Music and Myth in Modern Literature

<p>This book is the first major study that explores the intrinsic connection between music and myth, as Nietzsche conceived of it in <i>The Birth of Tragedy </i>(1872), in three great works of modern literature: Romain Rolland’s Nobel Prize winning novel <i>Jean-Christophe </i>(1904-12), James Joyce’s modernist epic <i>Ulysses </i>(1922), and Thomas Mann’s late masterpiece <i>Doctor Faustus </i>(1947). Juxtaposing Nietzsche’s conception of the Apollonian and Dionysian with narrative depictions of music and myth, Josh Torabi challenges the common view that the latter half of <i>The Birth of Tragedy</i> is of secondary importance to the first. Informed by a deep knowledge of Nietzsche’s early aesthetics, the book goes on to offer a fresh and original perspective on <i>Ulysses </i>and <i>Doctor Faustus</i>, two world-famous novels that are rarely discussed together, and makes the case for the significance of <i>Jean-Christophe</i>, which has been unfairly neglected in the Anglophone world, despite Rolland’s status as a major figure in twentieth-century intellectual and literary history. This unique study reveals new depths to the work of our most enduring writers and thinkers. </p> <p><strong>Prelude</strong>: Chasing the Ineffable </p><p>1. Schopenhauer, Wagner and Nietzsche: the Musicalization of Myth and the Mythologization of Music in <i>The Birth of Tragedy</i> </p><p>Musico-Mythic Beginnings </p><p>Schopenhauer’s Metaphysics of Music in <i>The World as Will and Representation</i> </p><p>Wagner: Musicalizing Nation and Myth in <i>Beethoven</i> </p><p>Nietzsche’s Aesthetic Models of Music and Myth in <i>The Birth of Tragedy </i></p><p>Towards a Nietzschean Configuration in the Modern Novel </p><p>2. <i>Jean-Christophe</i>: The Silent Music of the Soul </p><p>The Genesis of <i>Jean-Christophe</i> </p><p>A Born Musician: Jean-Christophe’s Early Years </p><p>The Roots of Artistic Creation: Jean-Christophe the Creator </p><p>Music Fictionalized: Jean-Christophe’s Compositions </p><p>Divisions: Apollo, Dionysus and Franco-German Musico-Literary Relations in <i>Jean-Christophe</i> </p><p>Jean-Christophe’s Final Voyage: Improvisation, Italy and Late Music </p><p>3. Joyce’s ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’: Performative Music and Mythic Method in <i>Ulysses </i></p><p>Approaching Music and Myth in <i>Ulysses</i> </p><p>Stephen Dedalus-Dionysus: A Portrait of the Artist’s Aesthetic Theory in "Proteus" </p><p>From Apollo to Bloom: Resisting Songs in the "Sirens" </p><p>And Behold: Leopold Could Not Live Without Stephen! The Apollonian and Dionysian, </p><p>Side by Side in "Eumaeus" </p><p>Home at Last: Stephen Speaks the Language of Bloom; and Bloom, Finally the Language </p><p>of Stephen; and so the Highest Goal of Comedy and of <i>Ulysses </i>is Attained. </p><p>Myth Updating in <i>Ulysses </i></p><p>4. The Pact: Music and Myth in Thomas Mann’s <i>Doctor Faustus</i> </p><p>Demonic Origins </p><p>Mann and Myth </p><p>Part I: Adrian Leverkühn’s Education </p><p>Kretzschmar’s Lectures </p><p>Part II: Why Adrian Leverkühn Writes Such Good Music </p><p>The Early Works </p><p>Apocalypse Now! </p><p>The Great Lament: Adrian Leverkühn’s Masterpiece and Faust’s Redemption </p><p>Reprise: Myth and Music as Motifs in the Modern Novel </p>