THE CITY VERSUS THE SMALL TOWN (IN THE LAND OF COCKAIGNE VS. THE SMALL TOWN BY HEINRICH MANN)
THE CITY VERSUS THE SMALL TOWN (IN THE LAND OF COCKAIGNE VS. THE SMALL TOWN BY HEINRICH MANN)

Summary/Abstract: At first sight the novel In the Land of Cockaigne seems to depict the life of an ordinary parvenu, but as in H. Mann’s other novel The Small Town the woman and her sexuality outlined the decadent society at the end of the 19th century. The eroticism of both spaces acts as a catalysor on all the inhabitants, and this open sexuality unveils people’s passionate nature and their desire to break all the social limitations. The desired object is always a woman, thus she gains importance in the context of the 19th century power relations and role-stereotypes. In both novels the woman’s sexuality derides the social restrictions and the absent sexual education and furthermore the female characters refuse to limit their sexuality only to maternity, but they enhance it to an erotic form. The comparison of both locations also brings forth the pragmatic character of all human relationships developed in the novels, the whole society and culture at the end of the 19th century spinning around one major object: money.

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