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PARTISAN REVIEW
committed man from an existentialist point of view, floating in and out
of the various circles of people and activities without belonging any–
where, detached, ironic, non-participating except for a constant, self–
conscious readiness to analyze every action and motive of the players
and himself. This analysis is often ingenious and always intellectually
honest. Musil rejected psychoanalysis; but there is much of the same
intellectual, skeptical temper in his own work as in this psychological
movement which was then reaching its highest form in Vienna. A side
remark on psychoanalysis, incidentally, is characteristic of the subtle
sense of satire pervading the whole work: "An age that does not tolerate
any intellectual depth anywhere learns with attentive curiosity that it
has discovered a depth psychology."
Ulrich, then, is a symbol of ironic detachment from and intellectual
integrity in a world of muddled thinking, confused emotions, and sham
values. He sees through the pompous racket of the publicity campaign,
the stupid, pretentious and hypocritical culture-mongering of the people
engaged in it, the phony rationalizations excusing artistic and intellectual
debility, the repressive nature of traditional morality, the escape into
nebulous mysticism and new forms of authoritarianism-all these symp–
toms of a sick society are expertly dissected and diagnosed. The contra–
puntal theme of the sex murderer shows that Musil was equally aware of
the destructive forces threatening the individual from within, eventually
erupting into the Thirty Years War of our century. He depicted the
rise of a fanatic pan-German racism; he predicted the "ant society" of
the future. He cast the light of bitter satire upon the figure of a rising
young poet, called Feuermaul (fiery mouth), an ill-concealed parody of
the young Werfel, who has just conquered Viennese high society with
his flamboyant airs and his brilliant insight that "man is good."
No, Musil was not taken in; the work reflects a critical intelligence
at work playing expertly and uncompromisingly with all the questionable
qualities of the people and the world they represent. In this horse race
the intellectual may refuse to possess any qualities, may rediscover the
meaning of Joyce's-and
Lucifer's-non serviam;
and this act of refusal
is not only a weapon of defense, but may even represent a challenge,
or a legitimate act of affirmation: a position which Musil himself de–
scribes quite aptly as "active passivism." I confess that I consider this
a salutory and enjoyable performance, especially in our days when we
are not only engulfed by a rising tide of anti-intellectualism on the part
of those to whom this attitude is a way of life, but when the intellec–
tuals
a
la Viereck themselves have joined the sad spectacle of muddled
slinging and thinking on the nature of their own profession. No, critical
