Article

Name: “Die Morgenlandfahrt” and “Das Glasperlenspiel” by Н. Hesse: reading strategies and conflict of interpretations

Authors: Alexey E. Kozlov, Parfenij V. Korneev

Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

Abstract:

The article is devoted to approaches to the interpretation of H. Hesse’s works “Journey to the East” and “The Glass Bead Game.” These texts are related to the author’s reflection on his life path and literary creativity. Particular attention is paid to the literary form of travel writing, where “Journey to the West” by Wu Cheng’en (西遊記, 1590) stands out.

The characters from Hesse’s earlier works, despite complete narrative arcs, are organically reactivated in “Journey to the East,” where, alongside other figures of the European literary process, they find their place within the complex interaction between author and character. This interaction is examined in the context of the philosophical ideas of Hegel and Kierkegaard. The article highlights the concentration of the author’s metareflexivity, combined with the inseparable unity of the works at the semiotic and transmusical levels, which defines two possible readings: a) a modernist reading, framed by the genres of the bildungsroman, pilgrimage, and intellectual novel, close to the “revelation” of academic science; and b) a postmodern reading, shaped by the genres of parody and menippean satire, deconstructing the idea of academic learning, where the semiotic nature of the work is pushed to its limits and the sign is brought to its cancellation.

Thus, the “movement along the steps of the text” can lead to either a modernist interpretation — a divine revelation — or a postmodern one — a parody of revelation. The conflict of these interpretations of Hesse’s works is the focus of this article.

Keywords: intellectual novel, forms of time, H. Hesse, intermediality, reflection and narrative

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