Oriental Corners of the Self

Illusion before Nature. Klee, Rilke, Hofmannsthal – Blinded by Primordiality

Abstract

The aim of this article is to trace the influence of the Orient on the work of Paul Klee, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and Rainer Maria Rilke. The Orient – understood broadly and perceived approached symbolically rather than literally – stimulated their imagination even before they had the opportunity to experience its atmosphere and aura in person. Yet even then, their imagination competed with the reality they later experienced. The multitude of impressions, despite their efforts to comprehend them, overwhelmed them as their Western European cognitive apparatus was incompatible with the boundlessness they perceived there. All three artists undertook both an intellectual and a physical journey into a world they knew from the One Thousand and One Nights. Each, in his own way, discovered his technical and cognitive shortcomings, confronted the limits of his perception, and understood the enormous power of the idea of “wholeness.” They learned to accept their limitations by working on them in creative ways. Animals served as their guides to this alternative reality, accompanying them on their journeys from rigid norms and established patterns to a sensual, primal world, embarrassing in its purity and authenticity. Through this journey, full of inexplicable phenomena, they discovered fundamental truths about existence and gained access to a reality that surprised them with the splendour of previously unknown colours and the intensity of experiences.