Thomas Mann's Der Tod in Venedig

Catalog description

Thomas Mann was one of the most prominent German-language authors of the first half of the twentieth-century. His novella, Der Tod in Venedig (Death in Venice), published in 1912, is a seminal example of modernist literature as well as an indicator of the culture currents in Europe on the eve of the First World War. It recounts the story of a famous author facing a psychological crisis that he hopes to resolve with a vacation in Venice, where however he encounters a city gripped by cholera. Against that backdrop, Mann explores philosophical questions concerning the nature of art and education, the legacy of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, the eruption of suppressed desires, and the rumblings of nationalism. This course offers an opportunity for a close reading of the German-language text and its philosophical context.