Abstract
Some of the mainly unchartered territories in literary criticism are the implications of Susan Sontag’s frontal attack on traditional hermeneutical practices in Against Interpretation (1969). This contribution to investigations into the modes of interpretation attempts to draw constructive consequences from this provocation and investigate the notion of a ›poetics of criticism‹ emanating into what can be called the ›aesthetics of interpretation‹. In so doing, it explores the Romantic backdrop of this discourse through examining Friedrich Schlegel’s plea for a ›poetization‹ of critique and his demand to turn critical approaches into aesthetic, if not artistic, acts. Then, these reflections examine notions of perception or Anschauung as a cornerstone of comprehension; discuss poetic renderings of thought with Nietzsche, who epitomizes the fusion of reflection and aesthetic production; single out one of Gottfried Benn’s early poems (»Kreislauf«) as an object for putting aesthetic interpretation into practice given the specific character of this Expressionistic text; and, finally, assess elements of theories of recognition in terms of aesthetic practice with specific reference to a paragraph in early Adorno, which highlights cognitive transformation processes as matters of aesthetic experience.
Thus, this essay illustrates the interrelationship between critical theory and practice as an aesthetic act, which takes into account the significance of Sontag’s challenge, exemplifying the necessity of finding a language register that can claim to strive towards adequacy in relation to the (artistic) object of criticism without compromising analytical rigour.
The argument developed in this contribution towards an aesthetics of interpretation begins with a critical appreciation of various forms and modes of criticism in literature and other aspects of artistic expression. It centres on the significance of the dialogue as an explorative means of critical discourse, ranging from Friedrich Schlegel to Hugo von Hofmannsthal and indeed Hans Magnus Enzensberger. With the (fictive) dialogue as an instrument of aesthetic judgement, ›experience‹ entered the stage of literary criticism negotiating ambivalences and considering alternative points of view often generated from the texts under consideration.
In terms of the ambivalences mentioned above, this investigation into the nature of criticism considers the notion of criticism as a form of art and an extrapolation of aesthetic reason as propagated already by Henry Kames, once even quoted by Hegel in connection with the establishing of a rationale for the critical appreciation of artistic products.
It discusses the interplay of distance from, and empathy with, objects of aesthetic criticism asking to what extent the act of interpretation (Wolfgang Iser) can acquire a creative momentum of its own without distorting its true mission, namely to assess the characteristics and aesthetic qualities of specific (poetic) texts or other artistic objects. Following the closer examination of several of Nietzsche’s poems and Roland Barthes’s insistence on the segmentation of the linguistic material that constitutes a textual entity worthy of criticism, the article examines one of Gottfried Benn’s early poems (»Kreislauf«, 1912) in respect of its textual and structural dynamics, awkward sensuality as a form of negative eroticism. On the basis of a detailed linguistic, and indeed poetic, examination it shows where, when, and how literary criticism can meaningfully identify structural features as denominators for aesthetic experience.
The final section is devoted to instrumentalize Adorno’s point that concepts can turn with some inevitability into images enabling the theory of cognition to acquire some credibility as a potentially fertile basis for aesthetic practice – both in literary criticism and poetic production. With a concluding reference to Paul Celan’s remark that language acquires a Being of its own and that something of existential significance occurs in the poem, this article illustrates that interpretation depends on a successful interplay of cognitive and sensual processes, which leaves criticism somewhere between aesthetic analysis and contextualization as well as between taking linguistic images metaphorically or indeed literarily. Finally, it suggests regarding aesthetic criticism as a way to assess both the actual creative process and its results as if they were involved in a ›dialogue‹ of their own. Therefore, interpretation can be seen as a process that generates its very own dynamics and procedures (i. e. ›poetics‹), either in relation to its object or in form of a juxtaposition. If the latter, the likelihood is stronger that ›interpretation‹ acquires more distinctiveness. Ultimately, however, the (quasi-performative) quality of interpretation depends on its stylistic features, the adequacy of language used, and conceptual stringency without disregarding its essential function, namely to enable a dialogue between the work of art and its recipient and the recipients amongst themselves.
Literatur
Adorno, Theodor W., Gesammelte Schriften, Bd. 5: Zur Metakritik der Erkenntnistheorie. Drei Studien zu Hegel, hg. von Rolf Tiedemann unter Mitw. von Gretel Adorno/Susan Buck-Morss/Klaus Schultz, Frankfurt a.M. 2003.Search in Google Scholar
Barthes, Roland, Erté oder An den Buchstaben, in: R.B., Der entgegenkommende und der stumpfe Sinn. Kritische Essays III [1990], übers. von Dieter Hornig, Frankfurt a.M. 72013, 110–135.Search in Google Scholar
Bachmann, Ingeborg, Werke, Bd. 1: Gedichte, Hörspiele, Libretti, Übersetzungen, hg. von Christine Koschel/Inge von Weidenbaum/Clemens Münster, München 1978.Search in Google Scholar
Baumann, Gerhart, Umwege und Erinnerungen, München 1984.Search in Google Scholar
Benjamin, Walter, Der Begriff der Kunstkritik in der deutschen Romantik, in: W.B, Gesammelte Schriften, Bd. 1.1: Abhandlungen, hg. von Rolf Tiedemann/Hermann Schweppenhäuser, Frankfurt a.M. 1991, 7–122.Search in Google Scholar
Benn, Gottfried, Morgue und andere Gedichte. Mit Zeichnungen von Georg Baselitz, Stuttgart 2011.Search in Google Scholar
Benn, Gottfried, Gedichte, hg. von Christoph Perels, Stuttgart 2012.Search in Google Scholar
Benne, Christian, Nietzsche und die historisch-kritische Philologie (Monographien und Texte zur Nietzsche-Forschung, Bd. 49), Berlin/New York 2005.10.1515/9783110923070Search in Google Scholar
Benne, Christian/Claus Zittel (Hg.), Nietzsche und die Lyrik. Ein Kompendium, Stuttgart 2017.10.1007/978-3-476-05596-5Search in Google Scholar
Bollnow, Otto Friedrich, Philosophie der Erkenntnis. Erster Teil: Das Vorverständnis und die Erfahrung des Neuen [1970], Stuttgart et al. 21970.Search in Google Scholar
Bollnow, Otto Friedrich, Das Verstehen. Drei Aufsätze zur Theorie der Geisteswissenschaften, Mainz 1949.Search in Google Scholar
Bubner, Rüdiger, Die Karriere der Hermeneutik. Hans-Georg Gadamer zum neunzigsten Geburtstag, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 09. 02. 1990.Search in Google Scholar
Celan, Paul, Gesammelte Werke in fünf Bänden, Bd. 2: Gedichte 2, hg. von Beda Allemann/Steffen Reichert, Frankfurt a.M. 1986.Search in Google Scholar
Celan, Paul, Mikrolithen sinds, Steinchen. Die Prosa aus dem Nachlaß. Kritische Ausgabe, hg. und kommentiert von Barbara Wiedemann/Bertrand Badiou, Frankfurt a.M. 2005.Search in Google Scholar
Celan, Paul, Der Meridian. Endfassung – Entwürfe – Materialien, hg. von Bernhard Böschenstein/Heino Schmull, Frankfurt a.M. 1999.Search in Google Scholar
Constant, Benjamin, Adolphe. Anekdote. Gefunden in den Papieren eines Unbekannten, übers. von Eveline Passet, mit einem Nachwort von Manfred Gsteiger, Zürich 1998.Search in Google Scholar
Derrida, Jacques, Die Schrift und die Differenz, übers. von Rodolphe Gasché, Frankfurt a.M. 1976.Search in Google Scholar
Dreyfus, Laurence, Beyond the Interpretation of Music, Dutch Journal of Music Theory 12:3 (2007), 253–272.10.1080/01411896.2020.1775087Search in Google Scholar
Ebeling, Hans, Ästhetik des Abschieds. Kritik der Moderne, Freiburg i.Br./München 1989.Search in Google Scholar
Enzensberger, Hans Magnus, Scharmützel und Scholien. Über Literatur, hg. von Rainer Barbey, Frankfurt a.M. 2009.Search in Google Scholar
Gadamer, Hans-Georg, Zwischen Wort und Begriff. Nietzsche und die Metaphysik, in: Manfred Riedel (Hg.), »Jedes Wort ist ein Vorurteil«. Philologie und Philosophie in Nietzsches Denken, Köln/Weimar 1999, 15–23.Search in Google Scholar
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, Werke. Hamburger Ausgabe, Bd. 13: Naturwissenschaftliche Schriften I, hg. von Erich Trunz, München 1988.Search in Google Scholar
Görner, Rüdiger, Wenn Götzen dämmern. Formen ästhetischen Denkens bei Nietzsche, Göttingen 2008.Search in Google Scholar
Görner, Rüdiger, Ästhetische Idee – ästhetische Erfahrung. Überlegungen zu einem Wechselverhältnis im Umfeld der Ästhetik Kants, Athenäum 28 (2018), 73–88.Search in Google Scholar
Görner, Rüdiger, Wenn die Saat des Digitalen aufgeht. Droht das Ende einer sinnvollen Textauslegung durch virtuelle Interpretationstechniken?, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 27. 06. 2019 (Görner 2019a).Search in Google Scholar
Görner, Rüdiger, Fragmente zu einer Grammatik der Sinnlichkeit Friedrich Schlegels »Lucinde« mit/gegen Roland Barthes gelesen, Novalis Jahrbuch 2019/20 [im Druck] (Görner 2019b).Search in Google Scholar
Grätz, Katharina, Portofino in der Schweiz? Textgenese und Deutungsperspektiven von Nietzsches Gedicht »Sils-Maria«, in: Christian Benne/Claus Zittel (Hg.), Nietzsche und die Lyrik. Ein Kompendium, Stuttgart 2017, 283–298 (Grätz 2017a).10.1007/978-3-476-05596-5_19Search in Google Scholar
Grätz, Katharina/Sebastian Kaufmann (Hg.), Nietzsche als Dichter. Lyrik – Poetologie – Rezeption, Berlin/Boston 2017 (Grätz 2017b).10.1515/9783110530087-020Search in Google Scholar
Hamburger, Käthe, Wahrheit und ästhetische Wahrheit, Stuttgart 1979.Search in Google Scholar
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, Vorlesungen über die Ästhetik. Erster und zweiter Teil, hg. mit einer Einführung von Rüdiger Bubner, Stuttgart 1977.Search in Google Scholar
Hofmannsthal, Hugo von, Gesammelte Werke in zehn Einzelbänden, Bd. 7: Erzählungen, Erfundene Gespräche und Briefe, Reisen, hg. von Bernd Schoeller in Beratung mit Rudolf Hirsch, Frankfurt a.M. 1979.Search in Google Scholar
Iser, Wolfgang, The Range of Interpretation, New York 2000.Search in Google Scholar
Kames, Henry Home, Elements of Criticism. With the Author’s Last Corrections and Additions [1762], Edinburgh/London 71788.Search in Google Scholar
Lissmann, Konrad Paul, Theorie der Unbildung. Die Irrtümer der Wissensgesellschaft, Wien 2006.Search in Google Scholar
Marquard, Odo, Aesthetica und Anaesthetica. Philosophische Überlegungen, Paderborn et al. 1989.10.30965/9783657765331Search in Google Scholar
Nietzsche, Friedrich, Sämtliche Werke. Kritische Studienausgabe, Bd. 3: Morgenröte, Idyllen aus Messina, Die fröhliche Wissenschaft, hg. von Giorgio Colli/Mazzino Montinari, München 1988 (Nietzsche 1988a).10.1515/9783110859850Search in Google Scholar
Nietzsche Friedrich, Sämtliche Werke. Kritische Studienausgabe, Bd. 6: Der Fall Wagner, Götzen-Dämmerung, Der Antichrist/Ecce homo, Dionysos-Dithyramben/Nietzsche contra Wagner, hg. von Giorgi Colli/Mazzino Montinari, München 1988 (Nietzsche 1988b).10.1515/9783112418840Search in Google Scholar
Novalis, Werke, Tagebücher und Briefe Friedrich von Hardenbergs, hg. von Hans-Joachim Mähl/Richard Samuel, Darmstadt 1999.Search in Google Scholar
Ortner, Heike et al. (Hg.), Datenflut und Informationskanäle, Innsbruck 2014.10.26530/OAPEN_503816Search in Google Scholar
Paz, Octavio, Suche nach einer Mitte. Die großen Gedichte. Spanisch und Deutsch, übers. von Fritz Vogelsang, mit einem Nachwort von Pere Gimferrer, Frankfurt a.M. 1980.Search in Google Scholar
Rushdie, Salman, »Fake«. Vom Zustand der Wahrheit in Literaturgeschichte und Gegenwart, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 19. 05. 2018.Search in Google Scholar
Schlegel, Friedrich, Kritische Ausgabe seiner Werke, Bd. 2: Charakteristiken und Kritiken I. 1796–1801, hg. von Hans Eichner, München et al. 1967.Search in Google Scholar
Schleiermacher, Friedrich, Hermeneutik und Kritik, hg. von Manfred Frank, Frankfurt a.M. 1990.Search in Google Scholar
Schmidt, Alfred, Goethes herrlich leuchtende Natur. Philosophische Studie zur deutschen Spätaufklärung, München 1984.Search in Google Scholar
Sontag, Susan, Against Interpretation and Other Essays, London 1967.Search in Google Scholar
Stegmaier, Werner, Im Auge der Unendlichkeit. Die Häutungen von Nietzsches Gedicht »Nach neuen Meeren«, in: Christian Benne/Claus Zittel (Hg.), Nietzsche und die Lyrik. Ein Kompendium, Stuttgart 2017, 254–268.10.1007/978-3-476-05596-5_17Search in Google Scholar
Wokalek, Marie, Nietzsches »Nach neuen Meeren« – Verdichtung eines Aufbruches ins Unbestimmte, in: Christian Benne/Claus Zittel (Hg.), Nietzsche und die Lyrik. Ein Kompendium, Stuttgart 2017, 269–279.10.1007/978-3-476-05596-5_18Search in Google Scholar
© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston