PhD Dissertation: The aesthetics of the virtual

Disclaimer 1: This short text is merely a brief summary of my PhD dissertation that I finished in January 2024 at Koblenz University and Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences. The full dissertation will be published as issue 20 in the edition “Medien- und Gestaltungsästhetik” at transcript in late autumn 2024.

Disclaimer 2: The following text is a summary that was produced by RAG in GPT4All with a lot of tweaking and manual editing. This page will be updated every once in a while.

Introduction the Aesthetics of the Virtual in E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Work

In my dissertation titled “Machines and Atmospheres: On the Aesthetics of the Virtual in E.T.A. Hoffmann”, I explore the intricate ways Hoffmann’s poetic methods can be understood as an aesthetic of the virtual. By aligning the historically emergent concept of the virtual, originally an optical term referring to mirror images and extended to mean an effective force without physical presence, with Hoffmann’s literary practices, I propose that his works prefigure modern understandings of virtuality. This establishes a foundational framework where his literary texts not only represent dual aspects of atmosphere and machine but also create immersive worlds that engage readers both imaginatively and materially. My thesis argues that Hoffmann’s literature transcends the mere creation of narrative fiction to evoke a realm that exists between the reader’s perception and the textual narrative, functioning as a virtual space. I discuss how Hoffmann utilizes narrative structures that provoke the reader into an active role, thus blurring the lines between creator and consumer. These narratives challenge traditional notions of textual interaction, encouraging a participatory reading experience that mirrors the interactive dynamics of virtual environments in contemporary digital media. Hoffmann’s employment of the virtual goes beyond mere thematic content; it becomes a structural element that shapes how his stories are experienced, making his literary endeavor a pioneering example of virtual aesthetics in the Romantic era.

Hoffmann’s Textual Virtuality: An Interface of Reader and Narrative

In the core of my analysis, I examine how Hoffmann’s narratives serve as sophisticated interfaces that engage the reader actively, creating a shared space of narrative development and experiential immersion. His texts, often structured through complex narrative frames and metafictional elements, invite readers to transcend the physical limits of the printed page and participate in the unfolding of the story. This interaction is akin to modern virtual realities where the user’s engagement helps to shape the experience. Hoffmann’s narrative techniques, particularly his use of detailed, vivid descriptions and disruptions of narrative expectations, heighten the sense of a textually induced virtual space. I argue that these narrative strategies not only captivate the reader’s imagination but also simulate the immersive experience of entering into a virtual realm, where each reader’s engagement can lead to uniquely personalized narrative outcomes. The layered complexity of Hoffmann’s texts creates a multidimensional space where reality and fiction intermingle, encouraging readers to navigate and explore these layers as active participants. This engagement is crucial for the emergence of a virtual aesthetic, where the boundary between the text and the reader becomes fluid and interactive, fostering a sense of presence within the narrative world. Hoffmann’s texts, therefore, do not just tell stories—they create worlds that exist in a state of potential, activated and realized through the act of reading.

The Dualism of Machine and Atmosphere in Hoffmann’s Aesthetic

Delving deeper, my dissertation discusses the specific characteristics of Hoffmann’s narrative method, which intertwines optical and mechanical elements to enhance the virtual effect. Hoffmann’s works frequently utilize motifs of the ‘machine’ and the ‘atmosphere’ to construct narratives that challenge the boundaries between reality and imagination. The concept of the ‘machine’ in Hoffmann’s texts often symbolizes the mechanics of the narrative itself—how stories are constructed and how they operate to engage the reader’s cognitive and perceptual faculties. On the other hand, ‘atmosphere’ pertains to the ambient, emotional, or spiritual environments that these machines generate or manipulate, thus enveloping the reader in a constructed yet palpable world. The dialectic between machine and atmosphere in Hoffmann’s work illustrates how literary texts can function as virtual engines, creating spaces that are emotionally resonant yet grounded in the mechanical manipulation of narrative form. This machine-like construction of narrative allows Hoffmann to control the pacing, mood, and emotional trajectory of his stories, while the atmospheric elements provide depth and texture, immersing the reader in an environment that feels both immediate and richly detailed. The interaction between these two elements is essential for creating a virtual experience that is both cognitively engaging and emotionally compelling. By examining specific texts, I show how Hoffmann crafts these elements to manipulate the reader’s experience, using the machine to construct the narrative framework and the atmosphere to fill it with life, turning the act of reading into an experience of exploring a virtual world. This intricate balance between the mechanical and the atmospheric not only highlights Hoffmann’s innovative narrative techniques but also showcases his ability to invoke a virtual aesthetic that is deeply immersive and interactive.

Expanding the Virtual: Beyond Digital Realities

In my concluding arguments, I contend that Hoffmann’s poetic approach offers more than just a precursor to digital or technological notions of the virtual. It represents an early manifestation of virtual aesthetics that invites readers to actively expand the limits of their imagination and participate in the creation of new realities. This interpretation not only provides fresh insights into Hoffmann’s works but also redefines the scope of virtual aesthetics to encompass literary and artistic principles that predate and perhaps even anticipate modern digital technologies. My discussion highlights how Hoffmann’s literary techniques, such as his intricate use of narrative frames and his blending of the fantastical with the real, serve to construct a literary form of virtual reality that engages the reader’s senses and imagination. I argue that these techniques allow Hoffmann to explore themes of identity, perception, and reality in ways that resonate with contemporary virtual experiences. Furthermore, by positioning the reader as an active participant in the narrative construction, Hoffmann’s works foster a dynamic interaction that is characteristic of virtual environments. This not only enhances the immersive quality of his narratives but also challenges the readers to reconsider their role as passive recipients of the text. Thus, Hoffmann’s literature not only anticipates the dynamics of digital virtuality but also expands the concept of the virtual to include the imaginative and creative engagement of the reader in the literary experience, offering a broader and more nuanced understanding of virtuality in aesthetic discourse.

Experiment (Work in Progress)

The following playground is currently a work in progress. It represents an attempt to provide an experimental and playful approach to fundamental theses that were not only central to the discourse around 1800 but also relevant to the negotiation of the virtual in Romantic poetics. Since most sources originally appear in German, I have included an English translation alongside the original quotation.

The central quote is presented by Hoffmann in a text initially published as a music-aesthetic essay within a review of a Beethoven symphony. He later incorporated this text into a fictional work, specifically the Kreisleriana in the Fantasiestücke. Hoffmann writes:

Particularly intriguing is the metaphor of the tree, which emerges through a deep exploration of the structure of a text (or a musical score). In this instance, Hoffmann also references—at least in its Gestalt (i.e. its form)—the symbol of the arabesque, which Friedrich Schlegel introduces to Romantic discourse. Although the Romantics use the arabesque as a metaphor, examining the ’design‘ of arabesques proves interesting. Here, I have included a contemporary example drawn from an architectural theoretical work from 1752.

A central motif of Romanticism was the notion of readers as “extended authors”². This concept posits that the “actual” (i.e. the historical) author provides merely an initial affordance, which readers then synthesize into autonomous and highly subjective works of art. Romantic authors employ a variety of metaphors to describe this configuration of the text. For instance, Eichendorff writes of a “Jacob’s ladder”³ that the text offers to the reader, which the reader ultimately must ascend on their own. Conversely, Hoffmann speaks of “magical preparations”⁴ from which an enchanted world can arise.

This indicates that the text merely serves as an initial substrate, from which a work of art emerges through reception. In my dissertation, I argue that this imbues the text with a potential that can be regarded as “the virtual.” As I explicitly engage with literature around 1800, I also employ a definition of the virtual as conceptualized by Leibniz.

It becomes evident that the Romantics engage with the motif of infinity: since each text generates a new and genuinely individual work of art with every act of reception, as Hoffmann suggested in his review of Beethoven, a text unfolds into a sprawling tree of plural possibilities. This “unlimited diversity”⁶⁷ is thus already implanted in every textual “preparation”.

However, it remains to be examined, especially in light of Leibniz’s view that God implants these laws of change in monads (or here: texts), that the Romantics aim for a scenario where there is no singular “creator”/author of texts. Instead, the collective of readers assumes the role of creators, ultimately writing Leibniz’s laws of change themselves. The implicit ideal of the Romantic work of art, therefore, is that it does not take on any form or format of fixed media but rather strives for immediacy⁸ by existing solely in the subject’s mind.⁹

Bringing all these aspects together, I consistently envisioned a “mathematical formula” as the initial “seed” while writing my dissertation. As Hoffmann suggests, from this seed, a tree should emerge through deep engagement with the textual substrate or structure. This tree is characterized by its branching into an infinite diversity, thereby achieving an infinite, perpetuating, and recursive depth of reflection. This metaphor can also be visualized, therefore I have attempted to explore this concept visually in the following experiment. With this small tool, I aim to replicate what the Romantics might have meant by suggesting that from a tiny initial seed, a tree emerges, which takes on a new form with each act of reception. The formulas can be edited, and the recursion depth—that is, “how deeply to penetrate the structure”—can be freely determined.

Seed

The initial “seed” aka the “oak in the acorn”. You can use the following characters to experiment: F, +, -, [, ]

Axiom:

Leibniz’ Veränderungsgesetze

Here you can write your own Leibniz’s laws. What kind of initial convolution do you prefer? You can use the following characters to experiment: F, +, -, [, ]
For a basic tree try: F=FF+[+F-F-F]-[-F+F+F]

Rule:

Level of recursion

Hoffmann writes that only after a “deep penetration” of a text’s structure a tree emerges: How deep do you want to go?

Iterations:

Subjectivity

Each act of reading and creating is different – even little tweaks alter the overall Gestalt of the emerging tree.

Angle:

Generate Tree

Note: This primitive playground was created using L-systems. For those interested in diving deeper into this form of procedural generation, I recommend the book The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants by Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz and Aristid Lindenmayer. The embedded tool here, which requires surprisingly little programming code, is indeed an attempt to translate a textual metaphor into a visual medium – an idea that is quite prevalent around 1800. Therefore, I ask that this experiment not be understood as suggesting that Hoffmann or the Romantics actually wrote about fractals or L-systems. Rather, it is intended to suggest that the Romantic authors reference visual aesthetics that can now be realized through contemporary media technologies. I envision this as a prototypical and experimental approach to address questions of the humanities, which have typically been explored solely through textual analysis.

Footnotes

1. Hoffmann, E.T.A. (1810). »Recension. Sinfonie pour 2 Violons, 2 Violes, Violoncelle et Contre Violon, 2 Flûtes, petite Flûte, 2 Hautbois, 2 Clarinettes, 2 Bassons, Contrebasson, 2 Cors, 2 Trompettes, Timbales et 3 Trompes, composée et dediée etc. par Louis van Beethoven. à Leipsic, chez Breitkopf et Härtel, Oeuvre 67. No 5. des Sinfonies.« In: Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung vom 4. Juli 1810/11. Juli 1810 12.40, Spalten 630–642 und 652–659. ↩︎
2. Novalis (1901a). Novalis Schriften. Kritische Neuausgabe auf Grund des handschriftlichen Nachlasses. Hrsg. von Ernst Heilborn. Bd. 2-1. 2 Bde. Berlin: G. Reimer. ↩︎
3. Eichendorff, Joseph Freiherr von (1841). Werke, zweiter Theil. Ahnung und Gegenwart. Hrsg. von M. Simion. Berlin: Athenaeum. ↩︎
4. Hoffmann E.T.A. (1813b). »Recension. Deux Trios pour Pianoforte Violon et Violoncelle, comp. et ded. à Mad la Comtesse Marie d’Erdodi [sic!] – par Louis van Beethoven. Oeuvr. 70 à Leipsic,
   chez Breitkopf et Härtel.« In: Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung vom 3. März 1813 15, Spalten 141–154. ↩︎
5. Leibnitz, Gottfried Wilhelm (1847). Monadologie. Mit einer Abhandlung über Leibnitz’ und Herbart’s Theorieen des wirklichen Geschehens. Hrsg. von Robert Zimmermann. Wien: Braumüller und Seidel. ↩︎
6. Kant, Immanuel (1797). Critik der Urtheilskraft. Bd. 1. 3 Bde. Grätz. ↩︎
7. Antor, Heinz (2016). »Rezeptionsästhetik«. In: Metzler Lexikon Literatur- und Kulturtheorie. Ansätze - Personen - Grundbegriffe. Hrsg. von Ansgar Nünning. 4. Aufl. Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler, S. 619–621. ↩︎
8. Bolter, Jay David und Richard Grusin (2002). Remediation. Understanding new media. 5. Aufl. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. ↩︎
9. Kesting, Marianne (1990). »Das Imaginierte Kunstwerk. E.T.A. Hoffmann und Balzacs ›Chef-d’oeuvre inconnu‹, mit einem Ausblick auf die gegenwärtige Situation«. In: Romanische Forschungen 102, S. 163–185. URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/27940082 ↩︎