Androgynie und Künstlerexistenz in Thomas Manns Novelle „Tristan“
Androgyny and the Artist`s Existence in Thomas Mann`s Novella "Tristan"

Summary/Abstract: Thomas Mann`s novella Tristan (1903) makes no exception from the influence of the literary motif of androgyny that encompasses his entire work. The paper analyses the means by which the motif of androgyny forms the characters in the novella and unveils a very sharply pictured and well-defined typology of characters, in accordance with many other characters in Thomas Mann`s literary work that share the same physical and intellectual features. This typology is dominated by some common features among which androgyny plays the main role. The novella also contains many intertextual elements, that have risen the interest both of the reader and of the critics. We refer here to the medieval epos of Gottfried von Straßburg “Tristan und Isolde“ or Wagner’s new thematization of this old epos through the homonymous opera. Irony, skeptical criticism and burlesque are the style elements in which Thomas Mann approaches these epoch-making cultural achievements. Besides criticizing the Wagner-cult of his days, he also takes a self-reflexive ironical and critical look on his own work and literary preoccupations. But fortunately, some important motifs, style elements and the narrative technique are anticipating one of his future literary masterpieces, namely the novel “The Magic Mountain”.

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