Consciousness, Literature and the Arts
Archive
Volume 9 Number 3, December 2008
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Hamilton,John T. Music,Madness, and the Unworking of Language. New York, Columbia University Press, 2008. 252pp. ISBN 978- 0- 231- 14220- 5 Hardback £ 23.95
Reviewed by
Middle East Technical University
John T.Hamilton starts his “banquet of ideas” with an hors d’œuvre I and he also ends with an hors d’œuvre II. The book has a comprehensive introduction and detailed six chapters. The book is literally a library of six departments containing knowledge leading unto knowledge. Hamilton informs the reader about the translation and abbreviations with detailed notes and invaluable bibliography. This book does not necessarily demand a command of German, French, and/or Latin, even Ancient Greek but competence in these languages will ease the reading and comprehension and relevant amount of musical knowledge will supplement the overall understanding of the discussions.
In the brief but meaningful Hors d’œuvre I, Hamilton presents the poet of early 19th Century, Friedrich Hölderlin (to return to him in Hors d’œuvre II ), as an example of a poet whose language had become brittle but who coupled music with madness. He has become “a magnum opus of solitude and silence, of madness and music”. Hamilton starts with this example to foreshadow the many similar examples that will follow to demonstrate the unworking of language and its connection to music and madness. When Hamilton moves onto his Introduction, the Introduction clearly presents the overview of the book that will be full of numerous examples of the cases that show the interconectedness among music, madness, and language.
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German Romanticism favoured this enigmatic relationship. The literature of 1800s have vivid examples of individuals such as E.T.Hoffmann’s Kreisler who are victims of this relationship. Hamilton reminds the reader that “the power of music” is not a novelty to the Romantics only. He takes the reader to the ancient days and again giving examples shows how “the power of music” can be simultaneously “pathogenic” and “therapeutic”. Whenever Hamilton gives detailed examples, he definitely forms a reference section in a vast library. The reader may later explore the complex creations of famous people ranging from Heine to Nietzche; not to mention the famous composers Schumann, Beethoven, Wagner, Gluck. So travelling back in time to meet Aristotle yet again and his preoccupation with the connection between “melancholia” and “giftedness”, the writer returns to the present times and the intriguing relation between “creativity” and “mental illness”. Hamilton presents the limitations of language and how music can introduce a kind of freedom that may “unwork the language” but the same limitation of language can protect the creator against overreaching and becoming mad. Yet, is madness something to be protected gainst? Or is madness a blessing that allows the creator to reach “a higher state of consciousness” as was the case with Platonic “divine madness” and the transformation of the Renaissance artist into “another God”. Hamilton, in the introduction presents the difficulty of dealing with “the problem of meatphor” and he also mentions that not much attention has been given to the specific associaiton of music and madness in literature. Even in his introduction he gives detailed examples mostly referring to Hoffmann.
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In the first part, Hearing Voices, Hamilton focuses on Diderot who is a more cautious writer compared to Rousseau who wanted to write greedily. Diderot uses limited character portrayals and his character is challenged, questioned by another character. In Diderot’s dialogues, voices clash not outside only but within the character too. By doing so, Diderot does not allow his texts to present any kind of subjectivity. The clashing of voices was not something Rousseau praised. On the contrary, Rousseau objected to the merging polyphony in European music history. Because of this, the voice was lost. Music was separated from verbal expresion. In Diderot’s text,however, the other writer had the opportunity to express his singularity. So the word was transferred to another voice and thus Diderot could speak too. Hamilton mentions Le Neveu de Rameau where Diderot had a first person narrator and an antagonist. That is to say he had a philosopher and the musical madman. Through their dialogues the life story of Diderot emerges but this dialogue also presents the mad musician outwitting the philosopher almost like the Sirens overwhelming Odysseus. The mad musician similarly moves and overwhelmes the philosopher. Diderot sees madness as estrangement from reason. To further illustrate the development of the conflicting dialogue between the philosopher and the mad musician, Hamilton gives examples from mythology: the story of the Sirens and the contest between Apollo and Marsyas and later he talks about Socratic energy.
In Unequal Song, Hamilton mentions the function of language and presents the first-person narrator of Le Neveu de Rameau as a person who is in command of his language. Moi, the first person narrator totally believes in himself. However, the nephew is a nonconformist. He represents the failure of representation with his unworking of language. Hamilton indicates that the nephew’s madness may prove that language has other aspects. Diderot, challenging conventional concepts, wants to show that voice may not be expressive anymore.
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It may transmit sense but it may not contribute to semantics. Hamilton poses his questions at the crucial points in his discussions. He wonders how music and madness work together. He mentions Gottsched to further explore Diderot’s argument. Gottsched does not trust music and cannot stand the madman. Since in Diderot’s text, doctrines of mimesis are unworked, Hamilton allocates a special section to “mimesis” referring to Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle and to compare them with Diderot to better explain the argument. Hamilton also observes the similarity between an actor and the nephew who assumes variety of roles. However, the nephew is only overwhelmed by passion unlike a well-prepared and rehearsed actor. The nephew is deranged whereas an actor plays the part of a deranged person which clearly shows the the nephew is suffering from a loss of self. But to talk of this situation, Diderot’s narrator wants to have a new art form to be able to make this situation understandable just like Rousseau who also tried to show the mimetic quality of music. At the end of this section, Hamilton presents the similarities and differences among Gottsched, Rousseau, and Diderot. He also draws the reader’s atention to how Diderot’s mad musician will reappear in the ficiton of German Romanticism.
In Resounding Sense, Hamilton citing from Foucault’s Histoire de la folie à l’âge classique (1972), relates how Le Neveu de Rameau was received in Germany. Thus, a comparison of the reception of the work in the 18th Century and the 19th century is presented and how the approach towards madness varied. So, the age of Hölderlin and Hegel allows the emergence of the mad musician. Hamilton also informs the reader about the significant opening of the first asylum in Bayreuth, Germany in 1805, parallel to the appearance of Göethe’s translation of Le Neveu.
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Hamilton goes on giving examples of how madness and music were related, how at times music could cure madness and yet at times it could also trigger madness. The best example of reevaluating madness and music and looking at Le Neveu from a different angle is seen in Hegel’s understanding of Diderot.
In The Most Violent of Arts, Hamilton repeats the idea that in the 19th Century music was considered a violent art from which could give pleasure and pain. Because of this quality it was not easy to represent music. Hamilton refers to Longinus to further elaborate on this sublime art in detail and then returns to the 18th Century and focuses on Edmund Burke’s contribution to the discussions about the sublime. To elaborate more on the intricate topic he compares Hegel and Kant. It is interesting to note that Kant cannot decide whether music is “beautiful” or “agreeable” which demonstrates his ambivalent attitude. So, Hamilton continues with Johann Gottfired Herder who considers music as an art of movement. Longinus, Burke,and Herder furnish Wackenroder with ideas and descriptions of the sublime who in return influenced Friedrich Schlegel and Arthur Schopenhauer. Hamilton refers to these sources to show the danger of music but on the other hand a controlled language of words is beneficial. Hamilton analyzing Wackenroder’s version of musical madness unworking language, shows a similarity to Diderot’s version.
In With Arts Unknown Before , Hamilton focuses on Kleist and observes his experience with music and his writings be they St.Cecilia or the Power of Music or his letters. To give the full analysis, he then provides a diagram showing the place of St. Cecilia and the power of music giving a detailed analysis of the figure of St. Cecilia. Although Herder, Wackenroder, and Goethe observed Cecilia’s importance and how on 22 November voices joined together to experience the harmony, Kleist was estranged from these celebrations and for him music became inaccessible.
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Hamilton moving to Before and After Language, mentions the existence of “conflicitng views on the nature and function of verbal language” focusing on the two aspects of language being “designative” and “disclosive”. From this point he moves onto the discussions about the way music relates to language and at what point the unworking of language starts. This is the section in his book where he focuses on Hoffmann who believed in the idea that music allowed people to reach an unknown realm. So Hoffmann’s alter ego, Kreisler who was created by Hoffmann moves into an asocial realm and therby he is considered mad. In a way, Hoffmann shares the idea of sublime music producing a self-annihiliating effect, with Herder,Wackenroder, and Kleist. Hamilton uses Hoffmann’s articles and his tales as examples to illustrate Hoffmann’s ideas on music and madness amd gives detailed analysis of Hoffmann’s writing and how in his writings the interconnectedness among music, madness, and language manifests itself.
Finally Hamilton reaches Hors d’œuvre II and he mentions the digestive system as a metaphor in this section citing Nietzsche. “German spirit is indigestion, it is never finished with anything” whose “philosophy begins and ends with music and madness”.
Although sophisticated discussions are presented by means of highly advanced vocabulary and although considerable amount of background information is essential about the philosophers and composers whose monumental works get mentioned regularly and treated analytically, Hamilton’s way of linking each discussion onto the next one, his way of providing clarifying mini-summaries after the intricate discussions with detailed referencing, ease the reading process.
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Hamilton regularly gives background information on theoretical discussions, controversial issues before he moves onto his own analysis. At crucial times, he poses questions while the discussion is going on which allows the reader to contemplate on the ongoing argument.
The monumental book is appealing to philosophers, psychologists, musicologists, philologists, linguists as well as researchers on music, language, literature, and different mental states since Hamilton in his analysis of the complex theme presents a comparative approach and brings in rich source material in an interdisciplinary manner showing similarities and differences.