Rebecca SC French 602F2576 MA in German Studies - Rhodes ...

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mathematics, the natural sciences and even medicine, to languages, music and philosophy. Simply following the historical succession of such great names as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Wagner, Pfitzner and Schönberg would lead one to the logical conclusion that music is indeed “die deutscheste der Künste” (Mann in Vaget 2006: 23). The “schönste, gesellig verbindendste, […] tiefste, bedeutendste Musik […]” (Mann, M. 1965: 132) has become a significant legacy for the Western world. A lovely anecdote related in Erika and Klaus Mann‟s Escape to Life: Deutsche Kultur im Exil on the occasion of a New York music evening attended by Germans in exile, describes Albert Einstein‟s view on the matter: “Das ist Deutschland […,] das ist das wahre und das beste Deutschland; was für ein Glück, daß wir es überall wiederfinden, wo solche Musik gemacht wird[.]” The programme for that evening included Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms. This special connection between the German Seele and musicality takes a chilling turn when, as Mann puts it, “solche Musikalität der Seele sich in anderer Sphäre teuer bezahlt” – this other sphere to which he refers being that of the political, or, in his own words “d[ie] Sphäre des menschlichen Zusammenlebens”; he goes as far as to call music a “dämonisches Gebiet” and an obstacle to German humanity. (Mann, M. 1965: 131ff.) Balzac‟s quip (1839): “Les Allemands, s‟ils ne savent pas jouer des grands instruments de la Liberté, savent jouer naturellement de tous les instruments de musique.” (Mann, M. 1965: 132), amusement aside, hints at a connection, already quite clear in the mid-19 th century and before Thomas Mann‟s time, between Germany‟s relationship with music and its engagement with the concept of freedom. Thomas Mann himself was widely admired for embodying “a whole country and its national traditions”; his work is also celebrated for the sensitivity and accuracy with which it represents the German nation. (Mayer 1968: 47) Kurzke (in Koopmann 1990: 720) recalls Mann‟s quote that “Wo ich bin, ist die deutsche Kultur”, which, although reminiscent of Louis XIV‟s (in)famous “L‟état c‟est moi”, should be understood as the identification of a reflecting, cultured German with his country, and as such provides us with glimpse into the national psyche. His own perception of his and his nation‟s Jekyll-and-Hyde-nature can be traced through many of his writings, more notably in his Entstehung des Doktor Faustus, where he rejects the notion of a „good‟ and „bad‟ Germany, preferring the more holistic view that “das Böse gleich auch das Gute sei, das Gute auf Irrwegen und im Untergang [...]” (Mann 1949: 108). We here find echoes of Hegel‟s model of monism, more specifically as formulated by Adorno to explain that opposites 27
are mutually constitutive – the one cannot exist without the other; the one, by virtue of its existence, gives meaning to the other. As indicated in Chapter 1, the political atmosphere from Imperial Germany to immediate post- Nazi Germany was permeated with an underlying sense of unease at the conflicting value- systems of those in power and those aspiring to power, and many of the general populace. We see conflict on the cultural front with the emergence of the Avant-Garde movement, a movement which sought to cancel “all debts to the past in the pursuit of a new vision”, while at the same time remaining committed to “the continuity of culture” (Kramer 1973: 38f.). Also mentioned in Chapter 1 was the conflict within the artistic genius – the idea of the vocational calling to be society‟s conscience and, as such, to necessarily maintain a certain distance from that society. Thomas Mann‟s own preoccupation with this theme led him to explore, through the characters in his Künstlerromane, what it is that constitutes the ideal artistic figure. A reliance on Nietzsche, in particular his treatment of the Greek Classical Tragedy with its notions of the Apollonian and Dionysian ideals, manifests itself in Mann‟s representation of the inner artistic conflicts. Nietzsche, in his own work, refers to a “Widerspruch leibhaft und beseelt” when talking about the lot of the “sogenannte[ ] Genie” (Nietzsche 1980: 210). This oft-cited artistic dilemma can essentially be understood as a struggle between the innate, opposing forces of rationality and nature. Both forces are equally creative and powerful; each is capable of driving the artist to great heights. Characterised by its rational outlook, the Apollonian ideal is often associated with the more structured and formal arts of writing, architecture and sculpture, whereas the Dionysian ideal is linked to the arts of singing, dancing and music and characterised by a state of wild and ecstatic abandon. (Kurzke 1991: 124) Nietzsche often refers to this Dionysian ideal in his writings about and emphasis on the will to live and the importance of taking pleasure in life and art. Echoes of Schopenhauer are to be heard in his writings on the aesthetic pleasure to be found in a well-structured architectural or sculptural form, such as was perfected by the ancient Greeks; there is likewise a trace of the Dionysian in his statement that the beauty of art is to be found in its emulation of nature. (Schopenhauer 1958: 312ff.; 315) It seems logical that by attaining a balance between the two ideals, the artist would succeed in producing a more rounded and holistic work of art, art that not only portrays real life but also provides an ideal or model towards which one should strive. The Greek Tragedy, in virtue of its having attained just such a synthesis, albeit slightly in favour of a Dionysian predominance (Young 1992: 29), came to be viewed by Richard Wagner and later by 28
Page 1 and 2: Rebecca S.C. French 602F2576 MA in
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Abstract p. i Ack
Page 5 and 6: Thomas Mann‟s focus in Doktor Fau
Page 7 and 8: Chapter 1: Socio-historical context
Page 9 and 10: online) The fact that women were no
Page 11 and 12: many Germans, including Thomas Mann
Page 13 and 14: adversarial relationship to state a
Page 15 and 16: networks - socialists, Catholics, w
Page 17 and 18: The Weimar Republic 1919-1933 The f
Page 19 and 20: Weimar Republic architecture is als
Page 21 and 22: „man‟ embodying the qualities o
Page 23 and 24: eality 18 . Academic publications w
Page 25 and 26: Chapter 2: The Question of Identity
Page 27 and 28: Mozart, the great works of German C
Page 29: „Gesinnungskosmopolitismus‟”,
Page 33 and 34: Geistesleben. This, in turn, saw in
Page 35 and 36: The Vormärz period can be divided
Page 37 and 38: Mann himself, in addition to being
Page 39 and 40: life and personal battles. One of t
Page 41 and 42: vision and mission, the constructio
Page 43 and 44: Chapter 3: Intertextuality One of t
Page 45 and 46: paraphrasing or the mimicking of ph
Page 47 and 48: Adrian Leverkühn. More obvious par
Page 49 and 50: integral part of the psychology of
Page 51 and 52: eyond their aesthetic repulsion, we
Page 53 and 54: an outside force, namely cholera, M
Page 55 and 56: Doktor Faustus: Literary intertextu
Page 57 and 58: Two contemporaries of Mann, the com
Page 59 and 60: 6. Conventional practice is to use
Page 61 and 62: Höfgen. A description of Gründgen
Page 63 and 64: Fitzsimmons (2001: 20ff.) further p
Page 65 and 66: Teufel”, nowhere offers any singl
Page 67 and 68: portrayal of Mephistopheles, such t
Page 69 and 70: version of the demonic pact in much
Page 71 and 72: Nimm gleich einmal den Einfall, - w
Page 73 and 74: All of the above, together with the
Page 75 and 76: das Schicksal der Kunst geworden se
Page 77 and 78: hineinlegt, um nur selbst nach oben
Page 79 and 80: so häufig gewesen [ist].” (Mann,
Page 81 and 82:
396), a very bold and outspoken lin
Page 83 and 84:
states, it is precisely the kind of
Page 85 and 86:
neue Unterhaltung”, “den ehrwü
Page 87 and 88:
Rosenberg‟s reliance on Wagnerian
Page 89 and 90:
If we consider the notion of Schick
Page 91 and 92:
CONCLUSION Over the last decades, T
Page 93 and 94:
130) Apart from the previously-ment
Page 95 and 96:
“contritio ohne jede Hoffnung und
Page 97 and 98:
BIBLIOGRAPHY Primary Texts Baudelai
Page 99 and 100:
Berghaus, Günter (ed.) 1996. Fasci
Page 101 and 102:
Grabert, W.; Mulot, A.; Nürnberger
Page 103 and 104:
Neaman, Elliot 1999. “Ernst Jüng
Page 105 and 106:
Taylor, Diana 1998. [Untitled revie
Page 107:
11. http://www.bmi.bund.de/cln_095/
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Rebecca SC French 602F2576 MA in German Studies - Rhodes ...

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