Mann's 'Magic Mountain' : world literature and closer reading / Karolina Watroba.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Watroba, Karolina, author.

Series:

Oxford Academic.

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Literature studies.

Modernism (Christian theology).

Comparative literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (191 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, [2022]

©2022

Summary:

This is the first study of Thomas Mann's landmark German modernist novel Der Zauberberg (The Magic Mountain, 1924) that takes as its starting point the interest in Mann's book shown by non-academic readers. It is also a case study in a cluster of issues central to the interrelated fields of transnational German studies, global modernism studies, comparative literature, and reception theory: it addresses the global circulation of German modernism, popular afterlives of a canonical work, access to cultural participation, relationship between so-called 'high-brow' and 'low-brow'culture, and the limitations of traditional academic reading practices. The book intervenes in these discussions by developing a critical practice termed 'closer reading' and positioning it within the framework of world literature studies. The book centres around nine comparative readings of five novels, three films, and one short story conceived as responses to The Magic Mountain. They provide access to distinct readings of Mann's text on three levels: they function as records of their authors' reading of Mann, provide insights into broader, culturally and historically specific interpretations of the novel, and feature portrayals of fictional readers of The Magic Mountain. These nine case studies are contextualized, complemented, enhanced, and expanded through references to other diverse sources that testify to a lively engagement with The Magic Mountain outside of academic scholarship, including journalistic reviews, discussions on internet fora and blogs, personal essays and memoirs, Mann's fan mail and his replies to it, publishing advertisements, and marketing brochures from Davos, where the novel is set.

Contents:

Introduction

1. Somehow Beside the Point?

2. World Literature and Closer Reading

3. Roadmap for the Journey Ahead

1. Economy

1. Introduction: Ordinary Young Man with a Crocodile-skin Handbag

2. No Communism Without The Magic Mountain

3. Intellectual Tourists

4. Magic Mountain Pilgrims

5. Conclusion: For the Many, Not the Few?

2. Emotions

1. Introduction: (Not) Covering His Face with His Hands

2. 'Is This the Promised End?'

3. 'Word-Searching Sickness'

4. 'I Know. I Know. You've Read The Magic Mountain'

5. Conclusion: Real-Life Castorps

3. Erudition

1. Introduction: Intellectual Table Tennis

2. Hans Castorp in Danzig

3. Hans Castorp in Japan

4. Hans Castorp in Old Age

5. Conclusion: Coming up for Air

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on Publisher website; title from home page (viewed on August 18, 2022).

Other Format:

Print version: Watroba, Karolina Mann's Magic Mountain

ISBN:

9780191968020

0-19-196802-1

0-19-269984-9

0-19-269985-7

Publisher Number:

10.1093/oso/9780192871794.001.0001 DOI