Language:
German
Year of publication:
2003
Titel der Quelle:
Journal of English and Germanic Philology
Angaben zur Quelle:
102,1 (2003) 88-104
Keywords:
Mann, Thomas,
;
Antisemitism in literature
;
German literature History and criticism
Abstract:
Surveys the "Jewish" noses that appear in every one of Mann's novels through the First World War, noting that they are described as prominent and identified as Jewish only by other characters in the novel or by first-person narrators. Third-person narrators describe the Jewish characteristics of the noses as only slightly noticeable and avoid the word "Jewish", though heavy hints lead the reader to make this identification himself. The owner of the "Jewish" nose is always paired with a non-Jew who views him as dangerous. Hermann Hagenström, for instance, is never explicitly identified as Jewish, but his nose grows heavier the more he triumphs over his rivals, the Buddenbrooks. In the interwar period Mann was, in his own words, "philosemitic", but the dangerous Jew reappears in the World War II novel "Doktor Faustus". The exception is Dr. Sammet in "Königliche Hoheit" (1909), who readily admits to being a Jew, has no ambition to improve his status, and is described sympathetically.
URL:
Locate this publication in Israeli libraries
Permalink
