Adrian il seduttore. Arte e demoniaco tra Mann e Kierkegaard

The essay draws parallels between Adrian Leverkühn, the protagonist of Doktor Faustus, and the seducers described by Kierkegaard in Enten-Eller (in Don Giovanni and in The Seducer’s Diary). However, examining the references to Kierkegaard in key passages of Mann’s novel reveals a significant difference between the nineteenth-century Kierkegaardian seducer, who represents a pathological human type, and Mann’s seducer, who symbolises the crisis of a whole world and civilisation. Although he is not among the most studied by critics, Kierkegaard is an important philosophical reference for Thomas Mann. Comparing Mann’s work with that of Kierkegaard highlights the specificities of the German writer’s approach. In the harsh twentieth century, reflection on seduction and art can no longer have existential and religious connotations. Instead, they are closely linked to politics and history.