study begins with an overview chapter on Hesses authorship that provides historical context followed by two parts (one on view chapter revolves around certain norm-challenging aspects of Hesses time and reception. Hesse was active alongside the German homosexual emancipation movement and emerging field of sexology in the early 1900s, and his work was embraced by contemporary countercultures such as the

German

teristic in the relationship between the human part and the wolf part of the protagonist. Chapter five, The Function of Hermine,Ž explores the fluid gender expressions and queer characteristics of Harrys friend Hermine. Hermine is a character whose otherness mirrors the protagonists dual nature. Chapter six, Queer Sounds, Times, and Places,Ž puts the spotlight on Pablo, another of Harrys friends, and examines how the novels portrayal of sounds (such as jazz music), times (the conflict between the old and the new), and places (like the dance floor) connote queerness in various ways. Ultimately, this dissertation demonstrates that Hermann Hesses stories include queerness both in the shape of nonconformity in the characters, and in norm-challenging sexuality and the prevalence of homoeroticism. In addition, ness; otherness; queer friendship; homoeroticism; nonconformism; homo- sexuality; bisexuality; Bildungsroman; romantic friendship; heterosexual ambivalence; disability; animality; gender taren Hermann Hesse (1877...1962). alltid som annorlunda ... rebellisk, vacker, gåtfull och inspirerande ... och får och queerbegrepp, bland annat José Esteban Muñozs konceptualisering av Halberstams teoretiserande kring sexualitet och vildhet. om siktskapitlet fokuseras det på vissa normbrytande aspekter av den tidsepok Hesse var verksam i, samt mottagandet av hans romaner. Hesse var aktiv let. Hans texter hyllades dessutom av huvudpersonen. Kapitel fem utforskar flytande genusuttryck och queera speglar huvudpersonens dubbelnatur. Och slutligen, med fokus på karak romanens skildringar av ljud (som jazzmusik), tid (konflikten mellan gam- .................................................. 15

Introduction: Be YourselfŽ ........................................................................

.............. 17

Outsiders and Others in Hesses Fiction........................................................ 17

Hesses Appeal to Countercultures................................................................. 20

Approaching Hesses Writing from a Queer Angle ..................................... 23 Queer Theories ........................................................................ .......................... 26 A Couple of Queer-Theoretical Concepts ..................................................... 28 Reading the QueerŽ........................................................................ ................. 32 Male Friendship and Homoeroticism ............................................................ 39

The Field of German Sexology and the Homosexual

Emancipation Movement ........................................................................ ........ 43 Research Background ........................................................................ ............... 52 About the Translations ........................................................................ ............. 59 ........................................ 61

PART 1

: The Wanderer: Peter Camenzind ............................................................ 63

CHAPTER 1

: Romantic Friendship in a 65

The Most Noble of Youths PleasuresŽ......................................................... 65

Summary of Key Events in 66

The Bildungsroman Genre ........................................................................ ...... 66 Desiring Male Friendship ........................................................................ ........ 69 Turning to Nature........................................................................ ..................... 75 Transcending the Romantic Friendship ........................................................ 82 Southern FlightŽ ........................................................................ ...................... 87 It Is Merely the Friendship of My Student Years That I MissŽ ................. 91

CHAPTER 2

: Without Leaving Children BehindŽ .............................................. 95 The Queerness of Peters Heterosexual Ambivalence .................................. 95 96
A Masculine Countertype........................................................................ ...... 102 Boats as Bearers of Heterosexual and Masculine Meaning....................... 105

The Girlfriend: Erminia Aglietti ................................................................... 110

The Friend: Elisabeth ........................................................................ .............. 118

A Friendly and Neighborly MannerŽ ......................................................... 124

: Facing the Other ........................................................................ ...... 127 Disability and Otherness........................................................................ ........ 127

Narrative ProsthesisŽ ........................................................................

............ 129 Queerness in Emmanuel Levinass Ethics ................................................... 130

Boppis Introduction

............... 133

Responsibility for the Other ........................................................................

.. 137

Benevolent PaternalismŽ ........................................................................

...... 140 Queer/Crip KinshipŽ........................................................................ ............. 143

The Implications of Boppis Death ............................................................... 147

Worthy of Being Mourned ........................................................................ .... 149

PART 2

: The Runner: Steppenwolf ........................................................................ 153

CHAPTER 4

: Tracing the Wolf ........................................................................ ...... 155 An Outsider and Other ........................................................................ .......... 155 Wild ThingŽ ........................................................................ ........................... 156 May Each Person Make of It What Suits and Serves HimŽ..................... 158

Summary of Key Events in 161

163
The Human/Animal Dualism ....................................................................... 167

A Creature from Another WorldŽ .............................................................. 169

References to Nietzsches Thinking.............................................................. 172

Elitism and Nazi Wolf Symbolism ................................................................ 175 A Myriad of Contradictions ........................................................................ .. 179

CHAPTER 5

: The Function of Hermine .............................................................. 183 The Other OtherŽ ........................................................................ .................. 183

Hermines Androgynous Traits .................................................................... 184

Female Characters and Lesbianism in 186

QueersocialityŽ and Bisexuality ................................................................... 191

Three Examples of an Erotic TriangleŽ ...................................................... 196

An Iteration of .......................................................... 200 Harrys Self-Hatred and Internalized Phobias ............................................ 206

CHAPTER 6

: Queer Sounds, Times, and Places.................................................. 211 Actually Animal EyesŽ........................................................................ .......... 211

Intersections of Jazz, Racism, and Sex

.......................................................... 212 The Function of Pablo ........................................................................ ............ 217 Desiring Timelessness ........................................................................ ............ 225 Queer Times and Places ........................................................................ .... 232 The Liberating Sound of Laughter................................................................ 239 Conclusion ....................................................................... ......................................... 243 Imperfect Syntheses ........................................................................ ................ 243

Hesses Queer Legacy

.............. 243

Bibliography

...................................... 247

Summary

........................................... 263 Index ................................................... 267 ............................ 2 scapes around his home village in Montagnola, Switzerland. Throughout Hesses life he yearned to be free from the constraints of modernity. He believed that nature has the potential to rekindle ones spirit. valent to old friends of mine. The eponymous protagonist in - zind encing his stories and travel alongside his characters. This is as true today as it was during Roberts and my hike along the Kings Trail last summer. As we wandered, I gazed toward the horizon. With a flutter of excitement, I imagined the many adventures ahead. Being able to finally share this work with you is the beginning of one of those journeys.

Stockholm, March 2022

16 1

At the same time, the Outsider

is characterized by a yearning to cease being an outsider, which, however, does not involve conforming to the ideals of the society he disgusts. Above all,Ž Wilson writes, [the Outsider] would like to know how to express himself, because that is the means by which he can get to know himself and his unknown possibilities.Ž 2 Wilson continuously discusses the Outsider in singular, thereby empha- sizing its strong individuality. The Outsider is also someone who first and foremost is devoted to his own self-exploration. Wilson proposes that this lone, nonconforming, truth-seeking character is a recurring figure in the novels of Hermann Hesse. As underscored by Wilson and many other scholars, Hesses novels have always been beacons to readers in the margins. Ingo Cornils reminds us that

Hesse advocated in his writings a

sense of responsibility to ones own potential that resonates with readers who feel encouraged to know that some- 3

From the noncon

formity in - ence in 1 Colin Wilsons definition of the Outsider as an exclusively 2

Colin Wilson,

3 Ingo Cornils, Introduction: From Outsider to Global Player " Hermann Hesse in the Twenty-First

Century,Ž in

4

In phenomenology, for example, the Other is identified as being an integral element in the self-image

of an individual. In short, the Others difference ma kes the characteristics of the Self evident. Another commonly invoked definition of otherness can be found in the writing of Edward W. Said, whose 5

Hermann Hesse, Eigensinn,Ž in

6

The present study features both German and English quotes from Hesses texts. All translations into

English were made by the author of this book and appear in parenthesis immediately following the

original German. Under the heading About the Translations,Ž an extended explanation is given of the

reasons for not using prior translations. 18 7

However, as this study

will acknowledge, outsiders in Hesses fiction also seek affinity with other people (oftentimes desperately), which the texts iterations of queer friend- ships make evident. The Eigensinn of Hesses outsiders"for instance, the eponymous characters of teristics are subdued"makes his writing especially attractive to young readers. David G. Richards argues that Hesses novels have consistently appealed to youth in chaotic times and when traditional authority is que s tioned and resisted, and certain of his novels and stories have appealed especially to young people who are attempting to find and define themselves as individuals in rigid and authoritarian societies.Ž 8

Richards arguments stem from the injunction

9 (Be yourselfŽ is the ideal law, at least for the young, there is no other way to truth and development.)

Furthermore, in

thustra 7

Hesse suggests that only two things on earth are

8

David G. Richards,

9 Hermann Hesse, ŽEigensinn macht Spaß,Ž in that being oneself is not a mere expression of individuality but a means to make the whole world a better place:

Hesses Appeal to Countercultures

Hesses popularity among the young can be traced to the publication of his debut novel 12

The German youth movement

groups called fied parallels to their own ideals within it. 13

Theodore Saul Jackson cites three

major similarities between Hesse and the Wandervogel groups: first, they shared an affinity for nature as well as movement within nature. A second commonality is the desire to guide and advise young persons. Finally, they were both critical of the German school system and the customs and rigidity of the bourgeois lifestyle which accompanied it.Ž 14 10

Hermann Hesse,

11

See Hermann Hesse,

12 Before being published as a full-length novel in 1904, 13 Despite similarities between the ideals of the Wandervogel movement and Hesse, the author himself

was never convinced of the link between the two. Ralph Freedman writes: If [Hesse] disapproved of the

Youth Movement, he did so mostly because he disliked any organized form of living that might threaten

the integrity of the individual life. He did not, however, disapprove of the return to nature or the quest

for ideals or the romance of the simple life.Ž (Ibid., 110.) 14 Theodore Saul Jackson, Hermann Hesse as Ambivalent ModernistŽ (PhD diss., Washington University, 2010), 105...106, doi: https://doi.org/10.7936/K71R6NKW (accessed January 14, 2022). 20 15 In the decades following Hesses death, he gained an almost prophet-like status in North

America.

16 During the 1960s and 70s, most of Hesses novels were in print in the United States and thinkers. Scott MacFarlane writes that the book articulated an underlying

Eastern philosophy predicated on the on

eness of everything, a notion heartily embraced by most adherents of the counterculture.Ž 17 And cursor to themselves.Ž 18 Due to the popularity of these novels, they were made into Hollywood films. band named Steppenwolf. 19

Hesse became a pop-cultural phenomenon as

well as a veritable rallying point for protest and change,Ž Mileck asserts, a 15

Gunnar Decker,

16 See Theodore Ziolkowski, Saint Hesse among the Hippies,Ž 17

Scott MacFarlane,

18

Gary Lachman,

19 Joseph Mileck, Trends in Literary Reception: The Hesse Boom,Ž 20 Also, as David G. Richards suggests, the primary factor in [Hesses] popular success may be his uncompromising commitment to the discovery and development of the self.Ž 21

This is especially evident

among counterculture readers who respond not only to the themes in the texts but also to the authors presence within them. The theme of self-development is a recurring motif in Hesses writings. It is frequently depicted through contemplative inner journeys of the protagonists, of which 22

When addressing the fact that Hesse labeled his

writings 23

Similarly, Ralph Freedman writes: 

One of the trademarks of Hermann

Hesses work, which in part accounts for his various waves of great popu larity, is the reciprocal relationship between his personal life and his art. More 20 Mileck, Trends in Literary Reception,Ž 350. 21

Richards,

22

considering Hesses fictions of the self as exemplary instances of the relationship between life and art,

biography and autobiography, in the subjective tradition of modern literature.Ž (Eugene Stelzig, 23

Cornils, Introduction,Ž 8.

22
24
Attention to the bond between Hesses life and work is persistent. In a biography from 2012, Gunnar Decker states that in Hesses writing the constant interplay between the internal and the external brings together auto biographical accounts with reflection and a sense of enchantment through new myth making.Ž 25
Biographical approaches such as the ones referred to hitherto are rewarding. But a key reason as to why queer aspects in Hesses writing are seldom emphasized might in fact be that scholars want to avoid insinuating that Hesse himself was a closeted homosexual (of which neither proof nor indications can be found). While it is certainly interesting to speculate on Hesses

Approaching Hesses Writing from a Queer Angle

Overall, this study concerns Hesses texts rather than his personal life. However, some biographical aspects will be mentioned in the following, since these provide context to the significance of Eigensinn and the Be yourselfŽ ideal in the authors characters. As shown in Deckers biography, during Hesses adolescent years he faced predicaments that came to shape his authorship. 26

His parents decided early

that he was to study theology and become a teacher or a priest. Until he was allowed to pursue his own dream"that of becoming a writer"he was unable to find his place in the world. Hesses formative years were therefore difficult. He had mental breakdowns, attempted suicide, and ran away from his boarding school. 27
The young Hermann Hesse, Decker explains, found himself caught up in the workings of a system that was geared to either clipping the wings of anything that contradicted the prevailing norm or excluding the disruptive and irritating element. This process now brought it home to him that it did not take much to become an outsider, or even a heretic.Ž 28
In order to manage Hesses insurgent behavior he was treated by a 24

Freedman,

25

Decker,

26

Ibid., 64...87.

27
Later on, Hesse drew on this episode for inspiration to the events in 28
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