Relevance of Hermann Hesse: A systematic review of different perspectives

Abstract

During the first decades of the twentieth century, many European intellectuals were developing negative responses to modernity. Hermann Hesse was aware of the moral and social difficulties plaguing Europe at that time and dealt with these problems in his writing. Despite being a German author, he is well-read even today, and his characters' quests and journeys of self-discovery captivate young people worldwide. His literary world, comprised of novels, poems, and autobiographical reflections, is deeper and bigger than what has been discovered. This paper systematically analyses 100 studies on Hesse and his works from journals indexed in the Web of Science. This study aims to bring out the relevance of Hesse by analysing the historiography of the studies on Hesse's works and interrogating the significance of different perspectives on him which will open doors for future studies in health humanities and memory studies.