Sound confusing to the senses - Music and madness in Heine's 'Florentinischen Nachten' (Heinrich Heine)

Readings of Heine's "Florentinische Nachte" generally turn on whether the text should be interpreted as a political allegory or as a resigned capitulation to the censor decree of 1835. This essay addresses the question by investigating the theme of hearing and its particular function in the novella. A consideration of Heine's treatment of the act of hearing demonstrates that the text should in fact be taken both as a capitulation and a radical political statement. By pursuing the logic of listening one discovers that these readings are not mutually exclusive,,but rather constitute the opposing poles that generate the novella's narrative energy and import.