Mann Buddenbrooks

1. Life and works; 2. Retrospect on the nineteenth century; 3. The evolution of the novel; 4. The theme of decline; 5. Stages in decline; 6. Thomas Buddenbrook; 7. Narrative technique; 8. The Buddenbrooks' decline: a typical story?; 9. Literary background and reading public; 10. Buddenbrooks and the 'crisis of the novel'.