Moses and Aaron Revisited

Summary:

Like Freud, Schönberg purifies his Moses figure by strictly opposing the imaginary und the symbolic. A closer investigation however shows that Moses and Aaron subverts Schönberg’s own intentions. This subversion is produced by something which Derrida calls the Òforce of rupture of the scripturalÓ. Seen from this angle, the problematic of Schönberg’s work seems to anticipate the very modern question, linked to the horrors of the Nazi period, of how to deal with that which is beyond representation.