Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-276) and index.
Introduction: Hermann Hesse : the missionary's son -- Pt. I. Contexts. Pietism : a first glance -- The Swabian Mandarins -- The Maulbronn affair -- Romantics and pietists -- Pt. II. Setting out. Hesse's "religion of art" -- Peter Camenzind : rejection of aestheticism -- Beneath the wheel : the anti-school novel -- Demian : Chiliastic vision -- War, church, and state -- Pt. III. Turning back. Siddhartha : Swabian mysticism -- "Breaking the will" -- Steppenwolf : "the hell of myself" -- Narcissus and Goldmund : reconciliation -- Pt. IV. Coming home. The journey to the East : narrating a life/history -- Joseph Knecht and The glass bead game : spiritual heritage