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Dec. 5th, 2010
Thomas Mann and Germanness
Dec. 5th, 2010 09:17 pm“To be German means to do something for its own sake.”
-- Wagner
A reference to German idealism. A seed for fanaticism. When you are a fan of “Magic Mountain”, then you will have to deal with the German question sooner or later. Remember, where Thomas Mann is, there is Germany. Which raises the question: what is Germanness?
This can seem rather arcane, but it helps when you have had some interest in World War Two and the dark soul of Hitler, and that you are also a fan of William Shirer’s “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”. In this, we see a happy intersection through Thomas Mann when it comes to this complex of European history and the novel “Magic Mountain”. Although this does not make one an expert, at least this issue of Germanness is not all Greek to me, so to speak, and I am willing to try a little harder for Magic Mountain.
In Stephen Dowden’s book, Ulker Gokberk’s essay helps us to get a handle on this question of Mann’s philosophical and spiritual affinities. It was pleasing to learn that Dostoevsky gave a foundational answer to the question of German identity by calling it “the protesting empire”, as being in opposition to the Roman west, that aspect of the old Roman Empire, protesting against being culturally absorbed into that supposedly effeminate liberalism. And two back-to-back world wars is quite a protest!
Hitler necessarily takes up a lot of the oxygen when it comes to the German question, and I cannot pass it up. Was Hitler inevitable given this culture? Gokberk cites an essay by Theodor W. Adorno, who writes “while it is inexact to ascribe Hitler to the German national character as its fate, it is also no coincidence that he rose to power in Germany.”
An even better question: although Mann was certainly anti-Nazi, just how much of those nationalistic ideals did he truly disavow? And I take it that remains a mystery in Thomas Mann studies. For me, anyone who can write “Magic Mountain” cannot have a hate-ruled soul, and so I’m not biting my nails over the debate.
-- Wagner
A reference to German idealism. A seed for fanaticism. When you are a fan of “Magic Mountain”, then you will have to deal with the German question sooner or later. Remember, where Thomas Mann is, there is Germany. Which raises the question: what is Germanness?
This can seem rather arcane, but it helps when you have had some interest in World War Two and the dark soul of Hitler, and that you are also a fan of William Shirer’s “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”. In this, we see a happy intersection through Thomas Mann when it comes to this complex of European history and the novel “Magic Mountain”. Although this does not make one an expert, at least this issue of Germanness is not all Greek to me, so to speak, and I am willing to try a little harder for Magic Mountain.
In Stephen Dowden’s book, Ulker Gokberk’s essay helps us to get a handle on this question of Mann’s philosophical and spiritual affinities. It was pleasing to learn that Dostoevsky gave a foundational answer to the question of German identity by calling it “the protesting empire”, as being in opposition to the Roman west, that aspect of the old Roman Empire, protesting against being culturally absorbed into that supposedly effeminate liberalism. And two back-to-back world wars is quite a protest!
Hitler necessarily takes up a lot of the oxygen when it comes to the German question, and I cannot pass it up. Was Hitler inevitable given this culture? Gokberk cites an essay by Theodor W. Adorno, who writes “while it is inexact to ascribe Hitler to the German national character as its fate, it is also no coincidence that he rose to power in Germany.”
An even better question: although Mann was certainly anti-Nazi, just how much of those nationalistic ideals did he truly disavow? And I take it that remains a mystery in Thomas Mann studies. For me, anyone who can write “Magic Mountain” cannot have a hate-ruled soul, and so I’m not biting my nails over the debate.
Thomas Mann and Germanness
Dec. 5th, 2010 09:17 pm“To be German means to do something for its own sake.”
-- Wagner
A reference to German idealism. A seed for fanaticism. When you are a fan of “Magic Mountain”, then you will have to deal with the German question sooner or later. Remember, where Thomas Mann is, there is Germany. Which raises the question: what is Germanness?
This can seem rather arcane, but it helps when you have had some interest in World War Two and the dark soul of Hitler, and that you are also a fan of William Shirer’s “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”. In this, we see a happy intersection through Thomas Mann when it comes to this complex of European history and the novel “Magic Mountain”. Although this does not make one an expert, at least this issue of Germanness is not all Greek to me, so to speak, and I am willing to try a little harder for Magic Mountain.
In Stephen Dowden’s book, Ulker Gokberk’s essay helps us to get a handle on this question of Mann’s philosophical and spiritual affinities. It was pleasing to learn that Dostoevsky gave a foundational answer to the question of German identity by calling it “the protesting empire”, as being in opposition to the Roman west, that aspect of the old Roman Empire, protesting against being culturally absorbed into that supposedly effeminate liberalism. And two back-to-back world wars is quite a protest!
Hitler necessarily takes up a lot of the oxygen when it comes to the German question, and I cannot pass it up. Was Hitler inevitable given this culture? Gokberk cites an essay by Theodor W. Adorno, who writes “while it is inexact to ascribe Hitler to the German national character as its fate, it is also no coincidence that he rose to power in Germany.”
An even better question: although Mann was certainly anti-Nazi, just how much of those nationalistic ideals did he truly disavow? And I take it that remains a mystery in Thomas Mann studies. For me, anyone who can write “Magic Mountain” cannot have a hate-ruled soul, and so I’m not biting my nails over the debate.
-- Wagner
A reference to German idealism. A seed for fanaticism. When you are a fan of “Magic Mountain”, then you will have to deal with the German question sooner or later. Remember, where Thomas Mann is, there is Germany. Which raises the question: what is Germanness?
This can seem rather arcane, but it helps when you have had some interest in World War Two and the dark soul of Hitler, and that you are also a fan of William Shirer’s “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”. In this, we see a happy intersection through Thomas Mann when it comes to this complex of European history and the novel “Magic Mountain”. Although this does not make one an expert, at least this issue of Germanness is not all Greek to me, so to speak, and I am willing to try a little harder for Magic Mountain.
In Stephen Dowden’s book, Ulker Gokberk’s essay helps us to get a handle on this question of Mann’s philosophical and spiritual affinities. It was pleasing to learn that Dostoevsky gave a foundational answer to the question of German identity by calling it “the protesting empire”, as being in opposition to the Roman west, that aspect of the old Roman Empire, protesting against being culturally absorbed into that supposedly effeminate liberalism. And two back-to-back world wars is quite a protest!
Hitler necessarily takes up a lot of the oxygen when it comes to the German question, and I cannot pass it up. Was Hitler inevitable given this culture? Gokberk cites an essay by Theodor W. Adorno, who writes “while it is inexact to ascribe Hitler to the German national character as its fate, it is also no coincidence that he rose to power in Germany.”
An even better question: although Mann was certainly anti-Nazi, just how much of those nationalistic ideals did he truly disavow? And I take it that remains a mystery in Thomas Mann studies. For me, anyone who can write “Magic Mountain” cannot have a hate-ruled soul, and so I’m not biting my nails over the debate.