From Self-Denial to Political Freedom: The Odyssey of Thomas Mann

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.