Changing Perceptions of Thomas Mann's "Doctor Faustus": Criticism 1947-1992

Abstract

Ever since its appearance in 1947, Thomas Mann's novel Doctor Faustus has generated heated reactions among critics. Whereas initial ideological differences stemming from the Cold War and the division of Germany have abated following the reunification of 1990, diverse opinions and controversies persist about Mann's daring treatment of the Faust theme. These include such topics as the political stance of the author and the historical dimensions of the novel; the biographical and autobiographical backgrounds of the work - especially in the light of the subsequent publication of Mann's diaries and private notebooks; the writer's sexual and psychological proclivities; the thorny issues of montage, collage, and intertextuality; musical concerns such as the extent to which the novel's protagonist appropriates as his own Arnold Schonberg's twelve-tone system of composition or the role of Mann's fellow exile and mentor, Theodor W. Adorno, in indoctrinating his "pupil" into avant-garde musical techniques; the degree to which the novel exhibits structural features of the music on which the narrative focuses; and the function of certain mythic prototypes for this modern parody in fashioning the fortunes and fate of Adrian Leverkuhn. A provocative and still unresolved question centers on the precise role played by Goethe's Faust

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对托马斯·曼的《浮士德博士》不断变化的看法:1947-1992年的评论

自1947年问世以来，托马斯·曼的小说《浮士德博士》在评论家中引起了激烈的反应。尽管最初源于冷战和德国分裂的意识形态差异在1990年统一后有所减弱，但关于曼对《浮士德》主题的大胆处理，各种各样的观点和争议仍然存在。这些主题包括作者的政治立场和小说的历史维度;作品的传记性和自传性背景——尤其是考虑到随后出版的曼恩日记和私人笔记本;作者的性倾向和心理倾向;蒙太奇、拼贴和互文性的棘手问题;音乐方面的关注，比如小说的主人公在多大程度上把阿诺德·勋伯格的十二音作曲体系当作自己的作品，或者曼恩的流亡同伴和导师西奥多·阿多诺在向他的“学生”灌输前卫音乐技巧方面的作用;小说呈现叙事所关注的音乐结构特征的程度;以及某些神话原型在塑造阿德里安·勒沃库恩的命运中所起的作用。歌德的《浮士德》在构思和执行《浮士德博士》的过程中究竟扮演了什么角色，这是一个具有挑衅性且至今仍未解决的问题，尽管曼声称他的《浮士德》版本与其著名的前任《浮士德》的作品“毫无共同之处”。最后，小说中强烈的视觉元素的存在导致了对弗朗茨·塞茨改编自《浮士德博士》(1982)的电影的评价，这在曼恩的圈子里是一个冒险的主题，因为他的中篇小说或小说的电影版本很少享有完好无损的声誉。~~~~~~~ JOHN F. FETZER是加州大学戴维斯分校的德语名誉教授。

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