Discussion - Week Two - Doctor Faustus (Mann) - Ch XII - XXI, p. 101 - 197

[Jim]

This discussion covers Chapter XII – XXI, p. 101 – 197

Serenus introduces a few of the professors and their courses at Halle. The brothers of Winfried go hiking and discuss theology. After some youthful soul-searching, Adrian decides to pursue music in Leipzig. Upon arrival, Adrian encounters instinct in a bawdy house. Studies with Kretzschmar launch Adrian’s early compositions. Seeking Love Lost, Adrian returns with a dose from Esmeralda.

To avoid spoilers, please limit your comments to p. 3 - 197

[Larou]

I am assuming that most people in this group reading Doktor Faustus will do so in the English translation (or are there several?), and I can't help but wonder what they (the translation as well as the readers) make of the writing style of this novel.

Or styles, really, as I think Thomas Mann is at his most stylistically versatile in Doktor Faustus -there is Zeitblom's slow and ponderous style that mingles pompousness with occasional sparkles of beauty, then there is the long quotation from Adrian's letter, but we also hear quite distinct voices in the theological debates and the discourses of Adrian's teachers.

In the German original at least, all those voices are very different, to the point where the novel almost reads as a collage - and Mann apparently did lift some parts of the devil's dialogue straight from Luther, and I strongly suspect that some parts concerning music were actually contributed to the novel by Adorno.

So I'm curious how all this comes across in English? Did the translator bother to differentiate between the various styles, and if so, how?

[Jim]

Larou wrote: "I am assuming that most people in this group reading Doktor Faustus will do so in the English translation (or are there several?), and I can't help but wonder what they (the translation as well as ..."

I'm reading the John E. Woods translation. The voice of Serenus and the voice of Adrian are fairly distinct, and naturally, the dialogue of the professors is their own voice, but stylistically, I wouldn't say there are strong differences in style. Mostly I'm perceiving the idiosyncrasies of the characters, and the rest is just Mann's narration.

Anyone else notice the differences Larou is mentioning in the English translations?

[Larou]

As an added note, the various styles are historically distinct, too - Zeitblom is late 19th century, very much the educated bourgeois, almost a model Bildungsbürger, while Leverkühn / Kumpf / the devil all use a 17th century style, with a strong flavour of Luther.

[Whitney]

Larou wrote: "As an added note, the various styles are historically distinct, too - Zeitblom is late 19th century, very much the educated bourgeois, almost a model Bildungsbürger, while Leverkühn / Kumpf / the d..."

Thanks for the information Larou. I noticed distinct voices, but would not have picked up the historical references. I'm reading the Lowe-Porter, but the fault lies with me, she could be quoting Luther directly and I would miss it.

The only voice that stood out to me as of a specific time was Kumpf's archaic language, and later Adrien's letter, described as "a parody of grotesque Halle experiences and the language idiosyncrasies of Ehrenfried Kumpf." I figured he was using the style of the fire-and-brimstone Kumpf in order to add a level of irony to his 'sinful' excursion, but the humor of the language fell flat for me, I doubt it translates well in any case.