On 23 May 1943, while living in exile in Southern California, Thomas Mann began writing Doktor Faustus: Das Leben des deutschen Tonsetzers Adrian Leverkühn erzählt von einem Freunde [Doctor Faustus: The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkühn as Told by a Friend]. Mann’s plan of a Faust-novel was conceived in 1904 when he contemplated turning the Faust theme, famed in German literature through the chapbook about Dr. Johann Faust (1587) and Goethe’s drama Faust (1808/32), into the narrative of an ambitious artist who, in contracting syphilis and conspiring with the devil, overcomes creative stagnation and produces innovative art. Mann’s desire to emulate Goethe, to underscore his own

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Published 11 September 2003

Citation: Mundt, Hannelore G.. "Doktor Faustus [Doctor Faustus]". The Literary Encyclopedia. 11 September 2003.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11472, accessed 9 February 2010.]