Eın Rezeptıonsversuch Von Thomas Manns Roman 'Der Zauberberg' In Der Corona-Pandemıe

Abstract

The semi-autobiographical novel "Der Zauberberg" (The Magic Mountain) was published in 1924 by Thomas Mann as a "satire" and "humorous byproduct" of his work "Death in Venice". It provides an example, as so often in his novels, of the narrative techniques of the Bildungsroman (novel of personal development), and may be understood through a variety of interpretative approaches. In this work Thomas Mann deals intensively with the concepts of health and illness, and indeed life and death, which are issues highly relevant to mankind during the Corona pandemic. In the work the protagonist Hans Castorp, who has just finished his engineering qualifications, intends to make an educational journey and a three-week visit to his ill cousin in a Davos sanatorium for patients with lung disease, but ends up being diagnosed with tuberculosis and staying for seven years. In this article his observations in the sanatorium are placed in relation to the present Corona pandemic. An attempt will be made to show that an understanding of psychoanalysis and the pandemic, as well as of illness and death, should be the means to self-knowledge. Focusing on Sigmund Freud’s approach, which assumes that human behaviour cannot be explained without reference to unconscious processes, the study gives examples from the novel. It concludes with an appeal that mankind should hold on to life, in the midst of this unforeseen Corona pandemic, and never give up hope.