Can we comprehend what happens to Aschenbach over the course of the novella as the movement from Apollinian control to Dionysian ecstasy and impulse?.Classical tragedy, Nietzsche proposed, operates through the union of these two principles, their synthesis. Nietzsche's primary aesthetic treatise, The Birth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Music (1872) postulated the existence of two distinct and opposing artistic tendencies, which Nietzsche associated with 2 different ancient gods, Apollo and Dionysus. Mann was profoundly influenced by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. This distance also expresses itself in a kind of emotional alienation from the sense and sensibilities of 'normal' human beings.ĭ. The artist seems to stand outside of life, for him, as someone standing on the outside looking in but not actually participating in the events of life. Mann emphasizes the coldness, the distance of the artist toward human beings. Aschenbach's art seems to be based on mastery of the instincts when he succumbs to instinct, he ceases to be an artist in this disciplined sense.ģ.

Instead of spontaneity, impulse, imagination, fantasy, we have in Aschenbach reflection, reason, discipline, structure. Note the opposition between this conception of creativity and Freud's. Gustav von Aschenbach represents all these traits at the inception of the novella (see Death, pp. Mann sees in the artist the qualities of the soldier: discipline, organization, systematization, exactitude, steadfastness, courage.Ģ. The contrast between Mann's and Kafka's conceptions of their creative impulses could hardly be greater. (See handout to view handout, click here)ġ. Perhaps already in these implications of the name we have allusions to the union of Eros (repressed libidinal instinct) and Thanatos (drive toward death and self-dissolution).Ĭ. stream of ashes as an allusion to a volcanic eruption this would point ahead to the eruption of the irrational, the id, out of the repression it suffers in Aschenbach’s strictly disciplined existence. ashes of death, as in ashes to ashes, dust to dust name anticipates theme of death ī. Many of the elements of the novella, including the bad weather, the cholera episode, the beautiful youth Tadzio, the gondolier, and the singer and his troupe, are based on the actual experiences of this trip.ġ) Gustav taken from Gustav Mahler Mahler and his death as part of the impulse behind Mann's work.Ģ) 'Aschenbach' in German means 'stream of ashes.' 2 possible allusions:Ī. Just prior to leaving for Venice he got news of the death of the great Austrian composer Gustav Mahler on. Mann traveled to Venice from 26 May to 2 June 1911, accompanied by his wife Katia and his brother Heinrich. Lecture Notes: Thomas Mann, Death in VeniceĪ.

Death in venice book