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Testaments Betrayed - An Essay in Nine Parts (1993)

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    Testaments Betrayed

    An Essay in Nine Parts

    Milan Kundera

    Translated from the French by Linda AsherTESTAMENTS BETRAYED. Copyright !""# $y Milan Kundera. Translation %opyright !""& $y 'inda Asher. ()RST ED)T)*N

    This $oo+ ,as originally pu$lished in (ran%e under the titleLes testaments trahis.

    )SBN ---!/!0&

    PART *NE The Day Panurge No Longer Makes People Laugh 1

    PART T1* The astrating !hado" of !aint #arta $%

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    PART T2REE&mpro'isation in (omage to !tra'insky %%

    PART (*3RA !entence ))

    PART ()4EA la *echerche du Present Perdu 1+1

    PART S)5 ,orks and !piders 1-

    PART SE4EN The /nlo'ed hild of the Family 1)

    PART E)62TPaths in the Fog 1))PART N)NE 0oure Not in 0our 2"n (ouse (ere3 My Dear Fello" +-1

    PART *NE

    The Day Panurge No Longer Makes People Laugh

    The &n'ention of (umor

    The pregnant Madame 6randgousier ate too mu%h tripe7 and they had to gi8e her a purgati8e9 it,as so strong that the pla%enta let go7 the :etus 6argantua slipped into a 8ein7 tra8eled up hersystem7 and %ame out o: his mania;s ear. (rom the 8ery :irst lines7 Ra$elais;s $oo+ sho,s itshand< the story $eing told here is not serious< that is7 there are no statements o: truths here=s%ienti:i% or mythi%>9 no promise to des%ri$e things as they are in reality.

    Ra$elais;s time ,as :ortunate< the no8el as $utter:ly is ta+ing :light7 %arrying the shreds o: the%hrysalis on its $a%+. 1ith his giant :orm7 Pantagruel still $elongs to the past o: :antasti% tales7,hile Panurge %omes :rom the yet un+no,n :uture of the no8el. The e?traordinary moment o:the $irth o: a ne, art gi8es Ra$elais;s $oo+ an astounding ri%hness9 it has e8erything< theplausi$le and the implausi$le7 allegory7 satire7 giants and ordinary men7 ane%dotes7 medita@

    tions7 8oyages real and :antasti%7 s%holarly disputes7 digressions o: pure 8er$al 8irtuosity. Today;sno8elist7 ,ith his lega%y :rom the nineteenth %entury7 :eels an en8ious nostalgia :or the super$lyheterogeneous uni8erse o: those earliest no8elists and :or the delight:ul li$erty ,ith ,hi%h theyd,elt in it.

    ust as Ra$elais starts his $oo+ $y dropping 6argantua onto the ,orld;s stage :rom his mama;sear7 so in The !atanic 4erses3 a:ter a midair plane e?plosion7 do Salman Rushdie;s t,o heroes :all

    through the air %hattering7 singing7 and %arrying on in %omi% and impro$a$le :ashion. 1hilea$o8e7 $ehind7 $elo, them in the 8oid :loat re%lining seats7 paper %ups7 o?ygen mas+s7 andpassengers7 one o: them6i$reel (arishtas,ims in air7 $utter:ly@stro+e7 $reast@stro+e7$un%hing himsel: into a $all7 spreadeagling himsel: against the almost@in:inity o: the almost@da,n7 and the otherSaladin Cham%hali+e a :astidious shado, :alling head:irst in a greysuit ,ith all the a%+et $uttons done up7 arms $y his sides. . . a $o,ler hat on his head. The no8elopens ,ith that s%ene7 :or7 li+e Ra$elais7 Rushdie +no,s that the %ontra%t $et,een the no8elistand the reader must $e esta$lished :rom the outset9 it must $e %lear< the story $eing told here isnot serious7 e8en though it is a$out the most dread:ul things.

    The marriage o: the not@serious and the dread:ul< ,itness this s%ene :rom Ra$elais;sFourth5ook6 on the open sea7 Pantagruel;s $oat meets a ship :ull o: sheep mer%hants9 one o: them7

    seeing Panurge ,ith no %odpie%e and ,ith his eyeglasses :astened to his hat7 ta+es the li$erty o:tal+ing $ig and %alls him a %u%+old. Panurge is ui%+ to retaliate< he $uys a sheep :rom the

    :ello, and thro,s it into the sea9 it $eing their nature to :ollo, the leader7 all the other sheepstart umping into the ,ater. )n a pani%7 the mer%hants gra$ hold o: the sheeps; :lee%e and horns7and are dragged into the sea themsel8es. Panurge pi%+s up an oar7 not to sa8e them $ut to +eepthem :rom %lim$ing $a%+ onto the ship9 elouently7 he e?horts them7 des%ri$ing the miseries o:this ,orld and the $ene:its and delights o: the ne?t7 de%laring that the dead are more :ortunatethan the li8ing. E8en so7 should they $y some %han%e pre:er to go on li8ing among humans7 he

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    ,ishes them a meeting ,ith some ,hale7 li+e onah. The mass dro,ning a%%omplished7 the good(rere ean %ongratulates Panurge7 only reproa%hing him :or ha8ing paid the mer%hant $e:orehandand thus thro,n a,ay money. Says Panurge< By 6od7 ) got a good :i:ty thousand :ran%s; ,ortho: :un :or itF

    The s%ene is unreal7 impossi$le9 does it7 at least7 ha8e a moralG )s Ra$elais denoun%ing the

    stinginess o: the mer%hants7 ,hose punishment should please usG *r does he mean to ma+e usindignant at Panurge;s %rueltyG *r7 as a good anti%leri%al7 is he mo%+ing the stupidity o: thereligious %li%hes Panurge re%itesG 6uessF E8ery ans,er is a $oo$y trap.

    Says *%ta8io PaH< There is no humor in 2omer or 4irgil9 Ariosto seems to :oreshado, it7 $utnot until Cer8antes does humor ta+e shape. . . . 2umor7 he goes on7 is the great in8ention o: themodern spirit. A :undamental idea< humor is not an age@old human pra%ti%e9 it is an in'ention$ound up ,ith the $irth o: the no8el. Thus humor is not laughter7 not mo%+ery7 not satire7 $ut aparti%ular spe%ies o: the %omi%7 ,hi%h7 PaH says =and this is the +ey to understanding humor;s

    essen%e>7 renders am$iguous e8erything it tou%hes. People ,ho %annot ta+e pleasure :rom thespe%ta%le o: Panurge letting the sheep mer%hants dro,n ,hile he sings them the praises o: theherea:ter ,ill ne8er understand a thing a$out the art o: the no8el.

    The *ealm ,here Moral 7udgment &s !uspended): ) ,ere as+ed the most %ommon %ause o: misunderstanding $et,een my readers and me7 ),ould not hesitate< humor. ) had only re%ently %ome to (ran%e7 and ) ,as anything $ut $lase.1hen a :amous pro:essor o: medi%ine as+ed to meet me $e%ause he admired The Fare"ell Party3) ,as most :lattered. A%%ording to him7 my no8el ,as propheti%9 in my %hara%ter S+reta7 a do%tor,ho treats apparently sterile ,omen at a spa $y ine%ting them se%retly ,ith his o,n sperm :roma spe%ial syringe7 ) ha8e hit on the great issue o: the :uture. The pro:essor in8ites me to a%on:eren%e on arti:i%ial insemination. 2e pulls a sheet o: paper :rom his po%+et and reads me thedra:t o: his o,n presentation. The gi:t o: sperm must $e anonymous7 :ree o: %harge7 and =here heloo+s me in the eye> impelled $y a three:old lo8e< lo8e :or an un+no,n o8um that see+s toa%%omplish its mission9 the donor;s lo8e :or his o,n indi8iduality7 ,hi%h is to $e perpetuated $y

    the donation9 and7 third7 lo8e :or a %ouple that is su::ering7 un:ul:illed. Then he loo+s me in theeye again< mu%h as he admires my ,or+7 he does ha8e one %riti%ism< ) did not manage to e?presspo,er:ully enough the moral $eauty o: the gi:t o: semen. ) de:end mysel:< this

    is a %omi% no8elF My do%tor is a %ra%+potF You shouldn;t $e ta+ing it all so seriouslyF So7 hesays7 suspi%ious7 your no8els aren;t meant to $e ta+en seriouslyG ) am $a::led7 and suddenly )realiHe< there is nothing harder to e?plain than humor.

    )n The Fourth 5ook3 there is a storm at sea. E8eryone is on de%+ struggling to sa8e the ship. Alle?%ept Panurge7 paralyHed ,ith :ear7 ,ho ust ,himpers< his great lamentations go on :or pages.1hen the storm a$ates7 his %ourage returns and he $a,ls all o: them out :or their laHiness. Andthis is ,hat;s odd< not only does this %o,ard7 this liar7 this :a+er7 pro8o+e no indignation7 $ut it isat the pea+ o: his $raggado%io that ,e lo8e him most. These are the passages ,herein Ra$elais;s

    $oo+ $e%omes :ully and radi%ally a no'el6 that is7 a realm "here moral 8udgment is suspended.Suspending moral udgment is not the immorality o: the no8el9 it is its morality. The moralitythat stands against the ineradi%a$le human ha$it o: udging instantly7 %easelessly7 and e8eryone9o: udging $e:ore7 and in the a$sen%e o:7 understanding. (rom the 8ie,point o: the no8el;s,isdom7 that :er8id readiness to udge is the most detesta$le stupidity7 the most perni%ious e8il.Not that the no8elist utterly denies that moral udgment is legitimate7 $ut that he re:uses it a pla%ein the no8el. ): you li+e7 you %an a%%use Panurge o: %o,ardi%e7 a%%use Emma Bo8ary7 a%%useRasti@gna%that;s your $usiness9 the no8elist has nothing to do ,ith it.

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    Creating the imaginary terrain ,here moral udgment is suspended ,as a mo8e o: enormoussigni:i%an%e< only there %ould no8elisti% %hara%ters de8elop that is7 indi8iduals %on%ei8ed notas a :un%tion o:

    some pree?istent truth7 as e?amples o: good or e8il7 or as representations o: o$e%ti8e la,s in%on:li%t7 $ut as autonomous $eings grounded in their o,n morality7 in their o,n la,s. 1estern

    so%iety ha$itually presents itsel: as the so%iety o: the rights o: man9 $ut $e:ore a man %ould ha8erights7 he had to %onstitute himsel: as an indi8idual7 to %onsider himsel: su%h and to $e%onsidered su%h9 that %ould not happen ,ithout the long e?perien%e o: the European arts andparti%ularly o: the art o: the no8el7 ,hi%h tea%hes the reader to $e %urious a$out others and to tryto %omprehend truths that di::er :rom his o,n. )n this sense E. M. Cioran is right to %allEuropean so%iety the so%iety o: the no8el and to spea+ o: Europeans as the %hildren o: theno8el.

    Profanation

    The remo8al o: gods :rom the ,orld is one o: the phenomena that %hara%teriHe the Modern Era.The remo8al o: gods does not mean atheism7 it denotes the situation in ,hi%h the indi8idual7 thethin+ing ego7 supplants 6od as the $asis :or all things9 man may %ontinue to +eep his :aith7 to

    +neel in %hur%h7 to pray at his $ed7 $ut his piety shall hen%e:or,ard pertain only to his su$e%ti8euni8erse. 2a8ing des%ri$ed this situation7 2eidegger %on%ludes< And thus the gods e8entuallydeparted. The resulting 8oid is :illed $y the histori%al and psy%hologi%al e?ploration o: myths.

    The histori%al and psy%hologi%al e?ploration o: myths7 o: sa%red te?ts7 means< rendering thempro:ane7

    pro:aning them. Pro:ane %omes :rom the 'atinpro9fanum6 the pla%e in :ront o: the temple7outside the temple. Pro:anation is thus the remo8al o: the sa%red out o: the temple7 to a sphereoutside religion. )nso:ar as laughter in8isi$ly per8ades the air o: the no8el7 pro:anation $y no8elis the ,orst there is. (or religion and humor are in%ompati$le.

    Thomas Manns tetralogy7 7oseph and (is 5rothers7 ,ritten $et,een !"I and !"0I7 is ane?%ellent histori%al and psy%hologi%al e?ploration o: sa%red te?ts7 ,hi%h7 re%ounted in Mann;s

    smiling and su$limely tedious tone7 instantly %ease to $e sa%red< 6od7 ,ho in the Bi$le e?ists :orall eternity7 $e%omes in Mann;s ,or+ a human %reation7 the in8ention o: A$raham7 ,ho $roughthim out o: the polytheisti% %haos as a deity ,ho is at :irst superior7 then uniue9 re%ogniHing to,hom he o,es his e?isten%e7 6od %ries< )t;s un$elie8a$le ho, ,ell that dust@dumpling +no,sMeF );m starting to ma+e a name through himF Truly7 );m going to anoint himF But a$o8e all.

    E8en su::ering7 that seemingly ungo8erna$le rea%tion7 is only imitation and %ontinuation< ,henthe no8el gi8es us the ,ords and $eha8ior o: a%o$ mourning oseph;s death7 Mann %omments

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    This ,as not his usual style o: spee%h. . . . Noah had pre8iously used analogous or similarlanguage a$out the :lood7 and a%o$ adopted it. . . . 2is despair ,as e?pressed in :ormulas that,ere more or less traditional . . . though this should not %ast the slightest dou$t on hisspontaneity. An important note< imitation does not mean la%+ o: authenti%ity7 :or the indi8idual%annot do other@

    ,ise than imitate ,hat has already happened9 sin%ere as he may $e7 he is only a rein%arnation9truth:ul as he may $e7 he is only a sum o: the suggestions and reuirements that emanate :romthe ,ell o: the past.

    oe>istence of 4arious (istorical Periods ,ithin a No'el

    ) thin+ $a%+ to the time ,hen ) ,as $eginning to ,rite The 7oke6 :rom the start7 and 8eryspontaneously7 ) +ne, that through the %hara%ter arosla8 the no8el ,ould %ast its gaHe into thedepths o: the past =the past o: :ol+ art> and that the ) o: my %hara%ter ,ould $e re8ealed in and$y this gaHe. )n :a%t7 all :our protagonists are %reated that ,ay< :our personal %ommunistuni8erses gra:ted onto :our European pasts< 'ud8i+< the %ommunism that springs :rom the%austi% 4oltairean spirit9 arosla8< %ommunism as the desire to re%onstru%t the patriar%hal pastthat is preser8ed in :ol+lore9 Kost+a< %ommunist 3topia gra:ted onto the 6ospel9 2elena too+ their inspiration :rom it7 openly dre, onit7 thus integrating it into the history o: the no8el7 or7 rather7 a%+no,ledging it as the :irst $uilding$lo%+ in that history.

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    This said7 the ,ords the end o: history ha8e ne8er stirred me to anguish or displeasure. 2o,s,eet it ,ould $e to :orget the monster that saps our $rie: li8es as %ement :or its 8ainmonuments. 2o, s,eet it ,ould $e to :orget 2istoryF;Life &s ?lse"here= ): history is going toend =though ) %annot imagine in %on%rete terms that end the philosophers lo8e to tal+ a$out>7then let it happen :astF But applied to art7 that same phrase7 the end o: history7 stri+es me ,ith

    terror9 that end ) %an imagine only too ,ell7 :or most no8els produ%ed today stand outside thehistory o: the no8el< no8eliHed %on:essions7 no8eliHed ournalism7 no8eliHed s%ore@settling7no8eliHed auto$iographies7 no8eliHed indis%retions7 no8eliHed denun%iations7 no8eliHed politi%alarguments7 no8eliHed deaths o: hus$ands7 no8eliHed deaths o: :athers7 no8eliHed deaths o:mothers7 no8eliHed de:lo,erings7 no8eliHed %hild@$irthsno8els ad in:initum7 to the end o: time7that

    say nothing ne,7 ha8e no aestheti% am$ition7 $ring no %hange to our understanding o: man or tono8elisti% :orm7 are ea%h one li+e the ne?t7 are %ompletely %onsuma$le in the morning and%ompletely dis%arda$le in the a:ternoon.

    To my mind7 great ,or+s %an only $e $orn ,ithin the history o: their art and asparticipants inthat history. )t is only inside history that ,e %an see ,hat is ne, and ,hat is repetiti8e7 ,hat is

    dis%o8ery and ,hat is imitation9 in other ,ords7 only inside history %an a ,or+ e?ist as a 'alue%apa$le o: $eing dis%erned and udged. Nothing seems to me ,orse :or art than to :all outside itso,n history7 :or it is a :all into the %haos ,here aestheti% 8alues %an no longer $e per%ei8ed.

    &mpro'isation and omposition

    During the ,riting o:Don ui>ote3 Cer8antes did not mind altering his hero;s %hara%ter as he,ent. The :reedom $y ,hi%h Ra$elais7 Cer8antes7 Diderot7 Sterne en%hant us had to do ,ithimpro8isation. The art o: %omple? and rigorous %omposition did not $e%ome a %ommanding needuntil the :irst hal: o: the nineteenth %entury. The no8els :orm as it %ame into $eing then7 ,ith itsa%tion %on%entrated in a narro, time span7 at a %rossroads ,here many stories o: many %hara%tersinterse%t7 demanded a minutely %al%ulated s%heme o: the plot lines and s%enes< $e:ore $eginningto ,rite7 the no8elist there:ore dra:ted and redra:ted the s%heme o: the no8el7 %al%ulated and

    re%al%ulated it7 designed and redesigned as that had ne8er $een done $e:ore. *ne need only lea:through Dostoye8s+y;s notes :or The

    Possessed6 in the se8en note$oo+s that ta+e up 0-- pages o: the Pleiade edition =the no8el itsel:ta+es up /&->7 moti:s loo+ :or %hara%ters7 %hara%ters loo+ :or moti:s7 %hara%ters 8ie :or the statuso: protagonist9 Sta8rogin should $e married7 $ut to ,homG ,onders Dostoye8s+y7 and he triesto marry him su%%essi8ely to three ,omen9 and so on. =A parado? that only seems one< the more%al%ulated the %onstru%tion ma%hinery7 the more real and natural the %hara%ters. The preudi%eagainst %onstru%tional thin+ing as a nonartisti% element that mutilates the li8ing uality o:%hara%ters is ust sentimental nai8ete :rom people ,ho ha8e ne8er understood art.>

    The no8elist in our time ,ho is nostalgi% :or the art o: the old masters o: the no8el %annot retiethe thread ,here it ,as %ut9 he %annot leap o8er the enormous e?perien%e o: the nineteenth

    %entury9 i: he ,ants to %onne%t ,ith the easygoing :reedom o: Ra$elais or Sterne7 he mustre%on%ile it ,ith the reuirements o: %omposition.

    ) remem$er my :irst reading o: 7acBues le Fataliste9delighted $y its $oldly heterogeneousri%hness7 ,here ideas mingle ,ith ane%dote7 ,here one story :rames another9 delighted $y a:reedom o: %omposition that utterly ignores the rule a$out unity o: a%tion7 ) as+ed mysel:< )s thismagni:i%ent disorder the e::e%t o: admira$le %onstru%tion7 su$tly %al%ulated7 or is it due to theeuphoria o: pure impro8isationG 1ithout a dou$t7 it is impro8isation that pre8ails here9 $ut theuestion ) spontaneously as+ed sho,ed me that a prodigious ar%hite%tural potential e?ists ,ithin

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    su%h into?i%ated impro8isation7 the potential :or a %omple?7 ri%h stru%ture that ,ould also $e asper:e%tly %al%u@

    lated7 %ali$rated7 and premeditated as e8en the most e?u$erant ar%hite%tural :antasy o: a %athedral,as ne%essarily premeditated. Does su%h an ar%hite%tural intention %ause a no8el to lose the%harm o: its li$ertyG )ts uality o: gameG But ust ,hat is a game7 a%tuallyG E8ery game is $ased

    on rules7 and the stri%ter the rules7 the more the game is a game. As opposed to the %hess player7the artist in8ents his o,n rules :or himsel:9 so ,hen he impro8ises ,ithout rules7 he is no :reerthan ,hen he in8ents his o,n system o: rules.

    Re%on%iling Ra$elais;s and Diderot;s :reedom ,ith the demands o: %omposition7 though7 presentsthe t,entieth@%entury no8elist ,ith pro$lems di::erent :rom those that preo%%upied BalHa% orDostoye8s+y. (or e?ample< the third and last o: the $oo+s that %onstitute 2ermann Bro%h;s no8elThe !leep"alkers is a polyphoni% stream %omposed o: :i8e 8oi%es7 :i8e entirely independentlines< neither a %ommon a%tion nor the same %hara%ters tie these lines together7 and ea%h has a%ompletely di::erent :ormal nature =A J no8el7 B J reportage7 C J short story7 D J poetry7 E Jessay>. )n the eighty@eight %hapters o: the $oo+7 these :i8e lines alternate in this strange order< A@A@A@B@A@B@A@C@A@A@D@E@C@A@B@D@C@D@A@E@A@A@B@E@C@A@D@B@B@A@E@A@A@E@A@B@D@6@B@

    B@D@A@B@E@A@A@B@A@D@A@C@B@D@A@E@B@A@D@A@B@D@E@A@C@A@D@D@B@A@A@C@D@E@B@A@B@D@B@A@B@A@A@D@A@A@D@D@E.

    1hat is it that led Bro%h to %hoose pre%isely this order rather than anotherG 1hat made him ta+epre%isely line B in the :ourth %hapter and not C or DG Not the logi% o: the %hara%ters or o: thea%tion7 :or there is no a%tion %ommon to these :i8e lines. 2e ,as guided $y other %riteria< $y the%harm that %omes :rom sur@

    prising u?taposition o: the di::erent :orms =8erse7 narration7 aphorisms7 philosophi%almeditations>9 $y the %ontrast o: di::erent emotions per8ading the di::erent %hapters9 $y the8ariety o: the %hapters; lengths9 :inally7 $y the de8elopment o: the same e?istential uestions7re:le%ted in the :i8e lines as in :i8e mirrors. (or la%+ o: a $etter term7 let us %all these %riteriamusical and %on%lude< the nineteenth %entury ela$orated the art o: %omposition7 $ut our o,n

    %entury $rought musi%ality to that art.The !atanic 4erses is %onstru%ted o: three more or less independent lines< A< the li8es o: SaladinCham%ha and 6i$reel (arishta7 t,o present@day )ndians ,ho di8ide their time $et,een Bom$ayand 'ondon9 B< the Korani% story dealing ,ith the origin o: )slam9 C< the 8illagers; tre+ to,ardMe%%a a%ross the sea they $elie8e they ,ill %ross dry@:ooted and in ,hi%h they dro,n.

    The three lines are ta+en up in seuen%e in the no8els nine parts in the :ollo,ing order< A@B@A@C@A@B@A@C@A =in%identally< in musi%7 a seuen%e o: this +ind is %alled a rondo< the main themereturns regularly7 in alternation ,ith se8eral se%ondary themes>.

    This is the rhythm o: the ,hole =) note parentheti%ally the appro?imate num$er o: pages>< A ="->7B =0->7 A =->7 C =0->7 A =!I->7 B =0->7 A =->7 C =0->7 A =0->. )t %an $e seen that the B and Cparts are all the same length7 ,hi%h gi8es the ,hole a rhythmi% regularity.

    'ine A ta+es up :i8e se8enths o: the no8els page total7 and lines B and C one se8enth ea%h. Thisuantitati8e ratio results in the dominan%e o: line A< the no8el;s %enter o: gra8ity is lo%ated in thepresent@day li8es o: (arishta and Cham%ha.

    Nonetheless7 e8en though B and C are su$ordinate lines7 it is in them that the aesthetic "ager o:the no8el is %on%entrated7 :or it is these B and C parts that ena$le Rushdie to get at the:undamental pro$lem o: all no8els =that o: an indi8idual;s7 a %hara%ters7 identity> in a ne, ,aythat goes $eyond the %on8entions o: the psy%hologi%al no8el< Cham%ha;s and (arishta;spersonalities %annot $e apprehended through a detailed des%ription o: their states o: mind9 their

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    mystery lies in the %oha$itation in their psy%hes o: t,o %i8iliHations7 the )ndian and theEuropean9 it lies in their roots7 :rom ,hi%h they ha8e $een torn $ut ,hi%h7 ne8ertheless7 remainali8e in them. 1here is the rupture in these roots and ho, :ar do,n must one go to tou%h the,oundG 'oo+ing into the ,ell o: the past is not o:: the point9 it aims dire%tly at the heart o: thematter< the e?istential ri:t in the t,o protagonists.

    ust as a%o$ is in%omprehensi$le ,ithout A$raham =,ho7 a%%ording to Mann7 li8ed %enturies$e:ore him>7 $eing merely his imitation and %ontinuation7 6i$reel (arishta is in%omprehensi$le,ithout the Ar%hangel 6i$reel7 ,ithout Mahound =Mohammed>7 in%omprehensi$le e8en ,ithoutthe theo%rati% )slam o: Khomeini or o: that :anati%al girl ,ho leads the 8illagers to Me%%a7 orrather to death. They are all his o,n potentialities7 ,hi%h sleep ,ithin him and ,hi%h he must$attle :or his o,n indi8iduality. )n this no8el7 there is no important uestion that %an $e e?amined,ithout loo+ing do,n the ,ell o: the past. 1hat is good and ,hat is e8ilG 1ho is the other;sde8il7 Cham%ha :or (arishta or (arishta :or Cham%haG )s it the de8il or the angel that has inspiredthe pilgrimage o: the 8illagersG )s their dro,ning a piteous disaster or the glorious

    ourney to ParadiseG 1ho %an sayG 1ho %an +no,G And ,hat i: this un+no,a$ility o: good ande8il ,as the torment su::ered $y the :ounders o: religionsG Those terri$le ,ords o: despair7

    Christ;s unpre%edented $lasphemy7 My 6od7 my 6od7 ,hy hast thou :orsa+en meG< do they notresound in the soul o: e8ery ChristianG Mahound;s dou$t as he ,onders ,ho put those 8ersesinto his head7 6od or the de8il< does it not %on%eal the un%ertainty that is the ground o: man;s8ery e?isten%eG

    &n the !hado" of #reat Principles

    Starting ,ith hisMidnights hildren3 ,hi%h in its time =in !"-> stirred unanimous admiration7no one in the English@language literary ,orld has denied that Rushdie is one o: the most gi:tedno8elists o: our day. The !atanic 4erses3 appearing in English in Septem$er !"7 ,as greeted,ith the attention due a maor ,riter. The $oo+ re%ei8ed these tri$utes ,ith no anti%ipation o: thestorm that ,as to $urst some months later7 ,hen the )mam Khomeini7 the master o: )ran7%ondemned Rushdie to death :or $lasphemy and sent +illers a:ter him on a %hase ,hose end no

    one %an predi%t.That happened $e:ore the te?t %ould $e translated. Thus e8ery,here e?%ept in the English@language ,orld7 the s%andal arri8ed $e:ore the $oo+. )n (ran%e7 the press immediately printede?%erpts :rom the still unpu$lished no8el to sho, the reasons :or the %ondemnation. Completelynormal $eha8ior7 $ut :atal :or a no8el. Represented e?%lusi8ely $y its incriminated pas@

    sages7 it ,as7 :rom the $eginning7 trans:ormed :rom a ,or+ o: art into a simple corpus delicti.

    1e should not denigrate literary %riti%ism. Nothing is ,orse :or a ,riter than to %ome up againstits a$sen%e. ) am spea+ing o: literary %riti%ism as meditation7 as analysis9 literary %riti%ism thatin8ol8es se8eral readings o: the $oo+ it means to dis%uss =li+e great pie%es o: musi% ,e %an listento time and again7 great no8els too are made :or repeated readings>9 literary %riti%ism that7 dea: tothe impla%a$le %lo%+ o: topi%ality7 ,ill readily dis%uss ,or+s a year7 thirty years7 three hundred

    years old9 literary %riti%ism that tries to apprehend the originality o: a ,or+ in order thus toins%ri$e it on histori%al memory. ): su%h meditation did not a%%ompany the history o: the no8el7,e ,ould +no, nothing today o: Dostoye8s+y7 or oy%e7 or Proust. (or ,ithout it a ,or+ issurrendered to %ompletely ar$itrary udgments and s,i:t o$li8ion. No,7 the Rushdie %ase sho,s=i: proo: is still needed> that su%h meditation is no longer pra%ti%ed. )mper%epti$ly7 inno%ently7under the pressure o: e8ents7 through %hanges in so%iety and in the press7 literary %riti%ism has$e%ome a mere =o:ten intelligent7 al,ays hasty> literary ne"s bulletin.

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    A$out The !atanic 4erses3 the literary ne,s ,as the death senten%e on the author. )n su%h a li:e@and@death situation7 it seems almost :ri8olous to spea+ o: art. 1hat is art7 a:ter all7 ,hen greatprin%iples are under atta%+G Thus7 throughout the ,orld7 all dis%ussion %on%entrated on uestionso: prin%iple< :reedom o: e?pression9 the need to de:end it =and indeed people did de:end it7people protested7 people signed petitions>9 religion9 )slam and Christianity9 $ut also this

    uestion< does a ,riter ha8e the moral right to $laspheme and there$y ,ound $elie8ersG Ande8en this pro$lem< suppose Rushdie had atta%+ed )slam only :or pu$li%ity and to sell hisunreada$le $oo+G

    1ith mysterious unanimity =) noti%ed the same rea%tion e8ery,here in the ,orld>7 the men o:letters7 the intelle%tuals7 the salon initiates7 snu$$ed the no8el. They de%ided to resist all%ommer%ial pressure :or on%e7 and they re:used to read a ,or+ they %onsidered simply a pie%e o:sensationalism. They signed all the petitions :or Rushdie7 mean,hile deeming it elegant to say7,ith a super%ilious smile< 2is $oo+G *h no7 no7 noF ) ha8en;t read it. The politi%ians too+ad8antage o: this %urious state o: disgra%e o: a no8elist they didn;t li+e. );ll ne8er :orget the8irtuous impartiality they paraded at the time< 1e %ondemn Khomeini;s 8erdi%t. (reedom o:e?pression is sa%red to us. But no less do ,e %ondemn this atta%+ on religious :aith. )t is a

    shame:ul7 %ontempti$le atta%+ that insults the soul o: peoples.*: %ourse7 no one any longer dou$ted that Rushdie a%tually had attacked )slam7 :or only thea%%usation ,as real9 the te?t o: the $oo+ no longer mattered7 it no longer e?isted.

    The lash of Three ?ras

    A situation uniue in history< Rushdie $elongs $y origin to a Muslim so%iety that7 in large part7 isstill li8ing in the period $e:ore the Modern Era. 2e ,rote his $oo+ in Europe7 in the Modern Eraor7 more pre%isely7 at the end o: that era.

    ust as )ranian )slam ,as at the time mo8ing a,ay :rom religious moderation to,ard a%om$ati8e theo%ra%y7 so7 ,ith Rushdie7 the history o: the no8el ,as mo8ing :rom the genteel7pro:essorial smile o: Thomas Mann to un$ridled imagination dra,n :rom the redis%o8ered,ellspring o: Ra$elaisian humor. The antitheses %ollided7 ea%h in its e?treme :orm.

    (rom this 8ie,point7 the %ondemnation o: Rushdie %an $e seen not as a %han%e e8ent7 ana$erration7 $ut as the most pro:ound %on:li%t $et,een t,o eras< theo%ra%y goes to ,ar against theModern Era and targets its most representati8e %reation< the no8el. (or Rushdie did not$laspheme. 2e did not atta%+ )slam. 2e ,rote a no8el. Rut that7 :or the theo%rati% mind7 is ,orsethan an atta%+< i: a religion is atta%+ed =$y a polemi%7 a $lasphemy7 a heresy>7 the guardians o:the temple %an easily de:end it on their o,n ground7 ,ith their o,n language9 $ut the no8el is adi::erent planet :or them9 a di::erent uni8erse $ased on a di::erent ontology9 an infernum ,herethe uniue truth is po,erless and ,here satani% am$iguity turns e8ery %ertainty into enigma.

    'et us emphasiHe this< not atta%+ $ut am$iguity. The se%ond part o: The !atanic 4erses =thein%riminated part7 ,hi%h e8o+es Mohammed and the origin o: )slam> is presented in the no8el asa dream o: 6i$reel (arishtas7 ,ho then de8elops the dream into a %heap mo8ie in ,hi%h he

    himsel: ,ill play the role o: the ar%hangel. The story is thus doubly relati8iHed =:irst as a dream7then as a bad :ilm that ,ill :lop> and presented not as a de%laration $ut as a playful in'ention. Adisagreea$le in8entionG ) say no< it sho,ed me7 :or the :irst time in my li:e7 the poetry o: the)slami% religion7 o: the )slami% ,orld.

    1e should stress this< there is no pla%e :or hatred in the relati8isti% uni8erse o: the no8el< theauthor ,ho ,rites a no8el in order to settle s%ores =personal or ideologi%al> is headed :or totaland %ertain aestheti% ruin. Ayesha7 the girl ,ho leads the hallu%inating 8illagers to their deaths7 iso: %ourse a monster7 $ut she is also sedu%ti8e7 ,ondrous =haloed $y the $utter:lies that

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    a%%ompany her e8ery,here>7 and o:ten tou%hing9 e8en in the portrait o: an emigre imam =animaginary portrait o: Khomeini>7 there is an almost respe%t:ul understanding9 1estern modernityis 8ie,ed ,ith s+epti%ism7 ne8er presented as superior to *riental ar%haism9 the no8elhistori%ally and psy%hologi%ally e?plores sa%red old te?ts7 $ut it also sho,s ho, mu%h they aredegraded $y T47 ad8ertising7 the entertainment industry9 and the le:t@,ing %hara%ters7 ,ho

    deplore the :ri8olity o: this modern ,orlddo they at least enoy the author;s :ull sympathyG Noindeed7 they are misera$ly ridi%ulous7 and as :ri8olous as the :ri8olity around them9 no one isright and no one entirely ,rong in the immense carni'al of relati'ity that is this ,or+.

    There:ore7 ,ith The !atanic 4erses3 the art o: the no8el as su%h is in%riminated. That is ,hy7 inthis ,hole sad story7 the saddest thing is not Khomeini;s 8erdi%t =,hi%h pro%eeds :rom a logi%that is atro%ious $ut %onsistent>9 rather7 it is Europe;s in%apa%ity to de:end and e?plain =e?plainpatiently to itsel: and to others> that most European o: the arts7 the art o: the no8el9 in other,ords7 to e?plain and de:end its o,n %ulture. The %hildren o: the no8el ha8e a$andoned the artthat shaped them. Europe7 the so%iety o: the no8el7 has a$andoned its o,n sel:.

    )t does not surprise me that the Sor$onne theolo@

    gians7 the si?teenth@%entury ideologi%al poli%e ,ho +indled so many sta+es7 should ha8e made

    li:e so hard :or Ra$elais7 :or%ing him o:ten to :lee and hide. 1hat seems to me :ar more amaHingand admira$le is the prote%tion pro8ided him $y the po,er:ul men o: his time7 Cardinal duBellay7 :or instan%e7 and Cardinal *det7 and a$o8e all (ran%ois )7 the +ing o: (ran%e. 1ere theysee+ing to de:end prin%iplesG (reedom o: e?pressionG 2uman rightsG They had a $etter moti8e or7 as (uentes li+esto re%all7 in the 'atin Ameri%an Baroue7 more e?u$erant7 more %raHy7 than Europe;s.

    *r another +ey to that imagination< the tropical9iCation of the no'el. ) re:er to Rushdie;s :antasy andAmerika =!"&/>9 $ut a$o8e all7 :ourimportant $oo+s o: interpretation =ta+e good note o: the titlesF>7FranC 7 andDespair and !al'ation in the ,ork of FranC .

    Through all o: these te?ts7 the image outlined in The ?nchanted

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    )n his no8els and stories7 he des%ri$es the horri$le punishments in store :or those ,ho do not,ish to hear the ,ord Edas ,ort and do not :ollo, the path o: righteousness.

    Note the hierar%hy< at the top< Ka:+a;s li:e as an e?ample to $e :ollo,ed9 in the middle< theaphorisms7 that is7 all the meditati8e philosophi%al passages in his diaries9 at the $ottom< thenarrati8e ,or+s.

    Brod ,as a $rilliant intelle%tual ,ith e?%eptional energy9 a generous man ,illing to do $attle :orothers9 his atta%hment to Ka:+a ,as ,arm and disinterested. The only pro$lem ,as his artisti%orientation< a man o: ideas7 he +ne, nothing o: the passion :or :orm9 his no8els =he ,rote t,entyo: them> are sadly %on8entional9 and a$o8e all< he understood nothing at all a$out modern art.

    1hy7 despite all this7 ,as Ka:+a so :ond o: himG 1hat a$out youdo you stop $eing :ond o:your $est :riend $e%ause he has a %ompulsion to ,rite $ad 8erseG

    But the man ,ho ,rites $ad 8erse turns dangerous on%e he starts to pu$lish the ,or+ o: his poet:riend. Suppose the most in:luential %ommentator on Pi%asso ,ere a painter ,ho %ould not e8enmanage to understand the impressionists. 1hat ,ould he say a$out Pi%asso;s paintingsG Pro$a$lythe same thing Brod said a$out Ka:+a;s no8els< that they des%ri$e the horri$le punishments instore :or those ,ho ... do not :ollo, the path o: righteousness.

    4

    Ma? Brod %reated the image o: Ka:+a and that o: his ,or+9 he %reated Ka:+ology at the sametime. The Ka:+ologists may distan%e themsel8es :rom their :ounding :ather7 $ut they ne8er lea8ethe terrain he mapped out :or them. Despite the astronomi%al num$er o: its te?ts7 Ka:+ology goeson ela$orating in:inite 8ariants on the same dis%ussion7 the same spe%ulation7 ,hi%h7 in%reasinglyun%onne%ted to Ka:+a;s ,or+7 :eeds only on itsel:. Through innumera$le pre:a%es7 post:a%es7notes7 $iographies and monographs7 uni8ersity le%tures and dissertations7 Ka:+ology produ%esand sustains its o,n image o: Ka:+a7 to the point ,here the author ,hom readers +no, $y thename Ka:+a is no longer Ka:+a $ut the Ka:+ologiHed Ka:+a.

    Not e8erything ,ritten on Ka:+a is Ka:+ology. 2o, then to de:ine Ka:+ologyG By a tautologyt o:literary history =the history o: the European no8el> $ut almost e?%lusi8ely in the microconte>t o:$iography. )n their monograph7 Boisde::re and Al$eres %ite Proust ree%ting $iographi%ale?pli%ation o: art7 $ut only to say that Ka:+a reuires e?%eption to that rule7 as his $oo+s are notsepara$le :rom his person. 1hether he is %alled ose: K.7 Rohan7 Samsa7 the Sur8eyor7Bendemann7 ose:ine the Singer7 the 2unger Artist7 or the TrapeHe Artist7 the hero o: his $oo+s isnone other than Ka:+a himsel:. Biography is the prin%ipal +ey :or under@

    standing the meaning o: the ,or+. 1orse< the only meaning o: the ,or+ is as a +ey :orunderstanding the $iography.

    I> (ollo,ing Brod;s e?ample7 in the hands o: the Ka:+ologists. To e8ery %hur%h itsapo%rypha< on'ersations "ith

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    #> (ollo,ing Brod;s e?ample7

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    The eroti% imagination in Ka:+a;s no8els7 on the %ontrary7 dra,s almost e?%lusi8ely on the othersour%e< ) ,al+ed past the $rothel as though it ,ere the house o: a $elo8ed =diary7 !"!-7senten%e %ensored $y Brod>.

    Master:ul as they ,ere at analyHing all the strategies o: lo8e7 nineteenth@%entury no8els le:t se?and the se?ual a%t itsel: hidden. )n the :irst de%ades o: our %entury7 se? emerged :rom the mists o:

    romanti% passion. Ka:+a ,as one o: the :irst =%ertainly along ,ith oy%e> to un%o8er it in hisno8els. 2e un8eiled se? not as the playing :ield :or a small %ir%le o: li$ertines =in eighteenth@%entury style> $ut as a %ommonpla%e7 :undamental reality in e8eryone;s li:e. Ka:+a un8eiled thee>istential aspe%ts o: se?< se? in %on:li%t ,ith lo8e9 the strangeness o: the other as a %ondition7 areuirement7 o: se?9 the am$iguous nature o: se?< those aspe%ts that are e?%iting andsimultaneously repugnant9 its terri$le tri8iality7 ,hi%h in no ,ay lessens its :rightening po,er7et%.

    Brod ,as a romanti%. By %ontrast7 at the root o: Ka:+a;s no8els ) $elie8e ) dis%ern a pro:oundantiro@manti%ism9 it sho,s up e8ery,here< in the ,ay Ka:+a sees so%iety as ,ell as in the ,ay he%onstru%ts a senten%e9 $ut its origin may lie in Ka:+a;s 8ision o: se?.

    6

    Young Karl Rossmann =the protagonist o:Amerika= is put out o: the parental home and sent toAmeri%a $e%ause o: his un:ortunate se?ual mishap ,ith a housemaid7 ,ho had sedu%ed him andgot hersel: a %hild $y him. Be:ore the %oition< ;Karl7 oh my KarlF; she e?%laimed . . . ,hile he%ould see nothing at all and :elt un%om:orta$le amid all the ,arm $edding that she hadapparently piled on espe%ially :or his sa+e. . . . Then she shoo+ him7 listened to his

    heart$eat7 o::ered him her %hest so that he %ould listen to hers the same ,ay. Ne?t she groped$et,een his legs in so disgusting a manner that Karl;s head and ne%+ %ame thrashing out :romamong the pillo,s.But then she ;;pushed her $elly against him se8eral timeshe :elt she ,as apart o: himsel: and that may $e ,hy he ,as o8er%ome $y a terri$le need.

    This minor %opulation is the %ause o: e8erything to :ollo, in the no8el. RealiHing that ourdestiny is determined $y something utterly tri8ial is depressing. But any re8elation o: some

    une?pe%ted tri8iality is a sour%e o: %omedy as ,ell.Post coitum omne animal triste. Ka:+a ,asthe :irst to des%ri$e the %omi% side o: that sadness.

    The %omi% side o: se?< an idea una%%epta$le to puritans and neoli$ertines $oth. ) thin+ o: D. 2.'a,ren%e7 that $ard o: Eros7 that e8angelist o: %oition7 ,ho7 inLady hatterleys Lo'er3 tried toreha$ilitate se? $y ma+ing it lyri%al. But lyri%al se? is e8en more ridi%ulous than the lyri%alsentimentality o: the last %entury.

    The eroti% gem o:Amerika is Brunelda. She :as%inated (ederi%o (ellini. (or a long time7 hedreamed o: ma+ing a :ilm o:Amerika3 and in his&nter'ista there is a s%ene that sho,s the %asting:or this dream proe%t< a $un%h o: in%redi$le %andidates turn out :or the role o: Brunelda7 ,omen(ellini had pi%+ed ,ith the e?u$erant delight he ,as +no,n :or. =But ) say it again< thate?u$erant delight is the same as Ka:+a;s. (or Ka:+a did not suffer :or usF 2e en8oyed himsel: :or

    usF>

    Brunelda7 the :ormer singer7 the 8ery :rail ,oman

    ,ith the gout in her legs. Brunelda ,ith her plump little hands and the dou$le %hin7immeasura$ly :at. Brunelda7 sitting legs apart7 ,ith the greatest e::ort7 a:ter many tries and:reuent pauses to rest7 $ending o8er to tug at her sto%+ing@tops. Brunelda hit%hing up herdress and using the hem to dry the ,eeping Ro$insons eyes. Brunelda una$le to %lim$ t,o orthree steps and needing to $e %arrieda sight that so impresses Ro$inson that :or the rest o: his

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    li:e he ,ill sigh< *h 6od7 oh 6od7 ho, $eauti:ul she ,asF 1hat a ,omanF Brunelda standingna+ed in the $athtu$7 moaning and %omplaining as Delamar%he ,ashes her do,n. Brunelda lyingin that same tu$7 :uriously pounding the ,ater ,ith her :ists. Brunelda ,hom it ta+es t,o ment,o hours to get do,n the stairs and put in a %art7 ,hi%h Karl then pushes a%ross the %ity to somemysterious pla%e7 pro$a$ly a $rothel. Brunelda in this hand%art7 ,ith a sha,l %o8ering her up so

    ,ell that a %op ta+es her :or a %argo o: potato sa%+s.1hat is ne, a$out this portrait o: massi8e ugliness is that it is alluring9 mor$idly alluring7ridi%ulously alluring7 $ut still alluring9 Brunelda is a monster o: se? on the $orderline $et,eenthe repugnant and the e?%iting7 and men;s admiring %ries are not only %omi% =they are %omi%7 to$e sure7 se? is %omi%F> $ut at the same time entirely true. )t is not surprising that Brod7 thatromanti% ,orshiper o: ,omen7 :or ,hom %oition ,as not reality $ut a sym$ol o: :eeling7 %ouldsee no truth to Brunelda7 not the :aintest shado, o: real e?perien%e $ut only the des%ription o:the horri$le punishments in store :or those ,ho ... do not :ollo, the path o: righteousness.

    7

    The :inest eroti% s%ene Ka:+a e8er ,rote is in the third %hapter o: The astle6 the a%t o: lo8e$et,en K. and (rieda. S%ar%ely an hour a:ter seeing that unprepossessing little $londe :or the

    :irst time7 he is em$ra%ing her $ehind the $ar7 among the $eer puddles and the other :ilth%o8ering the :loor. (ilth< it is insepara$le :rom se?7 :rom its essen%e.

    But immediately therea:ter7 in the same paragraph7 Ka:+a sounds the poetry o: se?< There hours,ent $y7 hours o: mutual $reaths7 o: mutual heart$eats7 hours in ,hi%h K. %ontinually had the:eeling that he ,as going astray7 or that he ,as :arther inside the strange ,orld than any person$e:ore him7 in a strange ,orld ,here the 8ery air had in it no element o: his nati8e air7 ,here onemust su::o%ate :rom strangeness and ,here7 in the midst o: a$surd enti%ements7 one %ould donothing $ut +eep going7 +eep going astray.

    The length o: the %oition turns into a metaphor :or a ,al+ $eneath the s+y o: strangeness. Andyet that ,al+ is not ugliness9 on the %ontrary7 it attra%ts us7 in8ites us to go on still :arther7into?i%ates us< it is $eauty.

    A :e, lines later< he ,as :ar too happy to $e holding (rieda in his hands7 too an?iously happy as,ell7 $e%ause it seemed to him that i: (rieda ,ere to lea8e him7 e8erything he had ,ould lea8ehim. So is this lo8eG No indeed7 not lo8e9 i: a person is $anished and dispossessed o:e8erything7 then a tiny little ,oman he hardly +no,s7 em$ra%ed in puddles o: $eer7 $e%omes a,hole uni8erselo8e has nothing to do ,ith it.

    8

    )n hisManifesto of !urrealism3 Andre Breton spea+s se8erely a$out the art o: the no8el. 2e%omplains that the no8el is in%ura$ly ho$$led $y medio%rity7 $y $anality7 $y e8erything that is%ontrary to poetry. 2e mo%+s its des%riptions and its tiresome psy%hology. This %riti%ism o: theno8el is immediately :ollo,ed $y praise o: dreams. Then he ends $y saying< ) $elie8e in thee8entual :usion o: these t,o states7 dream and reality7 ,hi%h are seemingly so %ontradi%tory7 into

    a +ind o: a$solute reality7 a surreality7 i: one may so spea+.

    Parado?< the :usion o: dream and reality that the surrealists pro%laimed7 ,ithout a%tually+no,ing ho, to $ring it a$out in a great literary ,or+7 had already o%%urred7 and in the 8erygenre they disparaged< in Ka:+a;s no8els7 ,ritten in the %ourse o: the pre8ious de%ade.

    )t is 8ery di::i%ult to des%ri$e7 to de:ine7 to gi8e a name to the +ind o: imagination ,ith ,hi%hKa:+a $e,it%hes us. The :usion o: dream and realitythat phrase Ka:+a o: %ourse ne8er heardis illuminating. As in another phrase dear to surrealists7 'autreamont;s a$out the $eauty in the

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    %han%e en%ounter $et,een an um$rella and a se,ing ma%hine< the more alien things are :rom oneanother7 the more magi%al the light that springs :rom their %onta%t. );d li+e to %all it a poeti%s o:surprise9 or $eauty as perpetual astonishment. *r to use the notion o: density as a %riterion o:8alue< density o: imagination7 density o: une?pe%ted en%ounters. The s%ene ) %ited7 o: the %oitiono: K. and (rieda7 is an e?ample o: that diHHying density< the short passage7 s%ar%ely a page long7

    en%ompasses three %ompletelydistin%t e?istential dis%o8eries =the e?istential triangle o: se?> that are stunning in their s,i:tsu%%ession< :ilth9 the into?i%ating dar+ $eauty o: strangeness9 and tou%hing7 an?ious yearning.

    The ,hole third %hapter is a ,hirlpool o: the une?pe%ted< ,ithin a :airly tight span %ome7 onea:ter the other< the :irst en%ounter $et,een K. and (rieda at the inn9 the e?traordinarily realisti%dialogue in the sedu%tion7 ,hi%h is disguised $e%ause o: the presen%e o: a third person =*lga>9the moti: o: a hole in the door =a trite moti:7 $ut it shi:ts a,ay :rom empiri%al plausi$ility>7through ,hi%h K. sees Klamm sleeping $ehind the des+9 the %ro,d o: ser8ants dan%ing ,ith*lga9 the surprising %ruelty o: (rieda7 ,ho runs them o:: ,ith a ,hip7 and their surprising :ear asthey o$ey her9 the inn+eeper7 ,ho arri8es as K. hides $y lying :lat under the $ar9 the arri8al o:(rieda7 ,ho dis%o8ers K. on the :loor and denies his presen%e to the inn+eeper =mean,hile

    amorously %aressing K.;s %hest ,ith her :oot>9 the a%t o: lo8e interrupted $y the %all :romKlamm7 ,ho has a,a+ened7 outside the door9 (riedas astonishingly %ourageous gesture o:shouting to Klamm7 );m ,ith the sur8eyorF;9 and then7 to top it all o:: =and here empiri%alplausi$ility is %ompletely a$andoned>< a$o8e them7 on the $ar %ounter7 sit the t,o assistants9 they,ere ,at%hing the %ouple the ,hole time.

    9

    The t,o assistants :rom the %astle are pro$a$ly Ka:+a;s greatest poeti% :ind7 the mar8el o: his:antasy9 their e?isten%e is not only in:initely astonishing7 it is

    also pa%+ed ,ith meanings< they are a %ouple o: patheti% $la%+mailers and nuisan%es9 $ut theyalso stand :or the ,hole threatening modernity o: the %astles uni8erse< they are %ops7 reporters7paparaHHi< agents o: the total destru%tion o: pri8ate li:e9 they are the inno%ent %lo,ns ,ho

    ,ander a%ross the stage as the drama pro%eeds9 $ut they are also le%herous 8oyeurs ,hosepresen%e im$ues the ,hole no8el ,ith the se?ual s%ent o: a smutty7 Ka:+aesuely %omi%promis%uity.

    But a$o8e all< the in8ention o: these t,o assistants is li+e a le8er that hoists the story into thatrealm ,here e8erything is at on%e strangely real and unreal7 possi$le and impossi$le. ChapterT,el8e< K.7 (rieda7 and the t,o assistants %amp in a grade@s%hool %lassroom that they ha8eturned into a $edroom. The tea%her and the pupils %ome in ust as the in%redi$le menage a uatreare starting their morning toilet< they get dressed $ehind the $lan+ets hung :rom the parallel $ars7,hile the %hildren ,at%hamused7 intrigued7 %urious =8oyeurs themsel8es>. )t is more than theen%ounter o: an um$rella ,ith a se,ing ma%hine. )t is the super$ly in%ongruous en%ounter o: t,ospa%es< a grade@s%hool %lassroom ,ith a du$ious $edroom.

    This s%ene ,ith its enormous %omi% poetry =,hi%h should head the list in an anthology o:modernism in the no8el> ,ould ha8e $een unthin+a$le in the pre@Ka:+a era. Totally unthin+a$le.) stress this in order to ma+e %lear the :ull radi%al nature o: Ka:+a;s aestheti% re8olution. ) re%all a%on8ersation7 $y no, t,enty years $a%+7 ,ith 6a$riel 6ar%ia MarueH7 ,ho told me< )t ,asKa:+a ,ho sho,ed me that it;s possi$le to ,rite another "ay. Another ,ay means< $rea+ing

    through the plausi$ility $arrier. Not in order to es%ape the real ,orld =the ,ay the Romanti%s did>$ut to apprehend it $etter.

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    Be%ause apprehending the real ,orld is part o: the de:inition o: the no8el< $ut ho, to $othapprehend it and at the same time engage in an en%hanting game o: :antasyG 2o, $e rigorous inanalyHing the ,orld and at the same time $e irresponsi$ly :ree at play:ul re8eriesG 2o, $ringthese t,o in%ompati$le purposes togetherG Ka:+a managed to sol8e this enormous puHHle. 2e %uta $rea%h in the ,all o: plausi$ility9 the $rea%h through ,hi%h many others :ollo,ed him7 ea%h in

    his o,n ,ay< (ellini7 MarueH7 (uentes7 Rushdie. And others7 others.To hell ,ith Saint 6artaF 2is %astrating shado, has $lo%+ed our 8ie, o: one o: the no8el;sgreatest poets o: all time.

    PART T2REE

    &mpro'isation in (omage to !tra'insky

    The all of the Past

    )n a !"#! radio le%ture7 S%hoen$erg spea+s o: his masters< in erster Linie 5ach unci MoCart@ inC"eiter 5eetho'en3 ,agner3 5rahms3in the :irst pla%e7 Ba%h and MoHart9 in the se%ond7Beetho8en7 1agner7 Brahms. )n %on%ise7 aphoristi% remar+s7 he goes on to spe%i:y ,hat helearned :rom ea%h o: these :i8e %omposers.

    Bet,een the Ba%h re:eren%e and the others there is a 8ery great di::eren%e< in MoHart7 :or

    e?ample7 he learns a$out the art o: uneual phrase lengths or the art o: %reating se%ondaryideas7 that is to say an utterly indi8idual s+ill that $elongs to MoHart alone. )n Ba%h7 hedis%o8ers prin%iples that had also operated in all the musi% :or %enturies $e:ore Ba%h< :irst7 theart o: in8enting groups o: notes su%h that they pro8ide their o,n a%%ompaniment9 and se%ond7the art o: %reating the ,hole :rom a single +erneldie %an $e ta+en to des%ri$e the ,hole t,el8e@tone re8olution< in %ontrast to Classi%almusi% and Romanti% musi%7 ,hi%h are $uilt on the alternation o: di::ering musi%al themeso%%urring one a:ter the other7 $oth a Ba%h :ugue and a t,el8e@tone %omposition7 :rom $eginningto end7 de8elop :rom a single +ernel7 ,hi%h is $oth melody and a%%ompaniment.

    T,enty@three years later7 ,hen Roland Manuel as+s Stra8ins+y< 1hat are your maor intereststhese daysG the latter responds< 6uillaume de Ma%haut7 2einri%h )saa+7 Du:ay7 Perotin7 and1e$ern. )t is the :irst time a %omposer pro%laims so :irmly the immense importan%e o: themusi% o: the t,el:th7 the :ourteenth7 and the :i:teenth %enturies7 and relates it to modern musi% =to1e$ern;s>.

    Some years a:ter that7 6lenn 6ould gi8es a %on%ert in Mos%o, :or the students o: the%onser8atory9 a:ter playing 1e$ern7 S%hoen$erg7 and Krene+7 he gi8es his audien%e a short%ommentary7 saying< The greatest %ompliment ) %an gi8e this musi% is to say that the prin%iplesto $e :ound in it are not ne,7 that they are at least :i8e hundred years old9 then he goes on toplay three Ba%h :ugues. )t ,as a %are:ully %onsidered pro8o%ation< so%ialist realism7 then theo::i%ial do%trine in Russia7 ,as $attling modernism in the name o: traditional musi%9 6lenn6ould meant to sho, that the roots o: modern musi% =:or$idden in Communist Russia> go mu%hdeeper than those o: the o::i%ial musi% o: so%ialist realism =,hi%h ,as a%tually nothing $ut anarti:i%ial preser8ation o: romanti%ism in musi%>.

    The T"o (al'es

    The history o: European musi% %o8ers a$out a thousand years =i: ) ta+e as its $eginnings the :irste?periments in primiti8e polyphony>. The history o: the European no8el =i: ) ta+e as its start the,or+s o: Ra$elais and Cer8antes> %o8ers a$out :our %enturies. 1hen ) %onsider these t,ohistories7 ) %annot sha+e the sense that they de8eloped in rhythms resem$ling7 so to spea+7 the

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    t,o hal8es o: a so%%er game. The %aesuras7 or hal:time $rea+s7 in the history o: musi% and in thato: the no8el do not %oin%ide. )n the history o: musi%7 the $rea+ stret%hes o8er a $ig part o: theeighteenth %entury =the sym$oli% apogee o: the :irst hal: o%%urring in Ba%h;s The Art of Fugue3and the start o: the se%ond hal: in the ,or+s o: the earliest Classi%al %omposers>9 the $rea+ in thehistory o: the no8el %omes a little later< $et,een the eighteenth and the nineteenth %enturies

    that is7 $et,een 'a%los and Sterne on the one side and7 on the other7 S%ott and BalHa%. This asyn@%hronism sho,s that the deepest %auses go8erning the rhythm o: the history o: the arts are notso%iologi%al or politi%al $ut aestheti%< $ound up ,ith the intrinsi% nature o: one art or another9 asi: the art o: the no8el7 :or instan%e7 %ontained t,o di::erent potentialities =t,o di::erent ,ays o:$eing a no8el> that %ould not $e ,or+ed out at the same time7 in parallel7 $ut %ould $e ,or+ed outonly su%%essi8ely7 one a:ter the other.

    The metaphor o: the t,o hal8es o: a game %ame to me some time ago in the %ourse o: a%on8ersation ,ith a :riend and does not %laim to $e at all s%holarly9 it is an ordinary7 elementaryo$ser8ation7 nai8ely o$8ious than through their,ritten te?ts. The ,or+s o: the eighteenth %entury;s most :amous no8elist7 Samuel Ri%hardson7%annot $e :ound in $oo+stores and are pra%ti%ally :orgotten. BalHa%7 on the %ontrary7 e8en thoughhe may seem old@:ashioned7 is still easy to read9 his :orm is %omprehensi$le7 :amiliar to thereader7 and e8en more important7 it is :or that reader the 8ery model o: the no8el :orm.

    The %hasm $et,een the aestheti%s o: these t,o hal8es ma+es :or a multitude o:misunderstandings. 4ladimir Na$o+o87 in his $oo+ on Cer8antes7 gi8es a pro8o%ati8ely negati8eopinion o:Don ui>ote6 o8er8alued7 nai8e7 repetiti8e7 and :ull o: un$eara$le and implausi$le%ruelty9 that hideous %ruelty ma+es this $oo+ one o: the most $itter and $ar$arous e8er

    penned9 poor San%ho7 mo8ing along :rom one dru$$ing to another7 loses all his teeth at least:i8e times. Yes7 Na$o+o8 is right< San%ho loses too many teeth7 $ut ,e are not in the ,orld o:ola7 ,here some %ruel a%t7 des%ri$ed pre%isely and in detail7 $e%omes the a%%urate do%ument o:a so%ial reality9 ,ith Cer8antes7 ,e are in a ,orld %reated $y the magi% spells o: the storyteller,ho in8ents7 ,ho e?aggerates7 and ,ho is %arried a,ay $y his :antasies7 his e?%esses9 San%ho;s

    three hundred $ro+en teeth %annot $e ta+en literally7 no more than anything else in this no8el.Madame7 a steamroller has ust run o8er your daughterF Yes7 yes7 );m in the $athtu$. Slide herto me under the door. Must ,e $ring %harges o: %ruelty against that old CHe%h o+e :rom my%hildhoodG Cer8antes; great :ounding ,or+ ,as ali8e ,ith the spirit o: the nonseri@ous7 a spiritthat ,as later made in%omprehensi$le $y the Romanti% aestheti% o: the se%ond hal:7 $y itsdemand :or plausi$ility.

    The se%ond hal: not only e%lipsed the :irst7 it repressed it9 the :irst hal: has $e%ome the $ad%ons%ien%e o: the no8el and espe%ially o: musi%. Ba%h;s ,or+ is the $est@+no,n e?ample< Ba%h;sreno,n during his li:etime9 Ba%h :orgotten a:ter his death =:orgotten :or hal: a %entury>9 the slo,redis%o8ery o: Ba%h o8er the length o: the nineteenth %entury. Beetho8en alone almost su%%eededto,ard the end o: his li:e =that is7 se8enty years a:ter Ba%h;s death> in integrating Ba%h;se?perien%e into the ne, aestheti% o: musi% =his repeated e::orts to insert :ugue into the sonata>7,hereas a:ter Beetho8en7 the more the Romanti%s ,orshiped Ba%h7 the :urther they mo8ed a,ay:rom him in their stru%tural thin+ing. To ma+e him more a%%essi$le they su$e%ti8iHed and

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    sentimentaliHed him =Busoni;s :amous arrangements>9 then7 rea%ting against that romanti%iHation7%ame a desire to re%o8er his musi% as it ,as played in its o,n time7 ,hi%h ga8e rise to somenota$ly insipid per:orman%es. )t seems to me that7 ha8ing on%e passed through the desert o:o$li8ion7 Ba%h;s musi% still +eeps its :a%e hal: 8eiled.

    (istory as a Landscape ?merging from the Mists

    Rather than dis%uss the :orgetting o: Ba%h7 ) %ould turn my idea around and say< Ba%h is the :irstgreat %omposer ,ho7 $y the enormous ,eight o: his ,or+7 %ompelled the audien%e to payattention to his musi% e8en though it already $elonged to the past. An unpre%edentedphenomenon7 $e%ause until the nineteenth %entury7 people li8ed almost e?%lusi8ely ,ith %ontem@porar8 musi%. They had no li8ing %onta%t ,ith the musi%al past< e8en i: musi%ians had studied themusi% o: pre8ious times =and this ,as rare>7 they ,ere not in the ha$it o: per:orming it in pu$li%.During the nineteenth %entury7 musi% o: the past $egan to $e re8i8ed and pla8ed alongside%ontemporary musi% and to ta+e on an e8er greater presen%e7 to the point that in the t,entieth%entury the $alan%e $et,een the present and the past ,as re8ersed< audien%es heard the musi% o:earlier times mu%h more than they did %ontemporary musi%7 and no, the latter has 8irtuallydisappeared :rom %on%ert halls.

    Ba%h ,as thus the :irst %omposer to esta$lish his pla%e in the memory o: later generations9 ,ithhim7 nineteenth@%entury Europe not only dis%o8ered an important part o: musi%s past7 it alsodis%o8ered musi% history. Europe sa, that Ba%h ,as not ust any past $ut rather a past that ,asradi%ally di::erent :rom the present9 thus musi%al time ,as re8ealed a$ruptly =and :or the :irsttime> not ust as a series o: ,or+s $ut as a series o: %hanges7 o: eras7 o: 8arying aestheti%s.

    ) o:ten imagine him in the year o: his death7 in the

    e?a%t middle o: the eighteenth %entury7 $ending ,ith %louding eyes o8er The Art of Fugue3 a%omposition ,hose aestheti% orientation represents the most ar%hai% tenden%y in Ba%h;s oeu8re=,hi%h %ontains many orientations>7 a tenden%y alien to its time7 ,hi%h had already turned%ompletely a,ay :rom polyphony to,ard a simple7 e8en simplisti%7 style that o:ten 8erged on:ri8olity or laHiness.

    The histori%al position o: Ba%h;s ,or+ there:ore re8eals ,hat later generations had $egun to:orget that history is not ne%essarily a path %lim$ing up,ard =to,ard the ri%her7 the more%ulti8ated>7 that the demands o: art may $e %ounter to the demands o: the moment =o: this or thatmodernity>7 and that the ne, =the uniue7 the inimita$le7 the pre8iously unsaid> might lie in somedire%tion other than the one e8ery$ody sees as progress. )ndeed7 the :uture that Ba%h %oulddis%ern in the art o: his %ontemporaries and o: his uniors must to his eyes ha8e seemed a%ollapse. 1hen7 to,ard the end o: his li:e7 he %on%entrated e?%lusi8ely on pure polyphony7 he,as turning his $a%+ on the tastes o: his time and on his o,n %omposer sons9 it ,as a gesture o:de:ian%e against history7 a ta%it ree%tion o: the :uture. Ba%h< an e?traordinary %rossroads o: thehistori%al trends and issues o: musi%. Some hundred years $e:ore him7 another su%h %rossroadso%%urs in the ,or+ o: Monte8erdi< this is the meeting ground o: t,o opposing aestheti%s

    =Monte8erdi %alls themprima and seconda prattica3 the one $ased on erudite polyphony7 theother7 programmati%ally e?pressi8e7 on monody>7 and it thus pre:igures the mo8e :rom the :irst tothe se%ond hal:.

    Another e?traordinary %rossroads o: histori%al

    trends< the ,or+ o: Stra8ins+y. Musi%s thousand@year history7 ,hi%h o8er the %ourse o: thenineteenth %entury ,as slo,ly emerging :rom the mists o: o$li8ion7 suddenly to,ard the middleo: our o,n %entury =t,o hundred years a:ter Ba%h;s death> stood re8ealed in its :ull $readth li+e alands%ape dren%hed in light9 a uniue moment ,hen the ,hole history o: musi% is totally present7

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    totally a%%essi$le and a8aila$le =than+s to histori%al resear%h7 to radio7 to re%ordings>7 totallyopen to the e?amination o: its meaning9 this moment o: 8ast reappraisal seems to :ind itsmonument in the musi% o: Stra8ins+y.

    The Tribunal of the Feelings

    Musi% is po,erless to e?press anything at all< a :eeling7 an attitude7 a psy%hologi%al state7 says

    Stra8ins+y in hronicle of My Life =!"#&>. This assertion =surely e?aggerated7 :or ho, %an onedeny musi%;s a$ility to arouse :eelingsG> is ela$orated and re:ined a :e, lines later< musi%;sraison detre.3 says Stra8ins+y7 does not reside in its %apa%ity to e?press :eelings. )t is %urious tonote ,hat irritation this attitude pro8o+ed.

    The %on8i%tion7 %ontrary to Stra8ins+y;s7 that musi%;s raison d;etre is the e?pression o: :eelingspro$a$ly e?isted al,ays7 $ut it $e%ame dominant7 ,idely a%%epted and sel:@e8ident7 in theeighteenth %entury9 ean@a%ues Rousseau states it ,ith a $lunt simpli%ity< li+e any other art7musi% imitates the real ,orld7 $ut in a spe%i:i% ,ay< it ,ill not represent things dire%tly7 $ut it,ill arouse in the soul the same impulses that ,e :eel at seeing them. That reuires a

    %ertain stru%ture in the musi%al ,or+9 Rousseau< All o: musi% %an $e %omposed o: only thesethree things< melody or song7 harmony or a%%ompaniment7 mo8ement or tempo. ) emphasiHe9 they ,ere e?horted to e?press the ,hole range o: human:eelings =modern musi%7 :rom De$ussy on7 ,as denoun%ed :or its ina$ility to do so>9 musi%;s:a%ulty :or e?pressing the :eelings reality arouses in man ga8e it realism =ust as Rousseausaid>. =So%ialist realism in musi%< the prin%iples o: the se%ond hal: trans:ormed into dogmas to$lo%+ modernism.>

    The most se8ere and thorough %riti%ism o: Stra8ins+y is surely Theodor Adorno;s in his :amous$oo+ The Philosophy of Modern Music =!"0">. Adorno depi%ts the situation in musi% as i: it ,erea politi%al $attle:ield< S%hoen$erg the positi8e hero7 the representati8e o: progress =though aprogress that might $e termed tragi%7 at a time ,hen progress is o8er>7 and Stra8ins+y thenegati8e hero7 the representati8e o: restoration. The Stra8ins+ian re:usal to see su$e%ti8e%on:ession as musi%;s raison d;etre $e%omes one target o: the Adorno %ritiue9 thisantipsy%hologi%al :uror is7 he says7 a :orm o: indi::eren%e to,ard the ,orld9

    Stra8ins+y;s desire to o$e%ti8iHe musi% is a +ind o: ta%it a%%ord ,ith the %apitalist so%iety that%rushes human su$e%ti8ity9 :or it is the liuidation o: the indi8idual that Stra8ins+y;s musi%%ele$rates7 nothing less.

    Ernest Ansermet7 an e?%ellent musi%ian and %ondu%tor7 and one o: the :oremost per:ormers o:

    Stra8ins+y;s ,or+ =one o: my most :aith:ul and de8oted :riends7 says Stra8ins+y in hronicleof My Life=3 later $e%ame his impla%a$le %riti%9 his o$e%tions are :undamental7 they are%on%erned ,ith musi%;s rai@son d;etre. Ansermet says it is the a::e%ti8e a%ti8ity latent in men;shearts . . . that has al,ays $een the sour%e o: musi%9 the ethi%al essen%e o: musi% lies in thee?pression o: that a::e%ti8e a%ti8ity9 ,ith Stra8ins+y7 ,ho re:uses to in8est his person in thea%t o: musi%al e?pression7 musi% there$y %eases to $e an aestheti% e?pression o: the humanethi%9 thus7 :or instan%e7 hisMass is not the e?pression o: the mass $ut itsportrayal3 ,hi%hmight ust as ,ell ha8e $een ,ritten $y an irreligious musi%ian and ,hi%h7 %onseuently7

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    pro8ides only a ready@made religiosity9 $y thus under%utting the true raison d;etre o: musi% =$ysu$stituting portrayals :or religious a8o,al>7 Stra8ins+y :ails in nothing less than his ethi%alo$ligation.

    1hy this :uryG )s it the lega%y o: the pre8ious %entury7 the romanti%ism in us stri+ing out at itsmost signi:i%ant7 its most thorough negationG 2as Stra8ins+y 8iolated some e?istential need

    hidden ,ithin us allG The need to %onsider damp eyes $etter than dry eyes7 the hand on the heart$etter than the hand in the po%+et7 $elie: $etter than s+epti%ism7 passion $etter than serenity7 :aith$etter than +no,ledgeG

    Ansermet pro%eeds :rom %riti%ism o: the musi% to %riti%ism o: its author< i: Stra8ins+y neithermade nor tried to ma+e his musi% an a%t o: sel:@e?pression7 it;s not out o: :ree %hoi%e7 $ut out o: a+ind o: limitation in his nature7 a la%+ o: autonomy in his a::e%ti8e a%ti8ity =not to spea+ o: hispo8erty o: heart7 a heart that ,ill stay poor until it has something to lo8e>.

    DamnF 1hat did Ansermet7 that most :aith:ul :riend7 +no, a$out Stra8ins+y;s po8erty o: heartG1hat did he7 that most de8oted :riend7 +no, a$out Stra8ins+y;s %apa%ity to lo8eG And ,here didhe get his utter %ertainty that the heart is ethi%ally superior to the $rainG Are not 8ile a%ts%ommitted as o:ten ,ith the heart;s help as ,ithout itG Can;t :anati%s7 ,ith their $loody hands7

    $oast o: a high degree o: a::e%ti8e a%ti8ityG 1ill ,e e8er $e done ,ith this im$e%ilesentimental )nuisition7 the heart;s Reign o: TerrorG

    ,hat &s !uperficial and ,hat &s Profound:

    The soldiers o: the heart assail Stra8ins+y7 or else7 in an e::ort to sal8age his musi%7 they try todis%onne%t it :rom its author;s erroneous ideas. That no$le determination to sal8age the musi%o: %omposers ,ho might ha8e too little heart o%%urs uite o:ten ,ith regard to the musi%ians o:the :irst hal:7 in%luding Ba%h< The t,entieth@%entury epigones7 "ho "ere frightened $y thee8olution o: the musi%al language meaning Stra8ins+y ,ith his re:usal to :ollo, the t,el8e@tone s%hooland ,ho $elie8ed they %ould redeem their sterility through ,hat they %alled the

    ;return to Ba%h; are deeply mista+en a$out Ba%h;s musi%9 they had the effrontery to represent it as;o$e%ti8e7; a$solute musi% ,ith none $ut a purely musi%al meaning. . . . *nly me%hani%al

    per:orman%es7 in a %ertain period o: cra'en purism7 %ould gi8e the impression that Ba%h;sinstrumental musi% is not su$e%ti8e and e?pressi8e. ) ha8e emphasiHed the terms that sho, thepassionate uality o: this !"# te?t $y Antoine 6olea.

    By %han%e7 ) %ame upon a little %ommentary $y another musi%ologist9 it %on%erns Ra$elais;s great%ontemporary Clement aneuin and his so@%alled des%ripti8e ,or+s7 li+e 'e hant desoiseau>G =Birdsong> or 'e aBuet des femmesG =1omen;s Chatter>9 the determination tosal8age is the same =here again the itali%s are mine>< Nonetheless7 these pie%es remain rathersuperficial. No,7 aneuin is a :ar more %omplete artist than people are ,illing to admit7 :oraside :rom his undenia$lepictorial gifts3 his ,or+ displays a tender poetry3 a penetrating ardorin the e>pression of feelings. . . . This is a poet o: su$tlety7 sensiti8e to nature;s $eauties9 he isalso a peerless bard of "omankind3 to ,hose praise he $rings tones of tenderness3 admiration3

    respect ...Note the 8o%a$ulary< the poles o: good and e8il are designated $y the ade%ti8e super:i%ial andits understood %ontrary7 pro:ound. But are aneuin;s des%ripti8e %ompositions a%tuallysuper:i%ialG )n these :e, ,or+s7 aneuin trans%ri$es nonmusi%al sounds =$irdsong7 ,omen;s%hatter7 the ra%+et o: the streets7 the sounds o: a hunt or a $attle7 and so on> $y musi%al means=%horal singing>9 that des%ription is ,or+ed out polyphoni%ally. The union o: naturalisti%

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    the sun =Rim$aud>. ) remem$er the gloomy years ) spent in Bohemia early in the Russiano%%upation. ) :ell in lo8e then ,ith 4arese and 5ena+is< those pi%tures o: sound@,orlds that ,ereo$e%ti8e $ut none?istent spo+e to me o: a li:e :reed o: human su$e%ti8ity7 aggressi8e and$urdensome9 they spo+e o: the s,eetly nonhuman $eauty o: the ,orld $e:ore or a:ter man+indmo8ed through it.

    Melody) listen to a polyphoni% %hant :or t,o 8oi%es :rom the t,el:th@%entury S%hool o: Notre@Dame inParis< underneath7 in augmented note 8alues7 as a cantus firmus3 an an%ient 6regorian %hant =a%hant that goes $a%+ to an immemorial and pro$a$ly non@European past>9 a$o8e it7 in shorternote 8alues7 un:olds the polyphoni% a%%ompaniments melody. This em$ra%e o: t,o melodies$elonging to t,o di::erent eras =%enturies

    apart> has something mar8elous a$out it< li+e reality and para$le at on%e7 here is the $irth o:European musi% as art< a melody is %reated to go in %ounterpoint ,ith another7 8ery old7 melody,hose origins are almost un+no,n9 so this ne, one is there as something se%ondary7 su$ordinate7it is there to ser'e@ though se%ondary7 it is this 8oi%e that $rings to $ear all the in8ention7 all thela$or7 o: the medie8al musi%ian7 ,hereas the melody it a%%ompanies has $een ta+en un%hanged

    :rom an antiue repertoire.This old polyphoni% %omposition delights me< the ne, melody on top is long7 unending7 andunmemoriC9able@ it is not the produ%t o: some sudden inspiration3 it did not spring :orth as thedire%t e?pression o: some state o: mind9 it has the uality o: an elaboration3 a %ra:tsman;s ,or+o: ornamentation7 a ,or+ done not to let the artist open his soul =sho, his a::e%ti8e a%ti8ity7 touse Ansermets term> $ut to let him7 in all humility7 em$ellish a liturgy.

    And it;s my impression that until Ba%h the art o: melody ,ould +eep that uality the earliestpolyphoni% %omposers ga8e it. ) listen to the Adagio o: Ba%h;s E Maor 4iolin Con%erto< li+e a+ind o: cantus firmus3 the or%hestra =the $ass instruments> plays a 8ery simple theme7 readilymemoriHa$le and many times repeated7 ,hile the 8iolin melody =the :o%us o: the %omposer;smelodi% %hallenge> soars a$o8e7 in%ompara$ly longer7 more 8arious7 ri%her than the or%hestras

    cantus firmus =to ,hi%h it is nonetheless su$ordinate>7 $eauti:ul7 spell$inding yet elusi8e7unmemoriHa$le7 and :or us %hildren o: the se%ond hal:7 su$limely ar%hai%.

    The situation %hanges ,ith the da,n o: the Classi%al. Composition loses its polyphoni% nature9 in

    the sonority o: the a%%ompaniment harmonies7 the autonomy o: the 8arious singular 8oi%esdisappears7 and disappears still more as the great inno8ation o: the se%ond hal:the symphoni%or%hestra ,ith its thi%+ness o: soundgains prominen%e9 the melody that ,as se%ondary7su$ordinate7 $e%omes the main point in %omposition and dominates musi%al stru%ture7 ,hi%hin%identally undergoes a %omplete trans:ormation.

    Then the %hara%ter o: melody %hanges too< no more is it the long line that runs through an entirepie%e9 it %an $e redu%ed to a phrase o: a :e, measures7 a phrase that is 8ery e?pressi8e and%on%entrated7 and thus easily memoriHa$le7 that %an %at%h =or pro8o+e> a dire%t emotion =more

    than e8er $e:ore7 musi% is set a great semanti% tas+< to %apture and musi%ally des%ri$e all theemotions and their nuan%es>. This is ,hy the present@day audien%e applies the term greatmelodist to the %omposers o: the se%ond hal:to a MoHart7 a Chopin$ut rarely to Ba%h or4i8aldi and still less to osuin des Pres or Palestrina< the %urrent idea o: melody =o: ,hat%onstitutes $eauti:ul melody> ,as shaped $y the Classi%al aestheti%.

    Yet it is not true that Ba%h is less melodi% than MoHart9 it is only that his melody is di::erent. TheArt of Fugue6 the :amous theme

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    is that +ernel out o: ,hi%h =as S%hoen$erg said> the ,hole is %reated9 $ut that is not the melodi%

    treasure o: The Art of Fugue@ the treasure is in all the melodiesthat arise :rom this theme and :orm the %ounterpoint to it. ) li+e 8ery mu%h 2ermann S%her%hen;sor%hestration and re%orded interpretation9 :or e?ample7 Contrapun%tus )47 the fourth singlefugue6 he %ondu%ts it at hal: the %ustomary speed =Ba%h did not pres%ri$e the tempi>9immediately7 at that slo, tempo7 the ,hole o: its unsuspe%ted melodi% $eauty is re8ealed. ThatremelodiCation o: Ba%h has nothing to do ,ith roman9ticiCation =no ru$ato7 no added %hords inS%her%hen>9 ,hat ) hear is the authenti% melody o: the :irst hal:7 elusi8e7 unmemoriHa$le7irredu%i$le to a $rie: phrase7 a melody =an ent,ining o: melodies> that $e,it%hes me $y itsine::a$le serenity. )mpossi$le to hear it ,ithout great emotion. But it is an emotion essentiallydi::erent :rom one stirred $y a Chopin no%turne.

    As i:7 $ehind the art o: melody7 there hid t,o possi$le intentionalities7 %ontrary to one another< as

    i: a Ba%h :ugue7 $y $ringing us to %ontemplate a $eauty o: $eing that is outside the su$e%ti8e7aimed to ma+e us :orget our moods7 our passions and pains7 oursel8es9 and as i: on the otherhand Romanti% melody aimed to ma+e us plunge into oursel8es7 :eel the sel: ,ith a terri$leintensity7 and :orget e8erything outside.

    Modernisms #reat ,orks as *ehabilitation of the First (alf

    The great no8elists o: the post@Proust period) ha8e espe%ially in mind Ka:+a7 Musil7 Bro%h76om$ro,i%H7 or7 in my generation7 (uentes,ere highly sensiti8e to the nearly :orgottenaestheti% o: the no8el pre8ious to the nineteenth %entury< they in%orporated essayisti%

    re:le%tion into the art o: the no8el9 made %omposition :reer9 re%laimed the right to digression9$reathed the spirit o: the nonserious and o: play into the no8el9 repudiated the dogmas o:psy%hologi%al realism in %reating %hara%ters ,ithout trying to %ompete =li+e BalHa%> ,ith the etat

    ci'il,ith the state registry o: %itiHens9 and a$o8e all< they re:used any o$ligation to gi8e thereader the illusion o: reality< an o$ligation that reigned supreme throughout the no8els se%ondhal:.

    The point o: this reha$ilitation o: the :irst@hal: no8elisti% prin%iples is not a return to this or thatretro style9 nor is it a simpleminded ree%tion o: the nineteenth@%entury no8el9 the point o: thereha$ilitation is more general< to redefine and broaden the 8ery notion o: the no8el9 to resist thereduction ,or+ed $y the nineteenth %entury;s aestheti% o: the no8el9 to gi8e the no8el its entirehistori%al e?perien%e :or a grounding.

    ) do not mean to dra, a :a%ile parallel $et,een the no8el and musi%7 the stru%tural issues o: thet,o arts not $eing %ompara$le9 $ut the histori%al situations are similar< li+e the great no8elists7the great modern %omposers =Stra8ins+y and S%hoen$erg $oth> determined to en%ompass all the%enturies o: musi%7 to rethin+ and rema+e the s%ale o: 8alues o: its "hole history9 to do this7 theyhad to e?tri%ate musi% :rom the rut o: the se%ond hal: =$y the ,ay< the term neo%lassi%ism%ommonly pinned on Stra8ins+y is misleading7 :or his most de%isi8e e?%ursions into the pastrea%h into eras earlier than the Classi%al>9 :rom ,hi%h %omes their reti%en%e< as to %ompositionte%hniues originating ,ith the sonata9 as to the preeminen%e o: melody9 as to the soni%demagogy o: s8mphoni% or%hestration9 $ut :rom ,hi%h %omes7 a$o8e all< their re:usal to seemusi%;s rai@

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    son d;etre e>clusi'ely as an a8o,al o: emotional li:e7 an attitude that during the nineteenth%entury $e%ame as %oer%i8e as did the reuirement o: plausi$ility :or the no8el.

    Although that in%lination to reread and ree8aluate the entire history o: musi% is %ommon to allthe great modernists =i: it is7 as ) $elie8e7 the mar+ that distinguishes great modern art :rommodernist trumpery>7 still7 it is Stra8ins+y ,ho e?presses it more %learly than anyone else =and

    hyper$oli%ally7 ) ,ould add>. That7 $y the ,ay7 is the :o%us o: his detra%tors; atta%+s< in his e::ortto root himsel: in the ,hole history o: musi% they see e%le%ti%ism9 a la%+ o: originality9 a :ailureo: in8ention. 2is in%redi$le di8ersity o: stylisti% pro%edures . . . amounts to an a$sen%e o: style7says Ansermet. And Adorno7 sar%asti%ally< Stra8ins+y;s musi% is inspired only $y musi%7 it ismusi% a$out musi%.

    3n:air udgments< :or ,hile Stra8ins+y7 li+e no other %omposer $e:ore or a:ter him7 did turn :orinspiration to the ,hole span o: musi%7 in no ,ay does that lessen the originality o: his art. And )do not merely mean that the same personal traits are al,ays 8isi$le $eneath the shi:ts in his style.) mean that it is pre%isely his 8aga$ondage through musi%al historyhis %ons%ious7 purpose:ule%le%ti%ism7 giganti% and unmat%hedthat is his total and in%ompara$le originality.

    The Third ;or 2'ertime= Period

    But ,hat is the signi:i%an%e7 in Stra8ins+y7 o: this determination to en%ompass the ,hole span o:musi%G 1hat is the pointG

    As a young man7 ) ,ould ans,er ,ithout hesitation< to me7 Stra8ins+y ,as one o: those :igures,ho had opened the doors onto distan%es ) sa, as $oundless. ) thought he meant to summon upand mo$iliHe all the po,ers7 all the means a8aila$le to the history o: musi%7 :or the infinite8ourney that is modern art.

    The in:inite ourney that is modern artG Sin%e then7 );8e lost that :eeling. The ourney ,as a shortone. That is ,hy7 :or my metaphor o: the t,o game hal8es o: musi% history7 );8e imaginedmodern musi% as a mere postlude7 an epilogue to the history o: musi%7 a %ele$ration that mar+sthe end o: the ad8enture7 a s+y a$laHe at the end o: the day.

    No, ) do hesitate< e8en though it is true that the time o: modern musi% has $een so short7 e8en

    though it has lasted only a generation or t,o7 and has thus really $een no more than an epilogue7still7 $y reason o: its enormous $eauty7 its artisti% importan%e7 its entirely ne, aestheti%7 does itnot deser8e to $e %onsidered an era %omplete unto itsel:7 a third :or o'ertime= period: Should )not re8ise my metaphor a$out the histories o: musi% and o: the no8elG Should ) not say that theyhappened o8er three periodsG

    Yes7 ) do re8ise my metaphor7 and all the more ,illingly as ) am deeply7 passionately :ond o: thatthird period7 that s+y a$laHe at the end o: the day7 :ond o: that period ,hi%h ) $elie8e ) mysel:am part o:7 e8en i: ) am part o: something that is already :inished.

    But to return to my uestion< ,hat is the signi:i%an%e o: Stra8ins+y;s determination to en%ompassthe ,hole span o: musi%G 1hat is the pointG

    An image hounds me< a%%ording to a popular $elie:7 at the moment o: his death a person sees his

    ,hole li:e pass $e:ore his eyes. )n Stra8ins+y;s ,or+7 European musi% re%alled its thousand@yearhistory9 that ,as its :inal dream $e:ore setting out :or an eternal dreamless sleep.

    Playful Transcription

    'et us distinguish t,o things< on the one hand< the general trend :or restoring :orgottenprin%iples o: musi% o: the past7 a trend that runs through all Stra8ins+y;s ,or+ and that o: hisgreat %ontemporaries9 on the other hand< the dire%t dialogue that Stra8ins+y %arries on ,ithT%hai+o8s+y7 then ,ith Pergolesi7 then ,ith 6esualdo7 and so on9 these dire%t dialogues7

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    trans%riptions o: this or that old ,or+7 in this or that parti%ular style7 are a pro%edure o:Stra8ins+y;s o,n that ,e :ind in pra%ti%ally no other o: his %omposer %ontemporaries =,e do :indit in Pi%asso>.

    Adorno interprets Stra8ins+y;s trans%riptions thus =) emphasiHe the +ey terms>< These notesthe dissonant notes7 alien to the harmony7 ,hi%h Stra8ins+y uses inPulcinella3 :or instan%e

    $e%ome the mar+s o: the 'iolence the %omposer ,rea+s against the idiom7 and it is that'iolence ,e relish a$out them7 that battering3 that 'iolation3 so to speak3 of musical life. Thoughdissonan%e may originally ha8e $een the e?pression o: sub8ecti'e suffering3 its harshness shi:ts in8alue and $e%omes the sign o: a social constraint3 ,hose agent is the style@setting %omposer. 2is,or+s ha8e no other material $ut the em$lems o: that con9straint3 a ne%essity e?ternal to thesu$e%t7 ha8ing

    nothing in %ommon ,ith it7 and ,hi%h is merely imposed :rom the outside. )t may $e that the,idespread e::e%t o: these ,or+s o: Stra8ins+y;s is due in large part to the :a%t that inad8ertently7and under %olor o: aestheti%ism7 they in their o"n "ay trained men to something that "as soonmethodically inflicted on them at the political le'el.G

    'et us re%apitulate< a dissonan%e is usti:ied i: it e?presses su$e%ti8e su::ering7 $ut in

    Stra8ins+y =,ho is morally guilty7 as ,e +no,7 o: ne8er dis%ussing his su::erings> that 8erydissonan%e is the sign o: $rutality9 a parallel is dra,n =$y a $rilliant short %ir%uit o: Adornothought> ,ith politi%al $rutality< thus the dissonant %hords added to Pergolesis musi% pre:igure=and there$y prepare> the %oming politi%al oppression =,hi%h in this parti%ular histori%al %onte?t%an mean only one thing< :as%ism>.

    ) had my o,n e?perien%e ,ith the :ree trans%ription o: a ,or+ :rom the past ,hen7 early in the!"/-s7 ,hile ) ,as still in Prague7 ) set a$out ,riting a 8ariation :or the theater on 7acBues leFataliste. Diderot $eing :or me the em$odiment o: a :ree7 rational7 %riti%al mind7 ) e?perien%edmy a::e%tion :or him at the time as a +ind o: yearning :or the 1est =to my eyes7 the Russiano%%upation o: my %ountry represented a :or%ed de@1esterniHation>. But the meaning o: things+eeps %hanging< today ) ,ould say that Diderot em$odied :or me the :irst hal: o: the art o: the

    no8el and that my play %ele$rated 8arious prin%iples ,ell +no,n to the no8elists o: old7 and dearto me as ,ell< =!> the euphori% :reedom o: %omposition9 =I> the %onstant asso%iation o: li$ertinestories and philosophi%al re:le%tions9 =#> the nonserious7 ironi%al7 parodi%7

    sho%+ing nature o: those re:le%tions. The rules o: the game ,ere %lear< ,hat ) did ,as not anadaptation o: Diderot7 it ,as my o,n play7 my 'ariation on Diderot7 my homage to Diderot< )%ompletely re,rote his no8el9 the lo8e stories are ta+en :rom him7 $ut the ideas in the dialogueare largely mine9 anyone %an instantly see lines in it that are unthin+a$le :rom Diderot;s pen9 theeighteenth %entury ,as optimisti%7 my time is not7 ) mysel: still less so7 and in my play theMaster and a%ues %hara%ters indulge in dar+ e?%esses $arely imagina$le in the age o:Enlightenment.

    A:ter that little e?perien%e o: my o,n ) %an only %all stupid those remar+s on Stra8ins+y;s

    $rutality and 8iolen%e. 2e lo8ed his old master as ) lo8ed mine. )n adding t,entieth@%enturydissonan%es to melodies o: the eighteenth7 perhaps he imagined he might intrigue his master outin the $eyond7 that he might tell him something important a$out our time7 that he might e8enamuse him. 2e needed to address him7 to tal+ to him. The playful transcription o: an old ,or+,as :or him li+e a ,ay o: esta$lishing %ommuni%ation $et,een %enturies.

    Playful Transcription According to

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    intent< to not do realism9 $etter yet< to not do a serious ,or+. 2e did not e8en try to palliate hisignoran%e $y resear%h9 he in8ented his idea o: Ameri%a :rom se%ond@rate readings7 :rom

    popular prints7 and indeed7 the no8el;s image o: Ameri%a is =intentionally> made up o: %li%hes9the main inspiration :or the %hara%ters and plot =as he a%+no,ledged in his diary> is Di%+ens7espe%iallyDa'id opperfield =Ka:+a des%ri$es the :irst %hapter o:Amerika as a sheer imitation

    o: Di%+ens;>< he pi%+s up parti%ular moti:s :rom it =and lists them< the story o: the trun+7 the $oy,ho delights and %harms e8eryone7 the menial la$or7 the s,eetheart in the %ountry house7 the:ilthy li8ing uarters>7 and he dra,s on its %hara%ters =Karl is an a::e%tionate parody o: Da8idCopper:ield> and espe%ially on the atmosphere that all Di%+ens;s no8els $athe in< thesentimentality7 the nai8e distin%tion $et,een good and e8il :igures. Adorno spea+s o:Stra8ins+y;s musi% as a musi% a$out musi%9 Ka:+a;sAmerika is a literature a$out literature7and ,ithin the genre it is e8en a %lassi% ,or+7 perhaps a seminal one.

    The :irst page o: the no8el< in the port o: Ne, Yor+7 Karl is a$out to lea8e the ship ,hen herealiHes that he has :orgotten his um$rella $elo,. )n order to go $a%+ :or it7 ,ith a gulli$ility thatis $arely $elie8a$le he entrusts his steamer trun+ =a hea8y trun+ holding e8erything he o,ns> to astranger< o: %ourse7 he loses the trun+ and the um$rella $oth. (rom the :irst lines7 the spirit o:

    play:ul parody generates an imaginary ,orld ,here nothing is %ompletely plausi$le ande8erything is a little %omi%al.

    Ka:+a;s %astle7 ,hi%h e?ists on no map any,here7 is no more unreal than that Ameri%a %on%ei8edas a %li%he pi%ture o: the ne, %i8iliHation o: gigantism and the ma%hine. )n the house o: his un%lethe senator7 Karl %omes a%ross a des+ that is an e?traordinarily

    %ompli%ated ma%hine7 ,ith a hundred %ompartments +eyed to a hundred push $uttons7 an o$e%tat on%e pra%ti%al and utterly useless7 at on%e te%hni%al ,onder and nonsense. ) %ounted ten su%hde8i%es in the no8el7 all mar8elous7 entertaining7 and implausi$le7 :rom the un%les des+7 themaHeli+e %ountry house7 the 2otel *%%idental =monstrously %omple? ar%hite%ture7 dia$oli%ally$ureau%rati% organiHation>7 to the *+lahoma Theater7 itsel: another enormous7 in%omprehensi$leadministration. So it is through parodi% playing =playing ,ith %li%hes> that Ka:+a :irst set out his

    greatest theme7 that o: the la$yrinthine so%ial organiHation ,here man loses his ,ay and pro%eedsto his ruin. =6eneti%ally spea+ing< the %omi%al me%hanism o: the un%les des+ is the an%estor o:the terri:ying %astle administration.> Ka:+a managed to %apture this theme7 gra8e as it is7 not $ymeans o: a realisti% no8el7 grounded in some olaesue e?amination o: so%iety7 $ut $y ust thatseemingly :ri8olous means o: literature a$out literature ,hi%h allo,ed his imagination all the:reedom it reuired =:reedom :or e?aggerations7 :or enormities7 :or impro$a$ilities7 :reedom :orplay:ul in8entions>.

    (eartlessness Masked by a !tyle 2'erflo"ing "ith Feeling

    )nAmerika3 there are many una%%ounta$ly e?%essi8e sentimental gestures. The end o: the :irst%hapter< Karl is already set to go o:: ,ith his un%le7 the sto+er is staying $ehind7 a$andoned inthe %aptains %a$in.

    Then Karl =) stress the +ey phrases> ,ent o8er to the sto+er7 pulled the man;s right hand out o:his $elt and held it lightly in his. . . . Karl dre" his fingers back and forth bet"een the stokers3,hile the sto+er loo+ed around ,ith shining eyes7 as if blessed by a great happiness3 but one thatnobody could grudge him.

    ;No, you must get ready to de:end yoursel:7 ans,er yes and no7 or else these people ,ont ha8eany idea o: the truth. You must promise me to do ,hat ) tell you7 :or );m a:raid7 and );8e goodreason :or it7 that ) ,on;t $e a$le to help you anymore.; And then Karl burst out crying and kissedthe stokers hand3 ta+ing that seamed7 almost ner8eless hand andpressing it to his cheek like a

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    treasure that he ,ould soon ha8e to gi8e up. But no, his un%le the senator ,as at his side and"ith only the slightest compulsion led him a,ay.

    Another e?ample< At the end o: the e8ening at Pollunder;s %ountry house7 Karl e?plains at length,hy he ,ants to go $a%+ to his un%le;s. During this long spee%h o: Karl;s7 Mr. Pollunder hadlistened attenti8ely7 o:ten7 parti%ularly ,hen 3n%le a%o$ ,as mentioned . . .pressing is aimed not at Di%+ens alone $ut at romanti%ism generally7 at its heirs7 Ka:+a;s%ontemporaries7 parti%ularly the e?pressionists7 ,ith their %ult o: hysteria and madness9 it isaimed at the entire 2oly Chur%h o: the 2eart9 and on%e more7 it $rings together those t,oapparently 8ery di::erent artists7 Ka:+a and Stra8ins+y.

    A Little 5oy in ?cstasy

    *: %ourse7 one %annot say that musi% =all musi%> is in%apa$le o: e?pressing :eelings9 the musi% o:the Romanti% era is authenti%ally and legitimately e?pressi8e9 $ut e8en a$out that musi% it %an $e

    said< its "orth has nothing to do ,ith the intensity o: the :eelings it pro8o+es. (or musi% %anpo,er:ully stir :eelings ,ith no musi%al art at all. ) re%all my %hildhood< sitting at the piano7 ),ould thro, mysel: into passionate impro8isations :or ,hi%h ) needed nothing $ut a 6@minor%hord and the su$dominant ( minor7 played for9

    tissimo o8er and o8er again. The t,o %hords and the endlessly repeated primiti8e melodi% moti:made me e?perien%e an emotion more intense than any Chopin7 any Beetho8en7 has e8er gi8enme. =*ne time my musi%ian :ather7 %ompletely :urious) ne8er sa, him so :urious $e:ore ora:terrushed into the room7 li:ted me o:: the piano stool7 and ,ith a disgust he %ould $arely%ontrol7 %arried me into the dining room and set me do,n under the ta$le.>

    1hat ) ,as e?perien%ing during those impro8isations ,as an ecstasy. 1hat is e%stasyG The $oy$anging on the +ey$oard :eels an enthusiasm =or a sorro,7 or a delight>7 and the emotion rises tosu%h a pit%h o: intensity that it $e%omes un$eara$le< the $oy :lees into a state o: $lindness anddea:ness ,here e8erything is :orgotten7 e8en onesel:. Through e%stasy7 emotion rea%hes its%lima?7 and there$y at the same time its negation =its o$li8ion>.

    E%stasy means $eing outside onesel:7 as indi%ated $y the etymology o: the 6ree+ ,ord< the a%to: lea8ing one;s position ;stasis=. To $e outside onesel: does not mean outside the presentmoment7 li+e a dreamer es%aping into the past or the :uture. ust the opposite< e%stasy is a$soluteidentity ,ith the present instant7 total :orgetting o: past and :uture. ): ,e o$literate the :uture and

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    the past7 the present moment stands in empty spa%e7 outside li:e and its %hronology7 outside timeand independent o: it =this is ,hy it %an $e li+ened to eternity7 ,hi%h too is the negation o: time>.

    1e %an see the a%ousti%al image o: emotion in the Romanti% melody o: a lied< its length seemsintended :or sustaining emotion7 $uilding it7 %ausing its slo,

    enoyment. E%stasy7 on the other hand7 %annot $e mirrored in a melody7 $e%ause memory

    strangled $y e%stasy is in%apa$le o: retaining the seuen%e o: notes in a melodi% phrase7 ho,e8ershort9 the a%ousti%al image o: e%stasy is the %ry =or< a 8ery $rie: melodi% moti: that imitates a%ry>.

    The %lassi% e?ample o: e%stasy is the moment o: orgasm. Thin+ $a%+ to the time $e:ore ,omenhad the $ene:it o: the pill. )t o:ten happened that at the moment o: %lima? a lo8er :orgot to slideo