Creativity & Schizophrenia
Antonio Preti
A
SCANNER DARKLY
Substance
abuse, unusual experiences, and autistic withdrawal alternating with frenetic
activity are all present as signs of a schizoid existence in the life and works
of one of the most creative, and unfortunate, writers of science-fiction: Philip
Kindred Dick (Rickman, 1989; Carrère, 1993). Born in 1928 in a twin birth, Dick
precociously lost his twin sister; and this event marked him for the life. The
memory of his twin sister often recurs in his conversations: in his novels many
characters house in their body or mind a twin double who influences their
actions. From adolescence, Dick showed evidence of problems and disturbance,
such as proneness to claustrophobia and a persistently changing of activities to
the extent that his parents decided to send him to a psychiatrist for evaluation
(Carrère, 1993).
Creatively
gifted, after some inconclusive attempts, he became a writer of sci-fi
short-stories, publishing his first novel in 1955, at the age of 27. In his
work, Dick transfused his own mental universe, dominated by the chaos of
confused identities, where reality and appearance mingle in a never-ending play.
For Dick the world is not as it seems, but is a frame set out to deceive its
inhabitants. As in the universe of the schizophrenic, in Dick’s universe,
identities are not given once and for all: the workmate may reveal to be an
automaton entrusted by government, or some other impersonal entity, to controll
employees. The well-known friend may be a double replaced for a conspiracy: the
protagonist, at the peak of his crisis, can believe to a be a double of
himself sent to Earth by some alien and obscure force, as happened to Dick
himself in a delusion provoked by the abuse of psychostimulants (many examples
in the short stories, Dick, 1994-97).
Many
characters in Dick ‘s works are clearly mentally ill, and many show the
schizoid traits that Dick acknowledged in himself (see for examples Dick, 1962,
1964a, 1964b, 1964c). For Dick the lack of empathy, the inability to feel
emotions and affections were the marks of belonging to an inhuman and
threatening dimension of life. Dick saw these aspects as distant from the
picture he had of the human being, and made of these traits the main
characteristics of those whom he called the “simulacra”: biomechanical
entities of human aspect but with artificial minds (Dick, 1963, 1966). Often the
reader of Dick’s work can have the impression that the author merely put on
paper his delusions: the form itself of the narrative structure of Dick’s
novels has an incoherent trend, a result of the unevennes of Dick’s writing.
Even in the more successful works, however, the disquieting qualities of his
writing, forced between dull tones and the obligation to refer to exceptional
and uncommon events, infuses the reader with a discomfort not simply dependent
on the fantastic character of the narration.
In
the last ten years of his life, Dick was tormented by a persistent state of
psychotic imbalance: repeatedly admitted to psychiatric services for
detoxification or for suicide attempts, Dick spent most of the last period of
his existence trying to rearrange his delusional view of the universe in a
confused and verbose text. In this text, known as “Exegesi”, is put forward
the the hypothesis that reality is
different from how we see it, and that a conspiracy prevent us discovering the
illusional nature of our existence. What we believe to be a fruit of our
hallucinations, Dick suggests, is perhaps the
chink through which we have the chance to scan behind the veil of appearances.
Another
author who had travelled the world of schizophrenia is the Swiss Robert Walser
(1878 - 1956). A delicate and introverted writer, Walser expressed his will turn
towards retreat and discreetness, where purer feelings can find acceptance only
by hiding themselves (see Walser, 1967). Attracted towards an autistic world,
the characters of Walser’s novels live existences ruled by the impulse to
submission to others’ will. Walser’s life itself was marked by the demands
of retirement and discretion (Walser, 1979). Under the romantic banner of
Wanderung (vagabondage), his existence was burdened by grief due to the death by
suicide of two of his brothers, Hermann and Ernst: Ernst, who died in 1916, was
a piano-player of a recognized talent; Hermann, who died in 1919, was professor
of geography in Berna. Walser’s family was, as a whole, a family of artists:
another brother, Karl, was a famous
illustrator, and contributed his drawings to the success of many Robert’s
books.
Walser
lived long with the company of his brothers, at least until his illness became
so severe, and his suffering so great as to make inevitable his definitive
admission to a psychiatric hospital when he was 52 years old. The diagnosis,
repeatedly verified, was schizophrenia, and the disorder accompanied him, in a
lesser form with recurrent relapses, until his death (Seelig, 1977).
Walser’s
most productive period was in Berlin from 1905 to 1912, and later at Biel, in
Switzerland, where he remained for seven years, in a low-ranking office job (see
Walser, 1977), and wrote a wide-ranging prose work, which as a whole extends
over 12 volumes. Walser was the first to admit to his closefriends that he
lacked the qualities needed to lead a successfull social life, but he always was
attracted by the beauty and by the goodness of nature, though avoiding any form
of sentimentalism.