I am no protectionist
Michael Tanner says he never intended to suppress the issue of Wagner's anti-Semitism Barry Millington's concluding question 'Is this the way they teach at Cambridge these days?' (Arts, 3 August) has impelled me to reply to his article about Wagner's anti-Semitism.
He claims that I want the whole issue suppressed, in line with my 'protectionist' attitude towards Wagner. What I wrote in my book was: 'One might feel, under the circumstances, that it would be better if they [the writers who insist that Wagner's dramas are anti-Semitic] kept the informa- tion to themselves: not because it damages Wagner, but because it is unclear how informing people that Alberich is "really" a Jew is giving them anything which serves any purpose in understanding the Ring,' and I go on to elaborate that point. The writings of those who are obsessed with Wagner's anti-Semitism, such as Millington and Marc Weiner, confirm my position. They go to extraordinary lengths to identify Jewish stereotypes, etc., in the works, but then can do nothing with the 'subtexts' they think they have unearthed.
I have now read Millington's argument about what he always refers to as 'the dark underside of Die Meistersinger' (i.e. `Beckmesser corresponds exactly to the Jew portrayed in [Judaism in Maier , in the notes to a recent video recording) in at least 14 different places, but he has never gone on to show how that alleged fact fits In with anything else in the drama. In last week's article, he says, 'The questions sur- rounding the anti-Semitic content of Wag- ner's works — is it all-pervading? was it conscious? what are the consequences for our appreciation of the operas? — need to be thoroughly investigated.' But all we get Is this endless reiterating that they are anti- Semitic. A bit earlier in his piece he says Works of art have a certain degree of autonomy from the world view and inten- tions of their creator', which would seem to Imply that the question about Wagner's conscious purposes is unimportant. Quite
evidently there is no question of anti- Semitism being all-pervading. The only issue of the three which is interesting needs to be expounded. Would someone please give me an interpretation of Wagner's works which shows that his undoubted racism receives artistic expression. The pre- sent is an especially good time to do it because we have the case of T.S. Eliot's anti-Semitism being extensively and more sophisticatedly addressed, so there is a point of comparison.
What I hoped to do in my book — I admit to being a fool, even if not a pure one — was to get the question out of the way so that I could get on to an interpreta tion of the works uncluttered by what I see as a severely time-wasting irrelevance: and now Millington tells us that a whole confer- ence was devoted to the subject at Columbia last autumn! What matters about Wagner's works is his incomparably rich and suggestive dealings with a set of issues which include the basis of society, the pos- sible meanings of love, the need of the individual to live more fully, the respective claims of tradition and creativity, the possi- bility of stagnation and decline. If those who can't overlook his anti-Semitism for a moment would explain how it colours or distorts the artistic integrity of these inves- tigations, I would be interested. Otherwise I am happy to agree with Hans Keller, who described himself as 'a pretty self-conscious Jew' and described Wagner's racism as 'a merely boring desert island in an otherwise exceptionally well integrated personality'. At least Millington has become more specific, in that he now insists that he is not committed to any position so crass as that Beckmesser, Alberich and Mime are Jews — hence my naivete iu asking 'Where are the Jews in his works?' It's just, we learn, that 'each of those characters has traits unmistakably drawn from a stock of anti- Semitic stereotypes' and we are given such examples as Beckmesser's limping and shuffling. If Millington had been beaten up as thoroughly as Beckmesser is at the end of Act II he would probably limp and shuf- fle the next morning. If he was scrambling around chasing mermaids at the bottom of the Rhine, granted he overcame the breathing problems, ditto. Of course Beckmesser 'proves totally incapable of real artistic creativity', otherwise the comic dialectic of Die Meistersinger couldn't get under way. There is an elementary logical Politician alert — everyone into the water.' fallacy which is exemplified by arguing `Critics are stupid; he is stupid; therefore he is a critic.' I hope that Millington isn't guilty of it, but it sounds as if he could be.
I am emphatic in my book in condemn- ing Wagner's anti-Semitism. If I thought that it invaded his works to any degree I would be emphatic in condemning them too, rather than exciting myself by loving something wicked. So it is evidently impor- tant to me that the international confer- ence crew are wrong. At present they constitute a mutual admiration society which I see no reason for taking seriously, let alone regarding as a threat.- Michael Tanner's Wagner is published by HarperCollins at £16.99.
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