SCFC775
Dangerous Journeys: Death in Venice and Other Fiction by Thomas Mann
We will explore the thought of the German writer Thomas Mann (1875–1955) through a close reading of selected fictions. We will first read “Tonio Kröger” (1903) and “The Blood of the Wälsungs” (1905), stories introducing themes and narrative modes more complexly developed in Mann’s richly resonant Death in Venice (1912).
Offering glimpses into a vanished world, the novella explores questions signally relevant to societies in which the artist is thought of—or treated as—an outsider, a visionary questioning bourgeois norms and values through alternative visions. Our discussions will explore Eros and creativity, technique and symbolism, and narrative strategy. Lastly, we will consider Luchino Visconti’s 1971 film Morte a Venezia and Benjamin Britten’s 1973 opera Death in Venice.
Please note that enrolment in this course is reserved for adults 55+.
This course is available at the following time(s) and location(s):
| Section | Session(s) | Date/time | Campus | Instructor(s) | Cost | Registration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCFC775-VA1137 | 6 | Friday Sep 13–Oct 18 9:30–11:20 am |
Van | John Stape | $104 | Register |
What will I learn?
Week 1: “Tonio Kröger”: The Artist as Outsider
We begin by exploring Mann’s idea of the artist as an alienated outsider in bourgeois society and simultaneously an interpreter if ever an intermittent participant. An onlooker on life, the artist is both plagued and blessed by a heightened awareness of it and its patterns.
Week 2: “The Blood of the Wälsungs”: Instinct vs. Society
Intertextually related to Wagner’s opera Die Walküre, this story usefully introduces ideas, symbols, and motifs that Mann develops in Death in Venice. Among other topics we will look at incest (the Other as the same), mystic unions and mystical longing, and the creation of a society of two.
Week 4: Death in Venice: Art and Biography
We consider the novella’s autobiographical aspects in Mann’s own summer sojourn of 1911 on the Adriatic and begin to explore some of its main thematic interests and structural developments. We will introduce the major strands of our analytic consideration.
Week 4: Death in Venice: Apollo and Dionysius
Mann’s exploration of the Apollonian (orderly and intellectual) and Dionysiac (ecstatic and emotional) experiences of life structure our opening. Aschenbach as a site of conflict, moved by these contrary impulses will be a central focus as we also consider the novella in its historical context.
Week 5: Death in Venice: Eros (Sex) meets Thanatos (Death) on the Lido
We will consider how Aschenbach’s aestheticized death constitutes his final work of art and explore how his retreat from life (partly willed) and from normative values function as a final ambiguous statement about art and the artist. As we conclude our discussions, Mann’s symbolic mode will form another topic.
Week 6: Death in Venice Adapted
We will examine the rich afterlife of Death in Venice by looking at two sophisticated and intriguing – and varyingly successful – cinematic and theatrical adaptations: Italian cineaste Luchino Visconti’s 1971 film, Morte a Venezia, and English composer Benjamin Britten’s 1973 two-act opera Death in Venice.
How will I learn?
- Discussion
- Required reading
- Papers (applicable only to certificate students)
Who should take this course?
This course is for anyone who is interested in learning about the works of the 20th-century German writer Thomas Mann.
How will I be evaluated?
(For certificate students only)
Your instructor will evaluate you based on an essay you will complete at the end of the course. You will receive a grade of “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory.”
Textbooks and learning materials
Recommended translation: “Death in Venice” and Other Stories (Vintage, 1989)
Recommended listening: Richard Wagner, Die Walküre, Act 1 and Benjamin Britten, Death in Venice (DVD, La Fenice Prodution 2008)