“Viele Philosophen sind des Dichers Tod”: Elias Canettis Die Blendung und die abendländische Philosophie by Katrin Schneider (review)

Obviously, Die Blendung is not a philosophical novel, but philosophy, or rather philosophies, play an important part as constitutive elements. Schneider’s new study on Canetti as a literary author surveying, satirizing, and discussing philosophy from a literary point of view intends to demonstrate exactly which philosophies inform Canetti’s novel and the way in which the narrative functions as a vehicle for philosophical debate. The book is based on the Schneider’s dissertation, which still shows, especially in the faithful, at times tedious, at times perfunctory surveying of secondary sources and the general lack of amplitude. After all, Die Blendung, as Canetti criticism has revealed, is about many things, including philosophy. Yet Schneider does make important contributions to scholarship on the younger Canetti—she also refers to the role of philosophy and philosophers in his notes and diaries—and his degree of expertise in philosophy. For example, she probes into Canetti’s coursework in philosophy at the University of Vienna and begins by characterizing him as a Schlick student, seemingly in accord with the view that the futile strife over false philosophical questions was the domain of literary writers. In Die Blendung, according to Schneider, contradictory theories are pitted against one another. Contrary to Bill Donahue, who in The End of Modernism argues that the novel does not endorse any of the modernist theorems the novel introduces and thus precludes a modernist ideological solution, Schneider argues that a solution to the philosophical contests does emerge in the end. Kien’s demise, which manifests in the burning of his library, attests to the victory of Materialism, thereby privileging one particular system of thought. Exploring Canetti’s relationship to different philosophies and philosophers, Schneider uncovers the methodology used in the novel to address major schools of philosophy and examines them from a literary perspective.

The systems and philosophies referred to in Die Blendung run the gamut, with special emphasis placed on the Cynics. Connections from Plato, via Antisthenes and Democrit to Jean Baptiste d’Argens’ Thérèse philosophe, are highlighted alongside the triad of Wolff-Schiller-Kant with digressions about Berkeley and the many other thinkers to whom the narrative alludes. Schneider’s thesis that the range of philosophical tenets in Die Blendung exceeds previous discussions is clearly borne out. Deploring the dearth of intertextuality studies on Die Blendung, Schneider asserts that the use of quotations is an integral part of Canetti’s style of writing. The figure of bibliomaniac Kien especially invites an intertextual analysis such as the one Schneider undertakes with a focus on classical philosophers and history of philosophy. Furthermore, Schneider places the novel in the context of the satirical Manippean narrative designed for the critique of government and reason and examines the concept of the grotesque, which also looms large in the novel. Features such as Canetti’s concept of the acoustic mask receive special attention as well. An important matter is also Canetti’s own relationship to philosophy. Schneider explores the author’s intellectual roots such as Karl Kraus and Viennese modernism, but of greater importance to her study are Canetti’s work with Heinrich Gomperz, his intellectual interchange with Gomperz student Herbert Patek, and his friendship with the likewise philosophically oriented Heinrich Broch. The use of philosophical metaphors is particularly interesting: the ladder as a means to attain insight and enlightenment in the Christian and secularized tradition, the destruction of books by fire; philosophy in general, including Chinese and antique philosophy; and laughter. These elements are introduced and scrutinized in a close analysis. The teachings of Plato, central to Canetti’s writing, are juxtaposed with the lesser-known Antisthenes, Plato’s position being initially represented by Kien, Antisthenes’ in the figure of Therese, the Realist. Schneider provides an eye-opening reading of the brothel episodes and the characters in “The Ideal Heaven” as a reflection of Plato’s theory of ideas, which she juxtaposes with...