The Occult in Modernist Art, Literature, and Cinema

Tessel M. Bauduin, Henrik Johnsson, Tessel M. Bauduin, Henrik Johnsson

• Éditeur: Palgrave Macmillan
• Année: 2018
• ISBN:
  9783319764993
• Sujet: Theology & Religion
• Sous-sujet: Comparative Religion

Many modernist and avant-garde artists and authors were fascinated by the occult movements of their day. This volume explores how Occultism came to shape modernist art, literature, and film. Individual chapters examine the presence and role of Occultism in the work of such modernist luminaries as Rainer Maria Rilke, August Strindberg, W.B. Yeats, Joséphin Péladan and the artist Jan Švankmaier, as well as in avant-garde film, post-war Greek Surrealism, and Scandinavian Retrogardism. Combining the theoretical and methodological foundations of the field of Esotericism Studies with those of Literary Studies, Art History, and Cinema Studies, this volume provides in-depth and nuanced perspectives upon the relationship between Occultism and Modernism in the Western arts from the nineteenth century to the present day.

© The Author(s) 2018

Tessel M. Bauduin and Henrik Johnsson (eds.)The Occult in Modernist Art, Literature, and CinemaPalgrave Studies in New Religions and Alternative Spiritualitieshttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76499-3_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction: Conceptualizing Occult Modernism

Tessel M. Bauduin¹ and Henrik Johnsson²

(1)

University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

(2)

University of Tromsø, The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway

Tessel M. Bauduin (Corresponding author)

Henrik Johnsson (Corresponding author)

End Abstract

Any student of literature and the arts is bound to sooner or later come across the concept of ‘the death of the author’, made famous by literary scholar Roland Barthes (Barthes, 1993–1995 [1968]).¹ In his discussion of the relationship between author and text, Barthes argued for a style of literary criticism in which the biographical author recedes into the background and is rendered irrelevant to the interpretation of the text. Barthes used surrealism as an example of a movement that sought to do away with the author, instead championing an ‘authorless’ text that has written itself, as it were. Similarly taking his cue from surrealist automatism, literature critic Maurice Blanchot also considered automatic writing as a means of liberating text and language from the constraints imposed by the conscious mind. Automatic writing transforms the writer’s hand into an ‘independent force’, a hand that ‘could not and knew not how to do anything—except write’ (Blanchot, 1955, 187). In the end, both Blanchot and Barthes argued for a redefinition of the relationship between author, text, and reader.

While the similarities between their texts should not be overstated, one that is of particular interest here is the fact that neither discusses the history of automatism. As both highlight the importance of automatic writing to surrealism, one might get the impression that automatism (a term signifying not only automatic writing but also automatic drawing) was a surrealist invention—which it was not. Blanchot still does provide a hint to the origins of automatism when he poetically describes the writing hand as akin to the ‘hand of glory that magic speaks of’ (Blanchot, 1955, 187). The origins should, however, not so much be sought in the realm of magic per se, but in that of the occult, specifically in nineteenth-century Spiritualism and the attempts of spiritualists to communicate with the dead through the use of automatism. After an initial phase in which spirit communication occurred by means of knocks, raps, and moving furniture, spiritualist séances soon came to offer a setting in which the medium, having invited a spirit to take control of their body, proceeded to create texts, drawings, and watercolours without, as was claimed, the conscious mind being involved in the process. To all appearances the spiritualist work was the creation of the spirit and not the medium. The creative results can be found in the oeuvres of several mediums, not least that of Victorian medium Georgiana Houghton, who realized many impressive watercolours made under spirit (and spiritual) guidance; an example is Glory Be to God (c. 1868) (Fig. 1.1).

Fig. 1.1

Georgiana Houghton , attributed by her to the spirit of ‘Correggio’, Glory Be to God, c. 1868. Victorian Spiritualists Union Inc., Australia/Courtauld Institute, London

While the surrealists acknowledged the origins of automatism in Spiritualism (Bauduin, 2014, 41 ff, 2015b), Barthes and Blanchot do not. One could argue that those origins are not relevant to their line of reasoning. Yet a concept rooted in occultism, here specifically in spiritualist practice, has, mediated by surrealism, come to inform the writings of two prominent literary critics of the twentieth century, without this fact being acknowledged. One may fairly wonder whether this is due to simple ignorance of the history of automatic writing or, perhaps, to active avoidance. In both cases the risk of falsifying history and representing both modernism and occultism incorrectly becomes apparent. Complete ignorance on the part of the media and the general public of the cross-fertilization between occultism, modernism, aesthetics, and creativity—its far-reaching consequences to some extent defining art, literature, and cinema even today—is the result. Even more than the amazement with which the recent exhibition of Houghton’s work at the Courtauld Gallery, London, was met by the press, the qualification of her work as ‘out of time’—while it is a perfect example of its own time—underscores the necessity of further critical inquiry into the topic (Courtauld Gallery, 2016; Jones, 2016).

In scholarship the relationship between occultism, on the one hand, and modernist literature, art, and cinema on the other hand has been either dismissed as inconsequential or insufficiently explored. Although the topic has attracted an increasing amount of academic attention during the past few decades, the magnitude of the neglect it has suffered cannot only be explained by oversight. This propels our desire to address the subject of modernism in relation to occultism, and our aim to redress possible misrepresentations of that relationship. Allowing for a certain degree of generalizing, we argue that disciplines such as literary studies and art history have too often considered occultism to be either irrelevant to any analysis of modernist literary texts or visual art works, too trivial to devote more than mere mention to, or simply undeserving of serious inquiry. A dismissive attitude towards the question of how occultism contributed to both the creation and the reception of modern literature and art, and although less so, to cinema, has resulted in a lack of awareness of the fact that this impact is documented, not least in the works of canonized authors and artists who are rarely associated with an interest in the occult. Furthermore, extant scholarship dealing with the topic is still rife with unaddressed methodological and theoretical issues.

Therefore, this volume sets out to address—or at least, to begin to address—such oversights of earlier scholarship. We find that the impact of occultism, its history, concepts, and practices, upon modernist literature, art, cinema, and other media, is varied and multiform, sometimes tangible and traceable, sometimes vaguely implied—and in each case, deserving of careful exploration, consideration, and analysis. We refer to the variety of interactions between occultism and modernist artistic expression as occult modernism.

Below we will define this concept, to start with. This will be followed by a discussion of and reflection upon methodological and theoretical considerations, remarks on how earlier scholarship has approached the topic, a proposal for a new typology when dealing with works of occult modernism, suggestions for how scholarship could proceed when investigating occult modernism further, and finally, a discussion of the contributions to this volume as a brief presentation of the case studies of the intersections between occultism and modernism that form the heart of this book.

Defining Occult Modernism

Occult modernism refers to the interaction between occultism and modernist artistic expression. That is to say, occult modernism is the field in which the discourses of occultism and modernism intersect with each other, as well as with other discourses (most prominently science, religion, and modernity). Such intersections are heterogeneous and pluriform. They manifest in objects of so-called ‘high’ as much as ‘low’ culture; in modernist, avant-gardist, and arrière-gardist art; and in works of any (material and immaterial) medium.

Occultism. Occultism and modernism have a shared historical background in the processes of societal modernity undergone by Western societies in the period spanning roughly from the mid-eighteenth century to the early twentieth century. Occultism has its roots in the various heterodox religious movements usually referred to by the umbrella term ‘Western esotericism’, such as alchemy, Christian kabbalah and Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, and Neoplatonism. In the nineteenth century, a resurgence of interest in esotericism can be seen, in combination with a redefinition of the metaphysical questions asked by esotericism. This process results in the formation of new movements that, having developed in the age of modernity, also tend to have adapted to the worldview and concerns of modernity (else risking being rendered obsolete). Examples include movements such as Spiritualism, Theosophy, Anthroposophy, and ritual magical groups such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (the essential work for information about and definitions of these and other movements is Hanegraaff et al., 2005). The appearance of similar movements is often framed in terms of a nineteenth-century ‘occult revival’. Yet more than mere “revival”, we are here concerned with invention—including of tradition. All of this leads us to define occultism as esotericism adapted to modernity. In other words, occultism is the attempt to integrate the conditions of modernity with the metaphysical worldviews of esotericism. If one were to posit, for instance, that modernity is characterized by a belief in rationalization and the primacy of science, then occultism would refer to a type of esotericism that identifies itself as a ‘higher’ science, spiritual and rational, which further defends itself from criticism by applying (or at least claiming to apply) a scientific methodology.

We further argue that modernity cannot simply be reduced to a matter of science triumphing over religion, with the advance of secularism resulting in a Nietzschean death of God. Building on an assumption that the divine gradually becomes relegated not just to the private sphere but out of the mind of modern man altogether, modernity is often portrayed as the culmination of Enlightenment belief in rationality and a teleological development towards complete secularization. This understanding of modernity takes for granted the idea, most often associated with Max Weber, that the modern world has had its magic and mystery stripped away; it has become disenchanted. The concept of disenchantment or Entzauberung is often used to explain what it is that actually makes modernity modern. This standard narrative of disenchantment is now being challenged by scholars arguing that modernity was never disenchanted to begin with (see Asprem, 2014, as well as Faxneld’s discussion in Chap. 5). Modernity does entail a process of religious change and a reconfiguration of the concept of the divine, but this does not necessarily result in a general loss of faith. Instead, one finds that modernity necessitates an uneasy compromise between science and religion, with the religious landscape becoming fragmented into forms of established religion and alternative religious movements. Occultism belongs in the latter category. Claims to the ‘Eastern’ origins of occultism notwithstanding—made not only by occultists but also by certain scholars—it should be noted that occultism is a distinctly occidental phenomenon, not least on account of its use of Orientalizing discourses.

Modernism. Modernism is here understood broadly and inclusively as all artistic expressions that engage with modernity while striving to formulate a new aesthetic. Societal modernity gives rise to modernism in the arts; the lived experience of modernity is represented using forms of expression that both emulate and question the conditions of modern life. Phrased differently, modernism can be understood as aesthetic modernity. In addition, for the sake of argument we include here the avant-gardes under the heading of modernism. We understand the avant-gardes as specific artistic currents that combine modernism’s aesthetic concerns with a critique of the institutions of art in bourgeois society and utopian, often revolutionary, political ideals, as well as with a critique of modernism itself.

We locate the beginnings of European and subsequently Western modernism in the fourth quarter of the nineteenth century, with important predecessors such as Charles Baudelaire paving the way for later developments such as symbolism. In a historical context, modernism exists in an often troubled relationship with the societal changes brought on by urbanization, industrialization, the rise of mass culture, nationalism, and imperialism, as well as with the paradigmatic changes brought on by advances in, for instance, psychiatry (most noticeably the ‘discovery’ of the unconscious) and the natural sciences (such as electromagnetism, Einsteinian relativity and quantum physics, among others) and in communication technology (telegraphy, telephony). Although we have chosen to limit this volume to modernism in the fields of literature, art, and cinema, it is important to emphasize that intersections of occultism and modernism can also be located in music, theatre, dance, and other performative arts, as much as in photography, design, fashion, sculpture, and architecture. Considerations of space have prevented us from exploring those disciplines in this volume.

If occultism is considered part of modernity (rather than modernity’s rejected ‘Other’, a narrative we discard), and if modernism evolves out of modernity, then occultism has a role to play in forming the response of modernism to modernity. The manifold interactions of occultism and modernism can best be described in terms of dynamic interaction. Occultism has an impact on modernism even as it is informed by modernism, occultists often being keen to latch on to the latest artistic trends. Occultism offers modernism new modes of expression; so does modernism for occultism. Occultism asks the same questions as modernism: What does it mean to be modern, and how should a modern life be led? What has been gained in the modern age, what has been lost? How to deal with the heritage of the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment, and how best to position the present in relation to both past and future? How to face the apparent destabilizing of the world and knowledge by new radical developments in science? What makes human existence meaningful, and why? What constitutes creativity? Occultism is also a search for answers to epistemological issues: What is knowledge, and what can be known? What is reality, and how can we understand it? How do we interact with the world? Similar questions of epistemology and ontology are posed in modernism but perhaps not answered as definitively as in occultism.²

The study of occult modernism imposes certain requirements on the scholar wishing to engage with the topic, principally the need to address issues of terminology and definition. We are not suggesting that scholars of occult modernism need to cross over from their own disciplines altogether and lose themselves in terminological discussions of what ‘esotericism’ or ‘occultism’ signify. That discussion is already ongoing in the field of religious studies (among many other sources, Asprem, 2015; Granholm, 2014; Hanegraaff, 2012; Neugebauer-Wölk, 2010, 2013; von Stuckrad, 2010). Arguably it is not up to the art historian or scholar of literature to come up with a definitive definition o...

Table des matières

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction: Conceptualizing Occult Modernism
• 2. A History of Research into Occult Modernist Literature
• Part I. Artistic Practices
• Part II. Aesthetics
• Part III. Occulture
• Back Matter