Front Matter

Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-76792-7 - The Cambridge Introduction to Thomas Mann Todd Kontje Frontmatter More information

The Cambridge Introduction to Thomas Mann Nobel Prize-winner Thomas Mann (1875–1955) is not only one of the leading German novelists of the twentieth century, but also one of the few to transcend national and language boundaries to achieve major stature in the English-speaking world. Famous from the time that he published his first novel in 1901, Mann became an iconic figure, seen as the living embodiment of German national culture. Leading scholar Todd Kontje provides a succinct introduction to Mann’s life and work, discussing key moments in Mann’s personal life and his career as a public intellectual, and giving readers a sense of why he is considered such an important – and controversial – writer. At the heart of the book is an informed appreciation of Mann’s great literary achievements, including the novel The Magic Mountain and the haunting short story Death in Venice.

Todd Kontje is Professor of German and Comparative Literature at the University of California, San Diego.

Thomas Mann in Lübeck, 1926. Buddenbrookhaus Lübeck. Reprinted with the generous permission of the Buddenbrookhaus Lübeck

The Cambridge Introduction to Thomas Mann

TODD KONTJE

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First published 2011

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A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Kontje, Todd Curtis, 1954– The Cambridge introduction to Thomas Mann / Todd Kontje. p. cm. – (Cambridge introductions to literature) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-521-76792-7 – ISBN 978-0-521-74386-0 (pbk.) 1. Mann, Thomas, 1875–1955 – Criticism and interpretation. I. Title. PT2625.A44Z73244 2011 833ł.912–dc22 2010034948

ISBN 978-0-521-76792-7 Hardback ISBN 978-0-521-74386-0 Paperback

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Contents

Chronology page vii

1 Introduction 1 Keywords 2

2 Origins, inﬂuences, and early mastery 13 Childhood and early influences 13 First novellas 18 Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family 24

3 Artists and outcasts in Mann’s early ﬁction 33 Tonio Kröger 34 Artists, ascetics, and outcasts 37 Marriage and the artist 41 Death in Venice 46

4 From world war to the Weimar Republic 54 Mann’s wartime journalism 54 The evolution of Mann’s political thought 58 A return to literature 61 The Magic Mountain 63

5 The struggle against National Socialism 73 Joseph and his Brothers 78 Disorder and Early Sorrow and Mario and the Magician 85

vi Contents

Lotte in Weimar 91 Transposed Heads and The Tables of the Law 96

6 A pact with the devil: Doctor Faustus 101

7 Tribulations and ﬁnal triumphs 113 Mann’s last years 113 The Holy Sinner 115 The Black Swan 117 The Confessions of Felix Krull 120 Mann’s subsequent reception and reputation 123

Notes 128 Suggested further reading 132 Index 135

Chronology

Thomas Mann (1875–1955)

1875 June 6. Paul Thomas Mann born in Lübeck as second of five children (Heinrich 1871; Julia 1877; Carla 1881; Viktor 1890) 1891 October 13. Death of father, Senator Thomas Johann Heinrich Mann 1892 Spring. Mother Julia Mann moves with younger children to Munich; Thomas remains in Lübeck 1894 March. Mann completes high school and moves to Munich October. First novella published (Fallen) 1896 October. In Italy until April 1898 1898 Spring. First collection of stories published (Little Herr Friedemann) 1901 October. Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family 1903 February. Tonio Kröger Spring. Tristan (second anthology of short fiction) 1905 February 11. Marriage in Munich to Katia Pringsheim November 9. Birth of daughter Erika Mann 1906 November 18. Birth of son Klaus Mann 1909 March 27. Birth of son Angelus (Golo) Mann November. Royal Highness 1910 June 7. Birth of daughter Monika Mann July 30. Suicide of sister Carla 1912 October–November. Death in Venice 1914 November. Essay: “Thoughts in War” 1918 April 24. Birth of daughter Elisabeth October. Reflections of a Nonpolitical Man 1919 April 21. Birth of son Michael April. A Man and his Dog 1922 October–November. Essay: “The German Republic” 1924 November. The Magic Mountain 1926 April. Disorder and Early Sorrow 1927 May 10. Suicide of sister Julia

vii

viii Chronology

1929 December 10. Awarded Nobel Prize for Literature 1930 April. Mario and the Magician October 17. “Address to the Germans: An Appeal to Reason” 1933 January 30. Adolf Hitler declared German Chancellor February 11. Mann leaves Germany on lecture tour; exile in Switzerland and southern France begins October 5. The Stories of Jacob 1934 March. Young Joseph May–June. First trip to USA 1935 June–July. Second trip to USA June 30. Private dinner at White House with President Roosevelt 1936 October. Joseph in Egypt November 19. Granted Czech citizenship December 2. German citizenship revoked December 19. Honorary doctorate of Bonn University revoked 1937 January. Open letter to Dean of Bonn University; public break with Nazi Germany April. Third trip to USA 1938 February–July. Fourth trip to USA September. Begins guest professorship at Princeton University 1939 December. Lotte in Weimar 1940 October. Transposed Heads 1941 January 14–15. Guest of President Roosevelt at White House March. Moves from Princeton, New Jersey to Pacific Palisades, California 1943 December. Joseph the Provider; The Tables of the Law 1944 June 23. Becomes US citizen 1945 May. Lecture in Washington DC: “Germany and the Germans” 1946 April. Emergency operation for lung cancer in Chicago 1947 October. Doctor Faustus 1949 April. The Story of a Novel May 21. Suicide of son Klaus July–August. First visit to Germany since 1933 1950 March 12. Death of brother Heinrich 1951 March. The Holy Sinner 1952 June. Final return to Europe 1953 April. Private audience with Pope Pious XII June 4. Awarded honorary doctorate at Cambridge University September. The Black Swan

Chronology ix

1954 January. Purchase of final home in Kilchberg, Switzerland, near Zurich September. Confessions of Felix Krull 1955 May. Declared honorary citizen of Lübeck July. Vacation in Holland interrupted by illness August 12. Death in Zurich August 16. Burial in Kilchberg cemetery overlooking Lake Zurich