Seeing Jaakob

Studies in Modern German and Austrian Literature publishes research and scholarship devoted to German and Austrian literature of all forms and genres from the eighteenth century to the present day. The series promotes the analysis of intersections of literature with thought, society and other art forms, such as film, theatre, autobiography, music, painting, sculpture and performance art.

Despite the considerable amount of scholarship on Mann's work, his tetralogy composed prior to and during his exile from Nazi Germany has received less attention and has not been examined from the perspective of the relationship of visuality to narrative. In this study of Mann's reworking of the biblical account of Jacob, father of Joseph, the author examines the ways the novel's protagonists frame their environment through knowledge and meaning gained via specific acts of seeing. While considering Mann's oft-stated intent to refunctionalize myth by means of psychology for humane and progressive purposes, the book explores the lavish narrative attention Mann gives to visual detail, visual stimulation, the protagonists' eyes, ways of seeing, and even to staging and performance in anticipation of another's way of seeing. The results reveal that the plot of the first Joseph novel is carried and propelled by a series of visual encounters during which the narrative draws attention to the protagonists' eyes and acts of looking.

Autorentext

The Author: David L. Tingey, Jr. received his Ph.D. in German from Washington University in St. Louis. He is an assistant professor at the University of Tulsa where he teaches German language, literature and culture.

Inhalt
Contents: «Am Brunnen»: Mann's Introduction to Joseph's Poetics of Visuality The Encounter at the Well Jaakob and Laban's Family: Sichtbarkeit, Moons, and Underworlds Jaakob's Discovery of the Spring: The Great Mother and the Father-God The Fear of the Evil Eye.