Poet and playwright Síomón Solomon
discussing his audio drama Hölderlin's Poltergeists
at Queen Mary University of London (9 June 2023)
I.
Whilst attending a table read of selected scenes from Síomón Solomon's Hölderlin's Poltergeists (2021) [1], I was struck by the idea that madness often manifests itself as the hearing of multiple voices, whereas, on the other hand, sane individuals are those who listen faithfully (and in compliance) to the voice of reason (or, as it is sometimes referred to, common sense).
In other words, we might define insanity as a form of disobedience, i.e., an inability (or refusal) to turn towards (and heed) the sound of a unified voice (be it of man or God) which speaks the Truth (as an expression of moral logic), and sanity as a form logocentricity.
This perhaps helps to explain why certain philosophers and artists are fascinated by madness and write in favour of polyvocality, straining their ears to hear multiple voices whispering in many alien tongues, where others like to discern but one voice speaking clearly in a comprehensible manner.
II.
Academics interested in the history (or, perhaps better to say, histories) of mental ill-health are also keen these days to "place the voices of previously silent, marginalised and disenfranchised individuals at the heart of their analyses" [2] - to let the mad speak for themselves, as it were, and celebrate neurodiversity as just another form of queerness.
Whether this is as productive (and as radical) as some believe, I don't know ...
For whilst I'm quite happy to reflect on strangeness and listen to psychotic voices - even to the howling of wolves, or the loud rumble of thunder - in order to grasp something of a reality that isn't exclusively defined by human reason, I'm not sure we can (or should) re-imagine our own identities on the delusions of a mad poet calling himself Scardanelli ...
Notes
[1] I have written several posts on Síomón Solomon's astonishing drama for voices, a work that is not merely a translation from the German of Stephan Hermlin's radio play, Scardanelli, but an extended remix. Click here to read a selection of such.
The table read took place at Queen Mary University of London, in Mile End, as part of a two-day arts and mental health event on the theme of queering boundaries: click here for details.
[2] Those who are interested in this might like to take a look at
Voices in the History of Madness, a collection of interdisciplinary essays ed. Robert Ellis, Sarah Kendal, and Steven J. Taylor,
(Palgrave Macmillan, 2021). I quote here from the introduction to this work.
I would also encourage readers to check out the following article by Allan Beveridge, 'Voices of the mad: patients' letters from the Royal Edinburgh Asylum, 1873-1908', in Psychological Medicine, Vol. 27, Issue 4, (Cambridge University Press, July 1997), pp. 899-908. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S003329179700490X
A friend and I felt this piece was strangely truncated, Stephen - you start by seeming to endorse the idea of polyvocal disobedience agaisnt the monolithic cult of the Logos, but then appear to backtrack, albeit not entirely convincingly/ committedly, and want to have it both ways at the end - though without explaining your reservations about the former.
ReplyDeleteThus my question is: Do you want to uphold the univocality of voice or its antithesis, or are you just more dilutedly undecided?
Perhaps your anonymous friend might care to add a pair of artificial legs to the post …?
DeleteThough I thought you might admire a piece of maimed writing that shows its scars and shortcomings …?
I really don’t think it my role to tell the reader what to think – or what I think, as that would turn the post into an opinion piece, rather than a space of hesitation, open possibility, deferred meaning, and indecisiveness, etc.