ENGLISH 125D Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Syphilis, Bonfire, Vitus
Document Summary
Trakl, wie scheint doch alles werdende so krank! - how is it that all things becoming appear so sickly! . Ch25 = one chapter told from adrian"s perspective as he goes thru syphilitic fever - all the allegorical elements condensed in this chapter. Disease as metaphor - syphilis, internal corrosiveness - things become/appear sickly. Baroque ideas: disease = corruption of human. Mann uses disease strategically- about inner corrosive elements of something, Historically: can see nadir at point of triumph, tw wwi-ww2 even in apparent health. German nationalist movement percolating down after wwi offers the chance for a sense of power, vindication for a nation brought down by war - vicarious experience thru the. 1000 yr reich? thru the greatness of spectacle/nation. But dangerous side to this as well. Political level: long arc of disillusionment, ideals betrayed. Socialism forestalled in the 1910s, fulfilled w/ triumph of the russian revolution - crashes w/ stalinist purge ideas begin in perfection, then collapse.