The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Mann

by Edited by Ritchie Robertson

• ISBN13: 9780521653107
• ISBN10: 052165310X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2/4/2002
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Key dimensions of Thomas Mann's writing and life are explored in this collection of specially commissioned essays. In addition to introductory chapters on all the main works of fiction, the essays and diaries, there are four chapters examining Mann's oeuvre in relation to major themes. These thematic explorations include his position as a realistic writer concerned with the history of his own times and as a commentator on German and American politics; his controversial reputation as an intellectual novelist; the literary techniques that enabled his challenging fictions to appeal to a wide audience; and the homosexual subtext running through his fiction and diaries. A final chapter looks at the pitfalls of translating Mann into English. The essays are well supported by supplementary material including a chronology of the period and detailed guides to further reading. Altogether the volume provides an invaluable resource for scholars and students.

Table of Contents

Notes on the contributors	xi
Preface	xiii
Chronology	xv
List of Thomas Mann's works	xix
A note on references and abbreviations	xii
Mann and history	1	(21)
T. J. Reed
The intellectual world of Thomas Mann	22	(21)
Paul Bishop
Mann's literary techniques	43	(21)
Michael Minden
Mann's man's world: gender and sexuality	64	(20)
Andrew J. Webber
Mann's early novellas	84	(11)
Mark M. Anderson
Classicism and its pitfalls: Death in Venice	95	(12)
Ritchie Robertson
The political becomes personal: Disorder and Early Sorrow and Mario and the Magician	107	(12)
Alan Bance
Buddenbrooks: between realism and aestheticism	119	(18)
Judith Ryan
The Magic Mountain	137	(14)
Michael Beddow
Religion and culture: Joseph and his Brothers	151	(17)
Wolf-Daniel Hartwich
Doctor Faustus	168	(17)
Susan Von Rohr Scaff
Lotte in Weimar	185	(14)
Yahya Elsaghe
The Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man	199	(14)
Frederick A. Lubich
Mann as essayist	213	(13)
Hinrich Siefken
Mann as diarist	226	(9)
T. J. Reed
Mann in English	235	(14)
Timothy Buck
Selected bibliography	249	(4)
Index	253