I feel that in Wackenroder's tale, language, in the form of lyrics in the lovers' song, merely points to the magic of the music. The music seemed to affect the saint more than the actual words. The saint is also called the "genius of love and music" not music and language. The fact that Wackenroder used language to describe the magic of music shows that language is a tool to describe the power of music not the actual magic holder in Wackenroder's story.
The story contains many fairy tale elements. The existence of a wild man that transforms into something greater is a common element in fairy tales like "Iron Hans." The setting of a remote cave by water uses nature as a character in much the same way that forests and rivers act as almost sentient beings transforming characters in other fairy tales. The more specific kunstmarchen elements are the specification of the Orient locale, which brings exoticism and Romanticism into the story, and the ambiguous ending. While the lovers are united, the saint is transformed into a spiritual being that has unspecified powers. The ending is not unhappy but it is not altogether joyous either. This is a divergence from fairy tales in the oral tradition that usually had clearly defined happy conclusions.
Audra Crosby
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with the sentiment that language points to the music - especially the argument referring to the saint is the "genius of love and music" and NOT "music and language." Even more, if language did more than just point to music, Wackenroder's use of language to describe the music would not be as effective.
ReplyDelete