Abstract

Robert Musil belongs to a generation of thinkers , for whom the "end of metaphysics" and crisis of the novel were experienced as parallel expressions of nineteenth-century liberal culture's disintegration. For these figures, the essay's flexible, expansive nature becomes the favorite vehicle of expression. Like his peers, Musil moves away from traditional narrative, toward essay writing, interpretation, fragmentation. Never defining essay generically, Musil perceives it instead as an undefinable, all-encompassing form. "Essayismus," derived from "essay," epitomizes Musil's style of writing, as well as his entire Weltanschauung. ;A utopian mode, Essayismus is conceived as an anti-ideological ideology, founded not on "morals," but on "ethics." The paradoxical, elastic structure of ethics, adaptable to each individual's particular situation, is predicated on what Musil calls "der andere Zustand" Through four interrelated chapters, our study identifies "der andere Zustand" (akin to Derrida's anti-dialectical "differance" as essayism's underlying principle. ;Chapter 1 explores the relationship between essay and Essayismus. From its very inception by Montaigne and Bacon, the essay eludes generic classification, thereby becoming associated with utopian aspirations, which for Musil consist in striving toward "der andere Zustand." ;Chapter 2 traces the philosophical genealogy of Musil's Essayismus from the German Romantic tradition through Nietzsche and Emerson, stressing the key notions of "skepticism" and "fragment." ;In Chapter 3, Bakhtinian dialogism provides a heuristic instrument for understanding Musil's concept of Essayismus. The salient points of intersection between dialogism and Essayismus include: resistance to synthesis and systematization; the privileging of a heterogeneous, "androgynous" unity; and, a common emphasis on ethics, providing a key link to "der andere Zustand." ;Finally, Chapter 4 considers Musil's stance toward the plight of both individual and collectivity, in the face of Germany's ideological collapse between the Wars. By proposing an "anti-ideological" ideology, grounded in "der andere Zustand," Musil strives to make his utopian principle bear upon contemporary reality. Ultimately unsuccessful, Musil nonetheless anticipates the anti-dialectical orientation of post-modern thought and, unlike later thinkers, he is not content simply to dismantle the Western metaphysical tradition, but struggles to offer something in its place