Thomas Mann, Doktor Faustus, 1947-1997

There are probably only a few books from the 20th century in which the wish images and aporias of German intellectual and cultural history, aesthetic fundamentalism, and the conviction of the end times of art, German inwardness, and fascist violence are reflected so precisely yet so ruthlessly as in Thomas Mann's novel "Doctor Faustus" from 1947. The fascination and provocation of the biography of the German composer Adrian Leverkühn continue to stem, even after fifty years, from an ironically distanced and sympathetic view of the antimodernism and Conservative Revolution of German intellectuals and artists, as well as the peak achievements of modern music and music theory in the 20th century, which are brought together through a reference to the late medieval Faust legend. This publication focuses on these intersections between the old material and its still highly relevant interpretation.