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I. Introduction

Gottfried Benn is a renowned 20th-century German poet and a leading figure of Expressionism, whose poetic thought has had a profound influence on later generations. In Benn’s poetry, the "self" (Ich) is a central concept that permeates his entire body of work. The self in poetry is referred to as the lyrical self, a defining feature of modern poetry. In Benn’s works, the pronoun "Ich" carries abstract symbolic significance. Benn viewed poetry as an interrogation of the self, where the self serves as both the starting point and the ultimate aim of the lyrical text. This chapter explores Benn’s reflections on and engagement with the question of the self through the lens of the lyrical self.

II. The Historical Context of Benn’s Concept of the Lyrical Self

In The Problem of Lyric Poetry, Benn regarded writing as a process of self-reflection, asserting that poetry is an inquiry into human nature and an intuitive grasp of truth. The lyrical self is a complex and contentious concept in Western literary history, involving the distinction and connection between the lyrical self and the empirical self. In Benn’s poetry, the lyrical self functions both as the speaking subject and the spoken object, yet it does not entirely coincide with the poet’s empirical self; rather, it undertakes the questioning of the self and the reflection on poetic creation. Benn’s preoccupation with the self was deeply intertwined with the historical context of his time. The awakening of modernity placed humanity as the supreme measure, making the self the center of all things. Twentieth-century modernist literature and art began exploring subjectivity, focusing on the individual’s inner world and psychological state. Benn lived through Germany’s modernization process, where metaphysics was challenged by science, and humans were defined as beings devoid of transcendence—concepts like God or the soul were dismissed as illusions. Benn rejected mechanistic or materialistic explanations of humanity, believing that modern individuals still sought meaning beyond the biological realm. This disenchantment and sense of loss influenced modern poets. The history of lyric poetry reflects the gradual elevation of the lyrical subject’s consciousness, where, faced with alienation from the external world, the lyrical subject delves deeper into its inner world. However, since the late 19th century, modern poetry has formally negated the existence of the self, revealing the contradictory psychology of modern poets toward self-awareness. German idealist philosophy treated consciousness as the foundation of all understanding, but as thought turned inward, the subject became increasingly isolated from the external world, perceiving reality as an internal experience. Benn doubted that consciousness, as the highest expression of reason, was the sole source of human action. For him, suffering from consciousness was synonymous with suffering from rationalism, leading to the depersonalization or alienation of the world—where humans lost their essential quality: the soul.

III. The Multifaceted Meanings of the Lyrical Self

Benn believed that the monologic nature of modern poetry was intrinsic to its essence—poetry was not dialogue but an expression of the self’s existential state. The lyrical self engages in an inner dialogue, achieving an escape from the external self. The connection and distinction between the lyrical self and the inner self lie in its capacity to simultaneously embody utterance and reflection, dissolving the traditional subject-object relationship. In Benn’s poetry, the lyrical self appears as a conventional observer, transforming scenes into poetic images. From 1913 onward, the noun "self" frequently appears in Benn’s poems, marking an intensification of the lyrical self’s inward turn. Benn sought ecstasy as a means of escaping self-awareness. Cocaine, in this context, serves as a metaphor for an aesthetic tool to flee the external self, initiating the lyrical self’s monologue and the destruction of self-consciousness.

The lyrical self is grounded in dialogue with the inner self, yet it also transcends the poet’s empirical self, undertaking collective reflection. A key term in Benn’s later poetics, "the absolute," signifies purification—the removal of all non-artistic impurities. Absolute poetry would, through negation, surpass personal experience and all existing cultural traditions, existing solely as the beauty of formalized language. The absoluteness of the lyrical self lies first in the separation of the work from the author’s empirical persona, with the empirical self being the impurity to be discarded. Benn assimilated the aesthetic views of Mallarmé and Nietzsche, using poetic form to critique subjectivity. Until 1920, the dissolution of self-consciousness remained the central concern of Benn’s work. Afterward, his self-reflection entered a new phase, where he more explicitly centered his thinking on the modern individual.

In Benn’s pursuit of absolute poetry, personal experience and existing metaphysics were gradually sublated until only existence itself remained, and the lyrical self moved from the empirical world toward ontology. Benn’s later poetic thought echoes Mallarmé’s ontological poetics. Both agreed that in the void left by the destruction of the empirical subject and reality, the formal beauty of poetry constituted the "highest content." Form, as an intuitive grasp of the world freed from rational speculation, meant that "God is form." Benn’s extreme declaration finds a Nietzschean interpretation: "Art is the last metaphysical activity within European nihilism." In this nihilism, Benn demanded the annihilation and emptying of all: "Let all lost values perish, let all themes sung in the theological age be praised." Within this void, art emerges as a "new morality and metaphysics in form," offering a possibility of redemption. Through wordplay, Benn fashioned a new self, discovering in the process the transcendence of the lyrical self: as an aesthetic product, it ultimately detaches from the poet, even surpassing language itself. The artistry of the lyrical self lies in stripping away all impurities, existing solely as linguistic beauty, affirming existence "always as an aesthetic phenomenon… to be justified." In the emptiness of content, the form of the lyrical self becomes its content, and its material is language.

IV. Conclusion

In Benn’s poetry, the lyrical self symbolizes the identity of poetry and thought, embodying the unity of poetic creation and self-reflection. Its meaning deepened throughout his career, always revolving around the capitalized "I"—from inner dialogue to transcending the empirical self, ultimately focusing on existence itself. The lyrical self undertakes the reflection of the individual self and modern subjectivity, manifesting the interrogation of existence and the metaphysical-aesthetic justification. Its monologic and absolute nature ultimately merges into artistry, becoming an aesthetic existence that transcends words, rich in suggestiveness and polysemy—wherein lies the answer to the question of existence.

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