The figure of the devil and its effect on musical language in the context of formation of the subject

The figure of the Devil, throughout its historical adventure, represents those beyond the limits of the subject determined by society. These needs are determined through the episteme that each society determines, and through those who or which are outside the value system usually associated with the Devil. In this context, the Devil is never a figure in itself, but a representation of the other determined through the subject. Due to this feature, it reveals the power relations in the history of the subject and subjectivity in philosophical, literary, dramatic and musical terms. The knowledge transmitted through the sacred language known only to a certain class in the Middle Ages made the value system established by this class uncontrollable and unquestionable. Those who questioned were associated with the Devil and could not find a place for themselves in the celestial harmony believed to be a part of the language of music. In Hildegard von Bingen's Ordo Virtutum, as an extension of this understanding, the Devil appeared as a monstrous figure, who could speak but could not sing. With the rationalization of the language of religion starting from the Reformation period, the discourse on the Devil began to tend towards irrationality, and it was associated with what is not appealing to reason and associated with pleasure in the rationalized language of music. In Romantic thought, which rebelled against modernity, it became the musical equivalent of irony and a force that destroyed all accepted ones. Mephistopheles in Franz Liszt's Faust Symphony, which does not produce musical ideas but destroys the existing ones, can be considered as one of the most prominent musical reflections of this understanding. In the light of this information, when we look at the history of the Devil in the context of the formation of the subject, the Devil appears to be a particularly referenced figure when a new identity was determined, the borders were redrawn such as between the Old and New Testaments or the establishment of the Christian community after the New Testament; or the periods of social crisis such as the Reformation period; or the periods when the established order was revolted as in Romantic thought. However, the fact that the Devil is a figure referenced by both the defenders of the established order and by the rebels also shows that the Devil gains different symbolic meanings by becoming independent from tradition. The Devil figure, nourished by otherness over the centuries, becomes so strong, thanks to the rich material it has gained, that it succeeds in gaining a place in the imagination of the subjects completely autonomous from the religious context. The perspective on the history of the subject, which has created within the framework of the literature review and the analysis of selected works, shows that the history of the figure of the Devil develops in the center of the libido of knowledge, control and pleasure motif, which is generally seen as dangerous because it cannot be controlled, no matter how much the character of the community changes.