Körpersemantiken in Klaus Manns Mephisto, Roman einer Karriere

Klaus Mann wrote Mephisto: Roman einer Karriere in 1936 and depicted the world of theater under a regime that constantly staged itself. Through a deal with the devil, the main character, Höfgen, sacrifices his ideals for a dazzling career. Mann describes faces and bodies with pedantic precision, thus outlining an anthropological typology: monsters appear in monstrous bodies and mere masks, while Höfgen deteriorates not only spiritually but also physically. In contrast, honest characters display imperfect but natural and pleasant bodies and facial expressions. Despite his condemnation of the regime, Mann adheres to the physiognomic beliefs of his time: physical and facial flaws display moral decay.