«IßT MAN DENN ANSTÄNDIG BEI EUCH HIER OBEN?» CORPO E PASTI MOSTRUOSI NEL ROMANZO DER ZAUBERBERG DI THOMAS MANN

The eating sphere gives permits to focus on some of the most important themes of Thomas Mann’s novel Der Zauberberg (1924) and to put them in a new perspective, rich in meanings and references. Meals and food becomes the favourite scenario for the allegorical moment. The meals have a direct relationship with the most essential and animal aspects of humain beings, with their ‘nature’; the meals are a very effective “device for the creation of sense” (Neumann), which refers to a very large spectrum of problematics, like the trasformation of nature in culture. Cultural actions like “good manners”, (i.e. the pervasive control of body and behaviour) oppose to the “animality” emerging from the vital function of nourishing. The “civilised body” is also a manner of social distinction. The article reflects on this themes by analising some passages of the novel.