In 1926: living at the edge of time - Monoskop

AUTHENTICITY = ARTIFICIALITY
(LIFE)
In Thomas Mann's story "Unordnung und fruhes Leid," Professor Cornelius
is fascinated by one of the guests at a dance party organized by
his teenaged children. [see Gomina] The appearance of this young man,
an actor named Herzl, oscillates between the world of Authenticity and
the world of Artificiality. Cornelius has heard that Herzl specializes in
"character roles" -roles that embody certain aspects of the human psyche.
At the same time, Herzl's behavior is clearly intended to convey an
impression of profound melancholy. But while melancholy and character
roles ally Herzl with Authenticity, Cornelius notices that this young
fellow with his "huge, passionate, and deeply melancholic eyes" has
applied cosmetics to his face: "those dull carmine highlights on his
cheeks can be nothing but makeup" (Mann, 506). Potentially hidinginstead
of expressing-his authentic feelings, the rouge on Herzl's skin
turns him into an icon of Artificiality: "Odd," muses the professor.
"You'd think a man would be one thing or the other-not both a
melancholic and a user of cosmetics."
Such blurring of the boundary between Authenticity and Artificiality
often provides aesthetic pleasure. Filippo Marinetti, in an interview with
the newspaper Jornal do Brasil, explains his preference for Rio de Janeiro
over Sao Paulo (which he describes as "an artificial metropolis, erected
with ceaseless titanic effort") by repeatedly emphasizing the conjunction
of exuberant nature and modern technology: "Rio de Janeiro impresses
me with a combination of phenomena that is unique in the world.
358