'AN ACCEPTABLE JOB'? THE FIRST ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THOMAS MANN'S DAS GESETZ

In recent years an increasing amount of attention has been devoted to the English translations of Thomas Mann's works. Most of the Studies published to date have focused on the renditions of his established translator, Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter, and have restricted themselves to Mann's major texts. However, Mann's Das Gesetz-his only fictional text to appear in English before being published in German-is also highly interesting in this context. The article explores the genesis and characteristics of George R. Marek's original translation, referring to hitherto Unpublished material relating to the co-operation between Mann and his translator.