Abstract:
This paper seeks to investigate the similarities between Laurence Sterne’s The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1759-1767) and Doctor Faustus (1947), a novel written by the German author Thomas Mann. Beyond the direct reference to Sterne within Mann’s novel and the clear similarity regarding metaficional commentary, we seek to demonstrate that there is also a resonance of Tristram Shandy in the narrative structure of Mann’s work. This is manifested in two main senses: firstly, by the treatment of time, which shifts between past (time of the narrative) and present (time of narration, in which the narrators make their metaficional comments). Furthermore, both novels contain a complex and multifaceted representation of the novel as a genre in the works themselves. Finally, we seek to point out how such mechanisms have a primarily political function in Mann’s work, since the narrative artifices used are the basis of Serenus Zeitblom’s reflection on the rise of fascist ideals in Germany.
Keywords:
Doctor Faustus; Tristram Shandy; German literature; comparative literature
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