Acknowledgments
This book was born from my experiences teaching Doctor Faustus to undergraduate students at the University of Notre Dame. My thanks go first and foremost to the talented students who discussed the novel with me in my upper-division seminars on “The World of Doctor Faustus” and in my first-year University Seminar on “The Faust Myth in and through History.” They especially sharpened my attention to the novel’s humor and to its religious dimensions—two aspects that often receive insufficient attention in the critical literature.
Several of my colleagues at Notre Dame gave generous guest lectures or guest performances for these classes. Daniel Schlossberg performed Beethoven’s Op. 111 for us, while Berthold Hoeckner spoke about the concept of absolute music. Samantha Heinle unpacked the complexities of twelve-tone composition, while John Betz shed light on some of the theological questions discussed in the Halle chapters. Julia Schneider showed us Notre Dame’s copy of the Nuremberg Chronicle and other treasures from the Hesburgh Libraries Rare Books & Special Collections. Cheryl Snay and Bridget Hoyt similarly displayed prize specimens from the holdings of the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, including Dürer’s Apocalypse cycle and his engraving Knight, Death, and Devil.
Other colleagues shared their subject expertise with me as I prepared to write this book. I’m especially grateful to Johanna Frymoyer, who put up with me over the course of two semesters of college-level musical theory. Needless to say, all musical errors and imprecisions in this volume are entirely my fault. C.J. Jones answered questions about Pietism and the Ephrata brethren. Mark Roche, whose article on laughter in Doctor Faustus I have long admired, provided helpful comments on an early draft of the manuscript.
Notre Dame sophomore Kephas Olsson served as my research assistant and sounding-board while I was writing this book. He suggested the basic shape of chapter 3 and provided invaluable feedback on the page-by-page commentary in chapter 12, helping me decide which passages needed glossing for a first-time reader.
In May of 2023, the city of Bad Tölz invited me to give a keynote lecture at its second annual Thomas Mann Festival. My stay in Bavaria allowed me to visit many of the sites commemorated in Doctor Faustus, such as Rombühel Hill, the Klammer Pool, and the Schweigestill Farmhouse. My sincere thanks go out to Eckhard Zimmermann for arranging the invitation, serving as my tour guide, and tracking down several of the historical images in this book. I’d also like to thank Christof Botzenhart and Ulrike Gänswein for their hospitality in Bad Tölz and in Polling respectively.
Open Access publication of this book was made possible through generous grants from Notre Dame’s Franco Family Center for the Liberal Arts and the Public Good, as well as from the Thomas Mann House (TMH) in Pacific Palisades. I’d like to especially thank Benno Herz at the TMH for championing the project.