Abstract
By the end of the nineteenth century, the tradition Leonard Krieger described as the “German idea of freedom” had lost much of it former coherence. As some of the century’s greatest artists and thinkers responded to the changing conditions of their time to adapt and give expression to their conception of freedom in such varied creative activities as poetry architecture, music, and philosophy, the tradition became ever more differentiated and complex. Thomas Mann absorbed this multifaceted tradition in all its complexity. From his early years as an enthusiastic supporter of German cultural nationalism to the final decades of his life, he drew on this tradition to express some of the most important themes of his novels, short stories, and essays. As he explored and adapted the meaning of German freedom over the course of his long and eventful life, his interpretation of it evolved from seeing freedom primarily as an escape from life, as Schopenhauer and Wagner had done, to an increasing acceptance of Nietzsche’s existential, freely chosen affirmation of life. And then, in the aftermath of World War I, he moved beyond Nietzsche’s apolitical stance to plunge into the world of political engagement, using all the force of his powerful intellect and personality to oppose the rise of the Nazi movement.
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Notes
T. A. Mann, Stockholmer Gesamtausgabe Der Werke, Vol. 1: Buddenbrooks: Roman (hereafter Buddenbrooks S.G.) (Franklurt: S. Fischer Verlag, 1959), 115.
Thomas Mann, Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Tamily, trans. John W. Woods (hereafter Buddenbrooks) (New York: Knopf, 1993), 122.
For the history olthese events see Kenneth B. Beaton, “Die Zeitgeschichte und ihr Integrierung im Roman,” in Buddenbrooks-Handbuch, ed. Ken Moulden and Gero von Wilpert (Stuttgart: Alfred Kröner Verlag, 1988), 204–5.
Peter de Mendelssohn, Der Zauberer das Leben des Deutschen Schriftstellers Thomas Mann (Frankfurt: S. Fischer, 1975), part 1, 54.
Nigel Hamilton, The Brothers Mann, the Lives of Heinrich and Thomas Mann 1871–1950 and 1875–1955 (London: Secker & Warburg, 1978), 10.
Thomas Mann, Reflections of a Nonpolitical Man, trans. Walter D. Morris (New York: Frederick Ungar, 1983), 202.
Ludwig van Beethoven, Fidelio (New York: RCA Red Seal, 1960), 20, program notes by Marcia Davenport, synopsis, and libretto with English version by Edward J. Dent.
Richard Wagner, Deutsche Kunst und Deutsche Politik, Gesammelte Schriften und Dichtungen, ed. Wolfgang Golther (Berlin: Deutsche Verlagshaus Bong & Co., 1900), vol. 8, 106.
Erich Heller, Thomas Mann: The Ironic German (Cleveland and New York: The World Publishing Co., 1961), 21.
Thomas Mann, “Lübeck als Geistige Lebensform,” Altes und Neues, Stockholmer Gesamtausgabe Der Werke von Thomas Mann (Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag, 1953), 297.
Thomas Mann, Essays, trans. H. T. Lowe-Porter (New York: Vintage Books, 1958), 271.
Thomas Mann, Gesammelte Werke, vol. 4 Novellen (hereafter Death G.W.) (Berlin: S. Fischer Verlag, 1925) 349.
Thomas Mann, Death in Venice and Seven Other Stories (New York: Vintage International, 1989), 5.
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy and the Genealogy of Morals (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1956), 54.
Thomas Mann, Joseph and His Brothers (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1948), VII.
Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain [Der Zauberberg] (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1958), 488.
Thomas Mann, The Coming Victory of Democracy (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1938), 57–58.
Thomas Mann, Versuch Über Schiller (Berlin: S. Fischer Verlag, 1955) 24.
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© 2013 William J. McGrath, Celia Applegate, Stephanie Frontz, and Suzanne Marchand
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McGrath, W.J. (2013). From Self-Denial to Political Freedom: The Odyssey of Thomas Mann. In: Applegate, C., Frontz, S., Marchand, S. (eds) German Freedom and the Greek Ideal. Palgrave Studies in Cultural and Intellectual History. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137369482_6
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