Authentic Dasein and the Anxious Uncanny

Introduction: Comparing Notions of Anxiety

“I often feel that I must have this life -Angs t - it is essential to me - and that I would not exist without it.”  Edvard Munch

Both fear and anxiety are pivotal when it comes to literature, art and philosophy.  Nevertheless, the two are often confused, at least partly because they are in many cases intertwined. Both terms can be distinguished easily enough. Fear is in reference to a certain object or situation-one is afraid of “something.” Anxiety, on the other hand, is a state of mind, or mood; its object and/or source is never clear and remains a source of torment for the person who experiences this emotion.

Immanuel Kant and Martin Heidegger provide us with the tools for distinguishing fear and anxiety. Kant inThe Critique of Judgment discusses anxiety in relation to the sublime. Distinguishing between the mathematically and the dynamically sublime, the former gives birth to anxiety through its size, i.e. by enforcing a feeling in man of being diminished; the latter, which is evident in nature, resonates anxiety when the subject feels helpless in the face what is overwhelming - as long as a certain distance or safety is in play. In such cases, anxiety produces a sense of and the sublime.

For Heidegger, anxiety lies at the core of the authentic Dasein. For this reason, anxiety performs a crucial role inBeing and Time . Through anxiety the Self is revealed, and since the Self is transcendental, it is irreducible to the object-world. In moments of anxiety, we confront ourselves; we come to terms with what defines us; the world is the background to understanding the ontological “who.” In this situation, anxiety allows the self to emerge as unique to the individual; it is no longer collective and does not follow “the they.” In other words, anxiety allows the Self to be authentic.

Fear is almost always noticeable. In literary texts, the tone and the language used by the author can communicate fear directly. Both description and dialogue can indicate that fear is felt on a simple emotional level. Anxiety, however, is not as easy to detect. In some cases, the word “anxiety” appears, thus asserting its presence; however, in other instances, one needs to read between the lines in order to understand the complexity of the character in question, along with the situation at hand. This allows the reader to detect the air of anxiety, which is commonly present throughout the text. Anxiety can appear in many forms; it can be the result of frustrations, mental complexities, stress, insanity and/or depression; nevertheless, in every case, this pivotal mode of existence needs to be deeply examined and contemplated if the reader is to fully grasp the meaning of the text.  In the case of painting, anxiety can be expressed through a variety of techniques. Such techniques would include strong, rough, or short brushstrokes, variations in composition, the artist’s choice of color, and the positioning of figures in space. These techniques are sometimes possible to relate to autobiographical factors that give them special meaning.

Norwegian artist, Edvard Munch, was “painfully aware of not belonging in this world” (Schwabsky, 144). He is often labeled the father of Expressionism, an art movement that marks a high-point of anxiety in the

history of art. Labeled “degenerate” by the Nazi regime and often scrutinized by critics during his own lifetime, Munch nevertheless revolutionized art in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.   When looking at the historical timeline of art, we cannot ignore that Munch’s leap of faith, in terms of style, marks a pivotal moment; without him, Expressionism, which “designates a dominantly subjective art,” would not developed when it did (Longman, 13). From the standpoint of art’s future, we might say that his paintings opened up (a) “world” (Heidegger, 41). The Norwegian genius was in fact the person who opened up this (new) world of art, making it visible and accessible. As a matter of fact, we might go as far as to say that hebecame “Munch”because he stepped beyond an age dedicated to realism, which dominated the art scene throughout much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His work thus dramatizes an undeniable shift in style.

InThe Private Journals of Edvard Munch, the artist says that his art “is a self-confession” but also expresses the view that it might “help others understand their search for sanity” (Holland, 20). Munch discovered himself in his art. Realism clearly could not express the feelings, moments, and issues that he wanted to present on his roughly-treated canvases, thus giving birth to the version of expressionism that came rather naturally to him. Furthermore, when looking at his works, we are faced with a continuously pulsating feeling of anxiety, which, to use Heidegger’s terminology, brushes away the veil ofDas Mann , forcing spectators to view themselves in their utter nakedness - in terms of an authentic self.

Kant’s understanding of beauty would have been dominant in Munch’s Norway. His conciliatory view of the common world, orsensus communis , would have provided artists with public validation for their work. During this period, however, painting needed Munch to break out of a representational approach to art and allow for more authentic human expression. According to Munch, “what one paints must be done with will and feeling,” just as he strived to “paint people who love and suffer” (Holland, 29; TIME, 1).  In other words, Munch was needed to help art free itself from the bonds of realism and naturalism. My thesis contains four major chapters that will follow through on the development of Munch’s expressionism and the philosophical implications of his new approach to painting.

For Heidegger, anxiety, referred to asAngst , is associated with a feeling of ‘uncanniness’, or not-being-at-home. It is a state of mind that lies withinDasein , which is basically the philosopher’s term for human being.Anxiety is usually hidden or ‘asleep’ and in due time it awakens and shakesDasein to the core.Angst has two components: one is either anxious in the face of something or about something, and both refer to being-in-the-world.Dasein has anxiety about its involvements within the world and in the face of ‘thrownness’, orGeworfenheit : “The mood ofAngst puts us in direct contact with nothingness, which goes hand in hand with being, for being is finite and only becomes accessible against the empty background of the ‘not’” (Harman, 70). Death also plays a role with respect toAngst for the authentic

Dasein . He or she understands that death is a possibility that at some point will be actualized and should thus be anticipated.

But why is anxiety so troubling? According to Heidegger,Angst drivesDasein out of its immersion in the world of things and forces it to confront itself  - and thus, the latter experience cannot be explained by ‘the they’, orDas Man , the anonymous ‘one’ who constitutes most of those surroundingDasein . Heidegger argues thatAngst freesDasein from the inauthenticity ofDas Man . Additionally, “Dasein is thrown into death as a constant possibility of its being, as revealed in Angst. It is not death itself that interests Heidegger, but being-towards -death, since this attitude is with us at all times even when it is concealed” (Harman, 71).

For Kant, in contrast, anxiety is closely linked to his notion of the sublime, which cannot really be represented in aesthetics but forms the basis for the transition between aesthetics and morality. Kant argues that a lack of harmony is also closely linked to the experience of the sublime. The sublime is very subjective - one may refer to it as an evanescent experience - but it does reveals the mental situation of the person who experiences it: “true sublimity must be sought only in the mind of the [subject] judging, not in the natural Object, the judgment upon which occasions this state” (Kant, 117). In a sense, one may say it individuates, as opposed to the beautiful, which entails asensus communis and brings together a community based upon agreement. The voice of nature is expressed through the sublime and imposes a sense of respect upon us. Kant also distinguishes between the types of the sublime, namely the mathematically sublime (as related to the idea of absolute greatness) and the dynamically sublime (as related to the idea of might). These notions will be related to my discussion of the role of the sublime in Munch’s paintings.

Hence, Chapter One:Kant and Munch: the Sublime in Nature , will zoom in on the dynamically sublime in relation to Munch with a special focus on Munch’s “nature paintings.” These paintings epitomize Kant’s description of man as feeling overwhelmed with the grandiosity, power, strength and danger of nature. This feeling combines both pain and pleasure. Munch’s “nature” paintings, namelyThe Storm (1908),Forest (1903),Young Girl by the Shore (1896), TheSun (1912),Towards the Forest I (1897), TheWave (1921) andStarry Night (1923), all express Kant’s dynamically sublime and extend this experience to any possible audience of spectators.

Chapter Two:Heidegger and Munch: Anxious Dasein , will discuss Heidegger’s definition of anxiety in greater detail in addition and take up the importance of anxiety with respect to authenticDasein . Following an elaborate explanation, Heidegger’s understanding will be applied to Munch’s paintings in an attempt to underscore the role of anxiety in his work. In an article titled “Existential Anxiety: Angst,” James Park discusses how “anxiety usually hides behind ordinary fears and worries,” and assumes an “existential” form when it produces images that no not necessarily correspond to real threats:

Our existential anxiety can also create phantom fears: Are we pursued in the dark by impossible monsters? Or do we have dreams of horror, danger,

menace, threat? Even in our waking hours, we might sometimes dream up unlikely dangers to explain our anxiety to ourselves. (5)

Heidegger discusses the importance of anxiety in his works, beginning withBeing and Time. Particularly whenDasein dwells in the inauthentic mode, anxiety lies dormant, but it nevertheless remains in force. Anxiety is one of the most vital moods and lies at the core ofDasein’s innermost being. The tragic hero, as a special example of authenticDasein , is aware of anxiety, experiences it, and thus feels caught up in a world where he or she feels thrown into a world of groundless existence. The paintings to be discussed in this chapter areAnxiety (1894),Evening on Karl Johan (1892),Puberty (1895),Summer Night’s Dream (The Voice) (1893), andThe Scream (1893).

Chapter Three:Munch - Combining Heidegger and Kant, will once again underscore the notion that anxiety is an essential feature ofDasein - that it is, specifically, the key to authenticDasein . Here Kant’s idea of pain, which indicates the experience of the sublime and also points to the realm of the supersensible, will be combined with Heidegger’s understanding ofbeing-towards-death as leading to anxiety. These paintings will be used to develop this comparison:Vampire (1893),Ashes (1894),Death in the Sickroom (1895),Woman in Three Stages (Sphinx) (1894),Self-Portrait: Between the Clock and Bed (1940-1942),White Night (1901), andThe Dance of Life (1899-1900).

Numerous texts have been written on Kant, Heidegger, and Munch, but none before has offered a view of art that combines the work of all three figures.  With respect to Munch, much literature discusses his mental illnesses along with his views on women and sexuality in relation to his works. Nevertheless, several aspects of the artist’s work and life have not been addressed.  Four basic questions remain unanswered: (1) How does Munchbecome the “Munch” known to the present-day art lovers? (2) How does Munch enterand exist in the frame of art itself? (3) How does the artist open up a “new” world? (4) Finally, in addition to the psychological aspect of his work, which already infuses the spectator’s mind with anxiety, how and why is it that spectators shudder and “take off their hats in awe, the way they do in church” when confronting Munch’s work (Strickland and Boswell, 123)? In relation to the final question, Munch’s manipulation of space, color, composition, and texture will be thoroughly analyzed.