From Anti-humanism to Post-humanism: Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolf

ÀMNÀYIKÊ, 2024

This paper argues that Hermann Hesse can be classified as an "ambivalent modernist" due to his unique approach to the anxieties of modernity in his works. Unlike many modernist writers who focused solely on the psychological aspects of human experience, Hesse delved deeper into the realm of the soul. Drawing on the psychological theories of Carl Jung, particularly the concept of individuation, Hesse's novels explore the journeys of protagonists seeking self-discovery. This paper focuses on Siddhartha, analyzing how the protagonist embarks on a personal odyssey to understand his own existence. Hesse's brand of modernism can be described as ambivalent. He acknowledges the anxieties and disillusionment of the modern world, exemplified by Siddhartha's dissatisfaction with his materialistic life. However, Hesse goes beyond the purely psychological concerns of many modernists. He incorporates Freudian ideas but transcends them by exploring the spiritual dimension through the concept of Jungian individuation. This is evident in Siddhartha's journey of self-discovery, which emphasizes internal struggles and experiences over external validation. Ultimately, Hesse's heroes, like Siddhartha, must undertake their own unique paths of individuation to achieve self-realization. This focus on the soul's journey and the importance of self-discovery distinguishes Hesse's ambivalent modernism from other modernist approaches.

This paper aims to analyze the life journey of Harry Haller, protagonist of H. Hesse’s novel «Steppenwolf», in the context of Jungian process of individuation. «Steppenwolf» is the story of a man who is dogged by controversy: he feels himself to be a human and a wolf at the same time. Harry Haller learns from the «Treatise on the Steppenwolf» that he has more than two natures. Actually, he consists of hundreds and thousands of them. This idea is based on Jung’s concept of the collective unconscious. And the very novel «Steppenwolf» brightly illustrates Jung’s individuation process. Harry Haller’s mission is to overcome opposition between his social cultural «I» and Shadow (Steppenwolf), to recognize and accept his Anima (Hermine), to understand the mystery of the identity of Pablo, who embodies chthonic depths, and Mozart, who represents sublime spirituality, that is, to comprehend his own Self. In the novel, the human nature is depicted as the eternal struggle and eternal unity of two polarities. Individuals have to realize this unity on their way to the Self. Recognizing, confronting and assimilating the Ego, Anima/Animus, Shadow into the larger realm of the Self, one achieves a new level of consciousness. However, this is a never-ending process, unattainable ideal. At the end of the novel, Harry Haller failed to cope with this challenge. It seems that he has remained at the same point, where we had met him. However, nothing was impossible - everything was just beginning. The questions raised by Jungian analysis push us beyond our limits to the great alchemical mystery - the wholeness of our own souls. For the salvation of humankind as a whole and every single human in our world full of conflicts and violence, we all need to experience the feeling of our spiritual unity and our deep connection to the universe. It becomes possible due to return to our spiritual core, to our Self. The process of individuation is, in fact, the way to infinity. Harry Haller has yet to find his way to himself. Keywords: Self, Anima, Animus, Persona, Shadow, individuation

Literary Oracle, 2020

Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha and Steppenwolf can be read as Bildungsroman wherein one can trace the spiritual, moral, psychological development of the central character, a male protagonist. This growth can be read in Jungian terms when the hero takes a woman as a shadow, a mentor, and a hinderer or tempter. The growth of the hero can be read using Carl Jung's theory of archetypes based on Anima-Animus that transcends the personal psyche and acts as a bridge between personal unconscious and collective unconscious. The process of individuation which brings the personal unconscious to light for a heightened understanding of self is otherwise known as bildungsroman. This article seeks to recognize the important role that female characters play in Hesse's work by helping the male protagonists to reach their goal of selfrealisation.

International Education & Research Journal [IERJ], 2020

Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) is one of the greatest German novelist, poet and painter of the New Age. His novels have resonated with countless generations and inspire a host of young readers.He is an author who focuses on the anguish of self-analysis and is continuously searching for his own true identity.As one of the greatest exponents of the individual's search for authenticity, spirituality and self-knowledge, Hermann Hesse utilizes his surreal, parallel world exposition to explore the relationship between illusion and reality, dream and memory and, in particular, the definite and indefinite as expressed through the power of words

Liberal Arts & Social Sciences International Journal (LASSIJ), 2022

This paper is a qualitative thematic analysis of Hermann Hesse's novel Narcissus and Goldmund with a cross-cultural theory framework, buttressed with concepts from Jungian psychology. The novel narrates the story of two medieval priests who are the exact opposite of but emotionally attached to each other. The paper demonstrates how various cultural themes that Hesse has engaged can shed light on the ways Western and Eastern societies make sense of the Self, the Other, and the everyday existential dilemmas. Based on Jungian psychology, we argue that Narcissus and Goldmund are not two distinct characters; instead, they are two aspects of the Self. The social construction of these two characters is the symbolic representation of the struggle to attain the deeper meanings of the Self. This struggle, what Jung called individuation, is the journey of the human soul into its own deepest spheres. Moreover, we note that the matrix of Hesse's thought is the European interest in the Orient. Narcissus and Goldmund represent the anima and animus or the Yin and Yang of the conflict of selfrealization. We conclude that a synthesis of Eastern and Western philosophies can offer both a fertile avenue and a rich toolkit for seeking deeper self-knowledge.

A Masters Thesis

Beyond Posthumanism: The German Humanist Tradition and the Future of the Humanities, 2020

Kant, Goethe, Schiller and other eighteenth-century German intellectuals loom large in the history of the humanities—both in terms of their individual achievements and their collective embodiment of the values that inform modern humanistic inquiry. Taking full account of the manifold challenges that the humanities face today, this volume recasts the question of their viability by tracing their long-disputed premises in German literature and philosophy. Through insightful analyses of key texts, Alexander Mathäs mounts a broad defense of the humanistic tradition, emphasizing its pursuit of a universal ethics and ability to render human experiences comprehensible through literary imagination.

2022

This dissertation explores how characters who embody outsiderness and/or otherness intersect with and connote queerness—such as, for instance, homoeroticism and nonconformism—in the novels Peter Camenzind (1904) and Der Steppenwolf (1927) by German-language author Hermann Hesse (1877–1962). In most of Hesse’s novels, the narrative revolves around a male protagonist who is characterized as an outsider. This outsider comes to know himself through friendship with another man. The friend is desired by the outsider and tends to embody some form of otherness; he is almost always portrayed as different—rebellious, beautiful, enigmatic, and inspiring—and he comes to play a key role in the protagonist’s personal development and journey through life. The hypothesis in this study is that the friendships formed by these characters are queer friendships, that is, that they challenge heteronormative conceptions of relationality, sexuality, and desire. The study’s main theoretical apparatus encompasses a selection of queer theories and concepts, including (among others) José Esteban Muñoz’s conceptualization of the horizon as a signifier for “queer utopia” as well as Heather Love’s thoughts on “backwardness.” Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s early queer-theoretical work on male homosocial desire and Jack Halberstam’s recent theorizing about sexuality and wildness are also drawn on. The study begins with an overview chapter on Hesse’s authorship that provides historical context followed by two parts (one on Peter Camenzind and one on Der Steppenwolf) with three analytical chapters each. The overview chapter revolves around certain norm-challenging aspects of Hesse’s time and reception. Hesse was active alongside the German homosexual emancipation movement and emerging field of sexology in the early 1900s, and his work was embraced by contemporary countercultures such as the German Wandervogel groups and by later anti-conformist movements like beatniks and hippies. Despite these connections, however, Hesse’s novels have rarely been interpreted with an ambition to emphasize queerness. The common thread in the study’s six analytical chapters is depictions of queer friendship. In each chapter, one character is in primary focus. This character’s portrayal as an outsider or Other (or both) is examined. In some instances, the protagonist is the key person of interest; at other times, the protagonist’s friend is in focus. Chapter one, “Romantic Friendship in a Bildungsroman,” centers on Peter, the outsider-protagonist in Peter Camenzind, and his homosocial bond with the character Richard. The chapter examines how defining traits of the Bildungsroman (novel of formation) and the concept of romantic friendship intersect in the novel. Chapter two, “Without Leaving Children Behind,” explores heterosexual ambivalence, which Peter conveys in his interactions with women, which is interpreted as a manifestation of queerness. While the chapter concerns a number of female characters, Peter’s friend Elisabeth is the key character. Chapter three, “Facing the Other,” focuses on Peter’s friend Boppi. The otherness ascribed to Boppi through his disability is examined, as well as the ways that disability works as a catalyst for expressions of “queer/crip kinship” in the text. Chapter four, “Tracing the Wolf,” examines a key expression of otherness in Der Steppenwolf, namely, the animality of its protagonist, the wolf-man (and outsider) Harry Haller. This chapter is different from the others in that it does not revolve around queer friendship per se. Rather, it emphasizes the antithesis of friendship, that is, a bond built on animosity, a major characteristic in the relationship between the human part and the wolf part of the protagonist. Chapter five, “The Function of Hermine,” explores the fluid gender expressions and queer characteristics of Harry’s friend Hermine. Hermine is a character whose otherness mirrors the protagonist’s dual nature. Chapter six, “Queer Sounds, Times, and Places,” puts the spotlight on Pablo, another of Harry’s friends, and examines how the novel’s portrayal of sounds (such as jazz music), times (the conflict between the old and the new), and places (like the dance floor) connote queerness in various ways. Ultimately, this dissertation demonstrates that Hermann Hesse’s stories include queerness both in the shape of nonconformity in the characters, and in norm-challenging sexuality and the prevalence of homoeroticism. In addition, Peter Camenzind and Der Steppenwolf convey that queerness is essential to their protagonists’ longings to become whole and in the ways that the novels portray completeness.

L ORDINE NUOVO PUBLICATION, 2025

This study explores the transition from humanism to posthumanism and transhumanism within literary discourse and analyses how evolving technological, ecological, and philosophical paradigms shape contemporary literary perspectives. By comparing humanist narratives—rooted in individualism, rationality, and anthropocentrism—with posthumanist and transhumanist frameworks that emphasize technological enhancement, ecological entanglement, and the decentring of the human, the article examines key literary texts that reflect these shifts. The study engages with philosophical, ecological, postcolonial, and educational contexts to highlight the ways in which literature negotiates and critiques the boundaries of the human. Ultimately, this comparative analysis reveals how literary narratives function as sites of negotiation, where human identity is reimagined in the face of artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and global crises, urging a reassessment of ethical and existential concerns in the posthuman era.