Abstract
The study reflects on the phenomenon of force in the philosophical and literary work of Michal Ajvaz, in the context of music; it takes as a guide an excerpt from Ajvaz's prose work The White Ants. The study seeks first to present the notion of force in its generality, then to use this notion to illuminate the particular character of music and the possibility of understanding music.
The phenomenon of force is thus first shown as one of the fundamental moments of the lowest layers of experience and the emergence of meaning in general. The forceful way of emerging of meaning is shown to be an non-objective unifying pull.
This way is further explored by comparing visual and auditory experience - sound formations are examined as to their possibility of showing up in their aspect of the non-objective way of emergence of meaning. From there, the focus moves to music as a purely non-objective and forceful area of sound experience.
Music is shown to be a self-creating force in which both performer and listener are only participants. Music thus opens up as a realm in which we can experience the forceful, dynamic side of the world.