‘Demian’, Part 6: Hesse’s clearing of conscience
After 1965, when a new English translation was published, Hermann Hesse’s ‘Demian’, together with ‘Siddartha’ and ‘Der Steppenwolf’, came to be associated with America’s burgeoning counterculture. A surge of interest in Hesse followed which lasted well into the 1970s. In exploring this phenomenon, the Christian notion of ‘conscience’ is of considerable help.