The Vitality of Music in Mann and Joyce. Wagner in “Fullness of Harmony” and “Sirens”

Abstract

Thomas Mann and James Joyce make music central to The Magic Mountain and Ulysses, and each devotes an episode to music, Mann in “Fullness of Harmony” and Joyce in “Sirens.” Both novelists portray music as a medium of healing from isolation, yet music may also lull the listener into listlessness and induce an unhealthy withdrawal from relationships and community. Though Richard Wagner’s music is absent from the scenes, both authors write in the shadow of Wagner, making their stories epic and mythical, and the Wagnerian theme of redemption through art stands behind their portrayal of music. Joyce and Mann mistrust Wagnerian grandeur, however, Joyce from distaste and Mann from his association of Wagner with decadence and immorality. Yet neither author allows Wagner’s sin of excess to destroy the restorative power of music, and song stimulates recovery from detachment for Hans Castorp and Leopold Bloom. Written just after the First World War in cognizance of the danger of nationalist movements, both novels mark a path between isolation and immoderate group identification, showing that music may instill desire for an appropriate sense of relationship, the basis for the characters’ love of life and redemption.