“Wertheimer wäre gern Glenn Gould gewesen”—Der Diskurs über Judentum und Musik in Thomas Bernhards Roman Der Untergeher und seine Vorgeschichte bei Richard Wagner, Otto Weininger und Thomas Mann

Abstract

ABSTRACT Characteristic of Thomas Bernhard's later prose and dramatic works is the Jewish origin of many of his protagonists as well as their strong affinity for music. This is also true for Wertheimer, one of the three central characters in Bernhard's novel Der Untergeher (The Loser). An analysis of the narrative reveals that Wertheimer's downfall and suicide can ultimately be attributed to historical discourses on Judaism and music that were propagated in Richard Wagner's anti-Semitic pamphlet Das Judentum in der Musik (Judaism in Music) and Otto Weininger's Geschlecht und Charakter (Sex and Character). Not only does Der Untergeher allude to Weininger and Wagner, but it features intertextual references to Thomas Mann's short story “Wälsungenblut” (“The Blood of the Walsungs”), which blends Wagnerianism, Judaism, and musical discourse. Wertheimer's incestuous relationship with his sister and his musical epigonism are prefigured in “Wälsungenblut.”