DOKTOR FAUSTUS ROMANINDA FRENGİYE YAKALANAN BİR MÜZİSYENİN TRAJİK ÇÖKÜŞÜ

Abstract

In world literature, “Faust” or “Faustus” is the hero of an ancient and popular medieval German classical myth. This concept, which is thought to be derived from German epics, inspires many artists. Apart from the works created with this name on its own, it corresponds with various references in many works. He made a deal with the devil due to his curiosity and was eventually cursed. Although the historical origin of the name and character of Doctor Faustus is not very clear, many sources report that he was a German doctor named Johann Georg Faust. He was also a sorcerer and alchemist who probably lived around Wittenberg in Germany in the first half of the 1500s. Many references have been made to this concept in many works along with the works titled with this name. Although many works have been written on Faust, especially the works of Marlove and Goethe remain a masterpiece. One of them is Thomas Mann's novel Doctor Faustus which was first published in German in 1947. In this novel, the biography of Adrian Leverkühn, an extremely talented and intelligent person, is handled with a subjective approach. A composer who was first interested in the field of religious sciences, suddenly changed his direction to the field of music. When he was at the top of his profession, he slept with a prostitute, contracted syphilis, and died as a result of a tragic collapse. In this work of Thomas Mann, which is described as a masterpiece by some critics, the au-thor manifests his intellectual identity as in his other novels. The artist, floundering in the conflict of mind and emotion, makes a deal with the devil who comes to visit him one night when he is in spiritual bondage. According to this agreement, on the condition that he renounces love and affection for 24 years, the devil will inspire him with great compositions and he will reach the top of his profession. The author habitually touches upon almost every discipline, especially art and medicine. While the reader goes back and forth through the plots of the novel, he also develops his general culture. The author does not neglect to inform the reader in this context. In this novel, details about the science of music bring additional value to the novel. The author also criticizes Germany's Nazi authority through an artist who suffers from syphilis. He uses political criticism by associating syphilis with the political, economic, and democratic collapse of the authority. In addition to syphilis, typhus and pneumonia are also mentioned in the novel. This study analyses the psychological collapse and the loss of social dignity of a musician through Thomas Mann’s novel titled Doctor Faustus.