| cher Madame […] petite Maman | French: “dear lady […] little mother.” In the original, TM intentionally misspells the French to emphasize Frau Schweigestill’s Bavarian dialect—thus presumably Wood’s decision to render chère as cher. |
| Arrangements […] artistes prominents | French: “Musical arrangements. Representative of numerous prominent artists.” |
| Cher Maître […] le professeur | French: “My dear master, I am so happy, so touched to have found you! Even for a man who is as spoiled and hardened as I am, it’s always a touching experience to meet a great man.—Pleased to meet you, professor.” |
| Vous maudirez […] mille fois merci | French: “You will be upset at my intrusion, Monsieur Leverkühn […] But for me, since I happened to be in Munich, it would have been impossible to miss out […] At any rate, I am convinced […] For after all […] Master […] But yes, of course […] Thank you, thank you a thousand times over!” |
| What I intend to record of his conversation | The joke, of course, is that there is no conversation. Neither Z. nor L. ever get a word in. |
| | French: “Master […] and more, this house so full of dignity with its maternal and vigorous hostess. Madame Schweigestill! But that translates as: ‘I will be silent.’ Silence, silence! How charming! […] Astounding […] would you believe it? […] ridiculously exaggerated. […] That’s the absolute truth, simply and irrefutably. […] But to whom am I saying that. In the beginning there was scandal.” |
| carry you off […] on my cloak | This line established Fitelberg as another tempter figure and thus moves him into the vicinity of the devil. |
| of truly very simple Jewish parents | Fitelberg is perhaps the most prominent example in a long list of Jewish stereotypes that populate DF (Chaim Braisacher, Meta Nackedey, and Kunigunde Rosenstiel are other examples). During the composition of DF, TM’s oldest son Klaus pointed out to this father that these stereotypical descriptions might open him up to charges of anti-Semitism, but TM rejected this. |
| Au commencement était le scandale | French: “In the beginning there was scandal.” A parody of John 1:1, which in French reads Au commencement était la parole (la parole: the word). In Goethe’s Faust, the protagonist also tries his hand at translating this Bible verse, eventually settling on the equally unusual In the beginning was the deed. |
| à la longue […] Fourberies gracieuses | French: “In the long run […] interlocutor […] a hole in the wall, a little cave […] called “Theater of the Gracious Deceits” […] I can assure you […] In a word […] Gracious Deceits.” |
| James Joyce […] Duchess de Clermont-Tonnière | James Joyce, Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), Ezra Pound (1885–1972), and the Duchess de Clermont-Tonnère (1875–1954) are here largely invoked as short-hand for the Parisian avant-garde of the early 1920s, although it’s also significant that only the Duchess was French, a fact that emphasizes the cosmopolitan nature of the world to which Fitelberg would like to introduce L. TM’s references to interwar Paris are heavily indebted to Igor Stravinsky’s memoirs; while TM himself visited the city several times during this time period, he did not associate with avant-garde circles, preferring the company of an older generation of artists. |
| crème de la crème […] fanatique de musique | French: “the elite […] Ah madame, oh, madame, what do you think, one tells me, madame, that you are absolutely crazy about music?” |
| | French: “Finally […] that’s where I find satisfaction and pleasure […] and we discover ourselves in this longing […] which furnishes the subject […] “Insult! Impudence! Execrable foolishness!” […]“What precision! What spirit! It’s divine! It’s superb!” |
| Erik Satie, a few surrealists, Virgil Thomson | Erik Satie (1866–1925) and Virgil Thomson (1896–1989) were both modernist composers who celebrated their chief successes in Paris during the early 1920s. TM’s musical advisor Theodor W. Adorno held a generally dim view of them. |
| un boche […] énormement caractéristique | French: “A boche who on account of his genius belongs to the world and who marches at the head of musical progress […] Ah, that’s truly German, for example! […] dear master, why not say it? […] that Phosphorescence of the Sea […] and that you enchain your art in a system of inexorable and neoclassical rules […] German quality […] roughness […] indeed, just between us […] No, I am certain of it! […] That’s “boche” to a fascinating degree! […] enormously characteristic.” |
| ce cosmopolitisme généreux et versatile | French: “that generous and versatile cosmopolitanism.” |
| | Croatian soprano (1882–1962). |
| Flonzaley Quartet […] Pro Arte Quartet | Actual string quartets of the era. |
| Cher Maître […] c’est dommage, pourtant | French: “Dear master, I understand your meaning. But still, that’s too bad.” |
| particulièrement à Paris […] barrière | French: “Especially in Paris […] Everybody knows, madame, that your musical judgment is infallible! […] barrier.” |
| Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes | The Ballets Russes are another example of the avant-garde culture of the time and were closely associated with Igor Stravinsky. |
| Entre nous […] un peu gauche | French: “Between us […] Master […] Tell me then […] severity […] a solemn state of mind and a little bit awkward.” |
| | Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), Léonide Massine (1896–1979), Manuel de Falla (1876–1946), and the musical collective Les Six are further illustrations of the international modernism that characterized Paris during the interwar years. |
| Embarrass […] une espèce d’infirmier, voilà! | French: “Embarrassment […] this strange and hermit-like refuge […] well […] excentric semi-fools […] a kind of nurse, that’s all!” |
| dans quelle manière […] une confusion tragique | French: “In what maladroit fashion […] destiny […] destinies […] a nuisance […] annihilation […] the last enemy […] with some justification […] which are absolutely stupefying […] All that is a little embarrassing, isn’t that right? A tragic mistake.” |
| A la bonne heure […] c’est mélancolique, tout ça! | French: “Splendid! […] Oh, how gloomy all that is!” |
| Sincèrement […] un grand homme | French: “Sincerely […] to pay tribute to a great man.” |
| en psychologue […] qui est essentiellement anti-sémitique | French/German: “as a psychologist […] folkish […] which is essentially anti-Semitic.” |
| Gounod’s and Goethe’s Faust | Charles Gounod (1818–1893) composed an operatic adaptation (1859) of Goethe’s Faust II that TM loved. |
| pour prendre congé […] Tiens | French: “To take my leave […] a beautiful treasure [the French marguerite is also an allusion to the name of the main female character in Goethe/Gounod’s Faust] […] Let me, let me think about it […] he too […] well!” |
| Even Massenet is bewitching | Jules Massenet (1842–1912) is another nineteenth-century French composer known primarily for his operas. Among his many works is the unfinished opera Esméralda, after Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. |
| Should we Jews […] not feel ourselves drawn to Germanness | The thesis of a fundamental correspondence between Jewish and German identity is a constant of Thomas Mann’s thought, especially in the 1930s and 1940s. |
| Comme c’est respectable […] nom de guerre | French: “How respectable it is! Not exactly humane, but extremely respectable […] A striking analogy! […]code name.” |
| je vous le jure […] Adieu, adieu | French: “I swear it […] Mediator […] But it is in vain. And that is truly too bad […] Dear master, it was a pleasure. I failed at my mission […] My respect, Monsieur le Professeur. You helped me far too little, but I will not hold it against you. Thousand regards to Mme. Schwei-ge-still. Good-bye, good-bye!” |