Thomas Mann, "Chekhov Theory" - "A Boring Story" by the Nobel Prize-winning author, famous for "The Devil's Mountain" and "Death in Venice".
Previous ArticleChekhov's "A Tale of Boredom" Synopsis and Impressions - "A Masterful Short Story," Praised by Tolstoy."In the following section, we talked about Chekhov's "A Boring Story.
At the end of it, I mentioned that the German Nobel Prize winner for literature, Thomas Mann, praised "A Tale of Boredom".
Thomas Mann wrote an article entitled "The Chekhov Theory". In it, he listed "A Tale of Boredom" as his favorite work.
In this article, we will look at that "Chekhov theory" and also at Thomas Mann's review of "Boring Stories.
First of all, speaking of Thomas Mann.The Devil's MountainHe is a German Nobel Prize-winning author of literature, famous for such works as "Death in Venice" and "Tonio Kregel".
Thomas Mann is famous in Japan as the author of the movie "Death in Venice.
I remember when I was a student, my professor introduced this film in a lecture titled "Aesthetics" and we used this film as a learning tool to study "what beauty is in film. I still remember watching this movie on the huge screen in the lecture room.
And Thomas Mann's masterpiece "The Devil's Mountain" is one of my favorites. I hope to eventually introduce this work on this blog as well.
Now let's read his "Chekhov Theory".
If I am allowed to name and praise a work here, I would be remiss if I did not mention "A Dreary Tale," my favorite of Chekhov's short stories.
It is an extraordinary and fascinating work, almost unparalleled in all literature in its characteristic somber, sad tone.
It is surprising that this "dreary" story, which is so impressive, is told through the mouth of an old man with the penetrating insight of a young man of no more than 30 years of age.
This old man is a world-renowned scholar and an official equivalent to a general. He himself often refers to himself as such in his confessions - "My Lord," but there is a faint hint of lamentation at the bottom of it. For he is a man of extremely high intellect, self-criticism, and criticism in general, even though he has attained the highest ranks of his profession, and he regards his own fame and the respect he receives from others as foolishness, and deep down he despairs of them.
His life, all his achievements, lacked a spiritual center, a "general idea," and thus it was essentially a meaningless life, a life without salvation. He realizes this and despairs.
Thomas Mann, Chekhov, p. 402, in Chekhov Studies, edited by Takuya Hara, translated by Shoichi Kimura, Chuokoronsha, Inc.
Some line breaks have been made.
He called it "the most beloved of Chekhov's short stories" and praised it as "a dreary tale that makes an overwhelming impression on the reader.
The paper goes on to discuss "Boring Stories," and it was very interesting to hear a Nobel Prize in Literature author discuss "Boring Stories.
I would like to continue with Thomas Mann's view of Chekhov in this paper.
The fact that Chekhov has long been undervalued in the West, and even in Russia, is due to his extremely calm, critical, and skeptical attitude toward himself, his dissatisfaction with his own work, and, in short, to hismodestIt appears that this is not unrelated to the (omitted)
For too long, this short-story writer had believed himself to be a man of little talent and no value as an artist. The process of gaining some confidence - a confidence that one must have if one is to convince others to believe in oneself - was slow and arduous.
He had no hint of being a literary master, much less a sage or prophet in the style of Tolstoy, until the end of his life. Tolstoy looked down on him with favor, and according to Gorky's account, he was "a wonderful, quiet man,discreetHe thought he was a ≫ person.
Thomas Mann, Chekhov, p. 391-392, in Chekhov Studies, edited by Takuya Hara, translated by Shoichi Kimura, Chuokoronsha, Inc.
Some line breaks have been made.
I have blogged about this before.Biography by Virgil TanazBut it did come out that "Chekhov did not consider himself a gifted man. It seems that Thomas Mann saw Chekhov in the same way.
In the portrait, he is a thin man with a glued collar, string nose glasses, and late nineteenth-century attire, a spiky goatee, a well-proportioned, somewhat troubled face, and a gentle melancholy.
His face is the face of a man who does not like to exaggerate himself. It is the face and posture of someone who does not like to exaggerate himself. There is not the slightest hint of vanity.
If he even found Tolstoy's didactic attitude "tyrannical" and said that Dostoevsky's works were "good, but ungraceful and pompous" (letter to Sborin, March 5, 1889), one can only imagine how grotesque the empty pomposity of the content must have appeared to his eyes. It is not difficult to imagine how grotesque the pompousness of the letter must have appeared to his eyes.
Thomas Mann, Chekhov, p. 416, in Chekhov Studies, edited by Takuya Hara, translated by Shoichi Kimura, Chuokoronsha, Inc.
Here we have the image of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky from Chekhov's point of view. This is a very interesting perspective from which to read Tolstoy and Dostoevsky in the future.
Chekhov then summarizes the paper as follows
I am fascinated by the qualities of this writer. His antagonism to fame, his doubt about the meaning and value of his work, and his disbelief in his own greatness, are all of a quiet and humble greatness.
"Self-dissatisfaction," he once said, "is the fundamental element of all true talent." (Words from a letter to actor Suvorin, but the original letter is lost.
In this proposition, modesty is in fact also transformed into something positive. In other words, it means the following.
Be satisfied with your dissatisfaction, for it proves that you can overcome complacency - perhaps even become great. "Be content with your dissatisfaction, for it proves that you can overcome complacency and perhaps even become great."
But this proposition does nothing to change the sincerity of his suspicions and complaints. And to work to the end, to work faithfully and first, even though one remains conscious of the fact that one can never answer the critical question, and even though one is tormented by the remorse of conscience that one is mocking the reader - this remains the mystery of "nevertheless.... ≫This is still the mysterious "nevertheless" (Trotz-dem).
But the facts are exactly as they should be.
One "entertains the needy with stories, but does not give them even a particle of the truth of salvation.
To Katya's question, "What should I do?", one can only reply, "I don't know, because of my conscience.
And yet, nevertheless, one does not give up the faint, almost faithful hope that one works, that one writes stories, that one sculpts truths, and that perhaps truth and a clear form can liberate the soul and prepare the world for a better, more beautiful, and more spiritually fulfilling life. and prepare this world for a better, more beautiful, and more spiritually fulfilling life.
Thomas Mann, Chekhov, p. 419, in Chekhov Studies, edited by Takuya Hara, translated by Shoichi Kimura, Chuokoronsha, Inc.
There is no absolute answer. How should I live?" Chekhov honestly asked the old professor, "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.
But "in spite of that," Chekhov continued to write despite his conflicted feelings. There was something in him that compelled him not to do it.
That is where his appeal lies, Thomas Mann states.
In this issue, I spoke about Thomas Mann's view of Chekhov based on the part of "The Boring Story" in "Chekhov's Theory".
As I mentioned in the first half of this article, Thomas Mann's work is one of my favorites. He is also a great influence on Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.
I would like to discuss Thomas Mann's work in connection with this at some point.
The above is "Thomas Mann's 'Chekhov Theory' - The German Nobel Prize-winning author talks about the appeal of 'boring stories'".
Next Article.
Click here to read the previous article.
Click here for a list of Chekhov's recommended works.
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