Abstract
This article draws an interpretative comparison between Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophical views on language communication and Karel Schoeman’s literature. The narrative is also partly historical and biographical. Parts of Wittgenstein’s philosophical statements in his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Philosophische Untersuchungen / Philosophical investigations are recognizable as creative expressions in Schoeman’s fiction and non-fiction, namely in the Afrikaans historical novels of the so-called Voices-trilogy (Verliesfontein, Hierdie lewe, Die uur van die engel), the novel Verkenning, the travel book Afskeid van Europa and the reflective narrative concerning old age Slot van die dag. (Hierdie lewe was also published in English as This Life; Slot van die dag as At close of day.)
The purpose of this article is to initiate a hermeneutic understanding of Schoeman’s writing in the light of Wittgenstein’s ideas. Schoeman was aware of the essence of Wittgenstein’s thinking. In the late 1980s Schoeman started reading Wittgenstein’s work. He classified him as one of the great seers and secular saints of the 20th century (Schoeman 2002:131, 598). I argue that the internalised knowledge of Wittgenstein’s philosophies induced Schoeman’s metafictional consciousness, which was then revealed in his writings.
One of Wittgenstein’s main concepts is the distinction between what can be expressed in language and what can only be expressed in non-verbal ways. Interpretative discussions refer to this concept as the picture theory of language (Keyt 1964:493) or the picture theory of meaning (Von der Ruhr 2013:838). In the Tractatus Wittgenstein aims to show the limits of language through a series of 526 interrelated self-explanatory statements. He suggests that a meaningful proposition pictures a fact in the real world. On the borders of language lie things that you cannot describe but can only show by pointing to them. In the Philosophische Untersuchungen / Philosophical investigations Wittgenstein argued differently, namely that the meaning of words is best understood when used within a given language game; instead of thinking of language as a structure with a logical form, it attains a more anthropological meaning in people’s use of language in daily life where body language and tone of voice also bear significance.
Schoeman had his own ideas about saying and showing and consequently about the function of (mental) images as a means of communication. In his fiction and non-fiction Schoeman often alluded to the inexplicable aspect of pictures, for instance in the novel Die uur van die engel, when the main character visits a small museum and stares at portrait photographs. The main character realizes that he cannot describe the “inexpressive faces of the men in the mute circle” (Schoeman 1995:63). In both Wittgenstein’s philosophies and Schoeman’s literature the relationship between image and imagination contains unsayable aspects. Wittgenstein aimed to show this through self-explanatory statements. Schoeman took it to a higher level by claiming the inspiration of his readers by means of literature.
The picture theory also says a lot about the concept of colour. In Remarks on colour / Bemerkungen über die Farben Wittgenstein explores how the designations of colour work and how colour can have a word-transcending transmission. Schoeman created his own palette in the travel book Afskeid van Europa: with the profusive use of colour words he painted lively scenes of the cities that he visited. For his Afrikaans readers he even created special colour words that refer to shades which are typical of South African soil or scenes. Wittgenstein pointed to the problem that there are no limits to the human understanding of colour. Schoeman has proved this true by filling up some of the indefinite space of language with his invented colour grammar of Afrikaans colour words.
There are also elements in Schoeman’s work that can be traced back to Wittgenstein’s belief in mystical reality, a reality that cannot be communicated by language but can only be referred to. It is the unsayable insights that contain the deepest truths. The most essential nexus between Wittgenstein and Schoeman lies in this vision of the ineffable. Olivier (2002b:37–9) and Rossouw (2015, 2018:793) discussed how Schoeman in his literature reached out to spiritual worlds and how he created unsayable transmissions by words to his readers. Schoeman’s own method was to open himself up unconditionally to what was given to him, to become a channel in order for his creativity to do its work. In Vienna, during his last European trip in 2013, he experienced a personal mystical reality when he sat in the Michaelerkirche and felt that his spirit unified with the silence (Schoeman 2017b:216). He came to the solipsistic insight that everything is one and that he himself was part of an esoteric unity. This clairvoyant insight concurs with Wittgenstein’s solipsistic notion which he once uttered as: “It is true: Man is the microcosm: I am my world” (Monk 1990:144).
A comparison can also be drawn between the lives of Wittgenstein and Schoeman. There are many similarities between their personalities and the choices they made. A striking parallel is their urge to go and live in solitude (Wittgenstein in his Norwegian cabin and Schoeman in remote South African villages) and to intermit their high-functioning lives by choosing to work in professions that needed another form of intellect (Wittgenstein once turned to carpentry and teaching children in a primary school; Schoeman was once a monk and a nurse). The overarching aspect is their independent, individualistic disposition and the urge to follow their own intuition and impulses. Both men had a deep-rooted involvement with the question of communication and how words acquire meaning within and beyond the boundaries of language.
The finding is that Schoeman’s knowledge of Wittgenstein’s ideas interacted with his creative writing processes. A favourite quote that Schoeman used to refer to was the concluding statement of the Tractatus: “Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen” (Wittgenstein 1976:152); what can be said at all can be said clearly and whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent. Wittgenstein’s philosophies are present as intertext in Schoeman’s works. In his Afrikaans historical novels, Schoeman expressed the unsayable and provided the receptive reader with insight into the world of the past. In Afskeid van Europa he created an imagery by using colour grammar. In At close of day. Reflections, where Schoeman meditates about aging and the end of life, Wittgenstein is even visibly present as intertext in the section titled “Besluit”: the structure of notation and page layout is very similar to Wittgenstein’s structure in Philosophische Untersuchungen / Philosophical investigations.
The urge to articulate everything, even that which cannot be articulated, was the intensely human aspect of the writer Karel Schoeman. Wittgenstein’s influence was a modest part of Schoeman’s elegy.
Keywords: colour grammar; creativity; hermeneutics; linguistics; metaphysics; philosophy of language; philosophical investigations; picture theory; Karel Schoeman; Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus; Ludwig Wittgenstein