Conceptions of Hearing in German Modernist Writing
type: CreativeWork
description: This thesis traces the emergence of an ‘aural imaginary’ in German-language writing of the early twentieth century, c. 1899 – 1934. This period of historical and cultural transition ushered in the need to reframe personal, political and artistic identity, to respond to innovations in culture and media, and to adapt to new social realities. Drawing on a wide range of genres, I examine the effect of these changes upon the modernist sensorium. The contribution of this thesis is distinct from, but builds upon, scholarship that has sought to investigate the new media cultures of the early twentieth century; how sound is represented by and incorporated into literary writing; and studies of music, noise and performativity in literature. By shifting the focus to hearing and listening rather than sound, I offer a new way of conceptualising a classic problem of German literary modernism: the artist as subject and creator of their work. My analyses indicate, firstly, that the aural was an important source of inspiration and imagination for these writers, and secondly, that this aural impulse produced a complex poetics of hearing, to which readers must remain attentive. The first two chapters establish hearing as a form of discourse, working in parallel and in exchange with other orders of expression and experience, such as the visual, the gestural, and speech. Chapter 1 examines two aural figures from Rainer Maria Rilke’s early poetry: prayer (an appeal to the ear of God) and the Annunciation (the Virgin Mary’s reception of the Angel Gabriel’s message). I then follow the figure of the Annunciation into the painting of Paula Modersohn-Becker, an artist with whom Rilke discussed this motif. The life and writings of Modersohn-Becker form the focus of Chapter 2, which shows how her aesthetic aims and techniques were inspired by theories of vibration widespread in the era. I extrapolate Modersohn-Becker’s aesthetics of vibration to propose a theory of feminine vibratory subjectivit…
abstract: This thesis traces the emergence of an ‘aural imaginary’ in German-language writing of the early twentieth century, c. 1899 – 1934. This period of historical and cultural transition ushered in the need to reframe personal, political and artistic identity, to respond to innovations in culture and media, and to adapt to new social realities. Drawing on a wide range of genres, I examine the effect of these changes upon the modernist sensorium. The contribution of this thesis is distinct from, but builds upon, scholarship that has sought to investigate the new media cultures of the early twentieth century; how sound is represented by and incorporated into literary writing; and studies of music, noise and performativity in literature. By shifting the focus to hearing and listening rather than sound, I offer a new way of conceptualising a classic problem of German literary modernism: the artist as subject and creator of their work. My analyses indicate, firstly, that the aural was an important source of inspiration and imagination for these writers, and secondly, that this aural impulse produced a complex poetics of hearing, to which readers must remain attentive. The first two chapters establish hearing as a form of discourse, working in parallel and in exchange with other orders of expression and experience, such as the visual, the gestural, and speech. Chapter 1 examines two aural figures from Rainer Maria Rilke’s early poetry: prayer (an appeal to the ear of God) and the Annunciation (the Virgin Mary’s reception of the Angel Gabriel’s message). I then follow the figure of the Annunciation into the painting of Paula Modersohn-Becker, an artist with whom Rilke discussed this motif. The life and writings of Modersohn-Becker form the focus of Chapter 2, which shows how her aesthetic aims and techniques were inspired by theories of vibration widespread in the era. I extrapolate Modersohn-Becker’s aesthetics of vibration to propose a theory of feminine vibratory subjectivit…
author: Roberts, Syamala
language: eng
keywords: Hearing, Listening, Modernism, Modernist literature, Sound Studies
license: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/b328011d-4b60-4f8a-aa44-e038b0709535/download
license: http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved
date published: 2022-09-10
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:33:13Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.96485