The Literature Book

224

CRITICISM MARKS

THE ORIGIN OF

PROGRESS AND

ENLIGHTENMENT

THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN (1924), THOMAS MANN

W

idely considered to

be Thomas Mann’s

masterpiece, The Magic

Mountain has many claims to

greatness: it is regarded as one

of the best German novels of all

time; one of the finest works of

the 20th century; a sublime dark

comedy and rumination on death

and disease; and a key work of

Modernism. It is also a fine example

of a Bildungsroman (“novel of

formation”), a genre that had its

roots in 18th-century Germany,

and is still going strong today.

Although earlier examples are

sometimes cited, many studies

place the birth of the genre at the

publication of Johann Wolfgang von

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Bildungsroman

BEFORE

1795 –96 Johann Wolfgang

von Goethe publishes Wilhelm

Meister’s Apprenticeship, often

called the first Bildungsroman.

1798 German author Ludwig

Tieck publishes Franz

Sternbald’s Wanderings, a

Romantic novel with hallmarks

of the Bildungsroman.

1849–50 Charles Dickens’

partly autobiographical book

David Copperfield is published.

1855 Swiss author Gottfried

Keller publishes Green Henry,

a crucial Bildungsroman, and

also partly autobiographical.

1916 A Portrait of the Artist

as a Young Man, by James

Joyce, shows that the

Bildungsroman has a place

in Modernist literature.

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