THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE MOUNTAIN IN THE PHILOSOPHICAL NOVEL ‘THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN’ BY THOMAS MANN

This paper explores the multifaceted image of the mountain in Thomas Mann’s novel ‘The Magic Mountain’, focusing on its mythological, philosophical, and literary dimensions. The author considers the mountain as a sacred symbol that fuses ritual ascent motifs, semiotic structure (V. N. Toporov), the concept of chronotope (M. M. Bakhtin), and existential-religious interpretations (M. Eliade, C. G. Jung). The mountain space in Mann’s text combines a metaphysical vertical encouraging the protagonist’s search for higher meaning with historical reality that prevents him from eternally remaining above time. Through illness and confrontation with philosophical, political, and emotional conflicts, Hans Castorp reevaluates his worldview, recognizing the tragic nature of existence and the necessity of descending back into reality. The article underscores how genuine maturity arises from the tension between the mountain’s sacred distance and the unyielding currents of history, while also demonstrating the universal scope of the mountain myth as an archetypal model of human experience.