Consciousness, Literature and the Arts
Archive
Volume 2 Number 2, August 2007
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Zietze, Sylvia. Light and Consciousness,Licht und Bewusstsein, Frankfurt am Mein,Peter Lang,2005,135, ISBN 3-631-54583-5
Reviewed by
Middle East Technical University
Sylvia Zietze’s book is bilingual and comprises three major parts. The First Part is Zietze’z M.A. Thesis in which she discusses, as the title denotes, “the effects of light on human consciousness as exemplified in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Fairy Tale. The Second Part is in German entitled “Idealentwurf Einer Theatralen Realisierung”. The Third Part returns to English with the title “Theatre Program for Stage Production: Goethe’s Ethics Exemplified in Faust I &Faust II.
The First Part
Since the most striking part of the book is Sylvia’s thesis, it will be illuminating to focus on this section.Sylvia claims that Goethe’s Fairy Tale does not differ from Faust Part II since in both works the emphasis is on intensified consciousness and how it represents knowledge. In the Fairy Tale “light” aids the individuals to go through a “metamorphosis” as it affects their consciousness. As well as physical changes there are emotional changes when the individuals encounter “light”. Sylvia has counted “181 occurrences of light” and she further analyses “light” in 6 different categories. In this analysis she presents the “positive transformation” that the light leads to. In this study, also Goethe’s controversial interest in science is presented. Goethe’s belief in experiencing nature rather than experimenting with it aroused severe criticisms in his time. Sylvia mentions Fritj Capra’s work of 1991 which depicts the exploration of the parallelism between modern physics and eastern mysticism. Sylvia claims that similarly, Goethe had long time ago tried to highlight the importance of “experiential contact”. She also emphasizes that Goethe’s approach to science can be comprehended in the 20th and 21st Centuries due to “the philosophical articulation of phenomology”. Hence, the significance of the Fairy Tale and the impact of light on the consciousness of the individuals.
In the thesis, Chapter One provides background information for the Fairy Tale focusing on the cyclical processes in an allegorical form. Sylvia makes use of Jane K. Brown’s interpretations of the symbols. This Chapter also provides the summary of the Fairy Tale.
In Chapter Two, Sylvia focuses on the “botanics”. Referring to Nicholas Boyle, she also insists on the fact that this work cannot be solely taken as an allegory. Just as Goethe, in his essay “The Metamorphosis of Plants” shows the significance of botanical growth, he shows a botanical growth in his Fairy Tale also.
In Chapter Three, there are three parts.In Part 1 (Stray-Light and Light), Sylvia presents the six categories of light appearances which correspond to several states of consciousness. She integrates Hans Endes’s observations into her analyses. In Part 2 (The Lamp), Sylvia observes the lamp’s light which does not have a shadow. She makes use of Endes’s interpretations in this section also focusing on the “intuitive consciousness” of the individuals. In Part 3 (Gold and Glitter), in addition to giving the 33 occurrences of gold, Sylvia presents Goethe’s concern with materialistic distractions that can corrupt the intuitive consciousness. Goethe believed that individuals must use their intelligence to reach positive outcomes.
In Chapter Four, there are two parts. Part 1 (The Shadow and Dramatis Personae) explores the balance to be maintained between the subconscious and the conscious. Part 2 (Transformation and Death) shows that since all the characters represent different states of consciousness, a transformation has to take place for the process of evolution to be fulfilled.
In her Conclusions, she gives a thorough analysis of her findings. She observes that intellectual activity is not like the other human activities. Ideas bombard individuals in unconscious states and move speedily and individuals resort to languages to communicate these ideas. When ideas are communicated, the process of acquiring knowledge also starts. But when one reaches an awareness, it may be the awareness of “nothingness”. Hence, a paradoxical situation in the Fairy Tale. The ‘will-o-the-wisps’ may represent this paradox. Goethe uses the river to show the imagination. Also the river represents human sub-conscious capacities. Within this capacity, the spiritual and material worlds are connected. The ferryman’s boat in the Fairy Tale show how people create thought patterns to give a structure to the world they perceive. In a way, Goethe employs the ferryman to represent the scientists or spiritual leaders who have the prerogative of knowing the unattainable abstract world. Yet, there is no stability. Changes occur and there are scientific innovations. On the other hand, there is the painful aspect of these innovations. They may lead to destruction. Sylvia points out to the fact that Goethe uses ‘gold’ both in the Fairy Tale and in Faust Part II to represent the deceptive attractions of materialistic gains. That is why the ferryman wants to be free from emotional concerns and violent ideas. The rocky spot is the symbolic location where a heightened level of consciousness can be reached. Similarly, the old man waits too. The ferryman delegates a task to the snake which personifies curiosity and innocence. Goethe’s use of ‘green’ for the snake shows a conscious state of mind. Goethe’s main aim of showing how human intelligence and nature’s wisdom are interrelated, is finalized when the snake displays gratefulness. Sylvia explores how human consciousness can function to make use of the elemental forces that should be lifted out of the unconsciousness. Otherwise, elemental forces cannot be used constructively.
As well as this interesting observation, Sylvia focuses on modern research in physics and how Goethe’s text relates to it. She claims that Goethe wanted to show how intellect was necessary to move on and the past mistakes should not hinder mankind from making progress and intellect leads to cognition. Sylvia makes use of Arthur Zajonc’s observations on the way classsical forms of thought are being challenged nowadays. The old scientific discoveries allowed the people of those times to have a new insight into their lives but the desire for change continues. Hence, the probing into the nature of light. Sylvia refers to Fritjof Capra’s observations of the puzzling features of light. She even writes about the 1987 experiment that was conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics and its results about the nature of light particles. The experiment clearly showed that classical thinking may not help the scientists to explain everything. Therefore, a new way of re-imagining the world will be required. Sylvia claims that Goethe was an artist but also he was a scientist in his own way to shed a new light unto the unknown zones of human life. Her thesis has summaries after each section to wrap up the discussions. She also provides a biography of Goethe and a bibliography.
The Second Part
In this part which is in German, Sylvia provides a theatrical analysis of the Fairy Tale and in detailed tables she presents the possible transformation of the text into its stage version. At the end of this section also, she gives a list of references.
The Third Part
In this part, Goethe’s own concept of ethics is presented in Faust I and Faust II. Sylvia refers to Jung, Albert Schweitzer, Alan P. Cottrell, Werner Heisenburg, and Carl Sagan. This part was originally in a theatre program for a stage production of Goethe’s Faust at the Kennedy Theatre Department of HI in 2001.
On the whole, the book presents observations on Goethe’s interest in consciousness and the impact of light on the transformation of consciousness to higher levels. The reader is also reminded of Goethe’s scientific interests which may in the 20th and 21st centuries can be re-evaluated with a new insight into them. If the thesis part is turned into a compact and independent book, it will be far more accessible to people who are interested in Goethe, in symbols, in different levels of consciousness, and futhermore in “light” both in an experiential and experimental approach.