| Thomas Mann confronted reactionary politics in the years following the First World War in deep concern at the fate of myth. Mann found in myth sources of creation and vision which, in the abuses of fascism, could become the means of crude manipulations. German fascists would drive Mann into exile, but he remained immersed in his country's philosophical and cultural traditions, and it became his purpose to return myth to humanity by returning to the origins of religion and historical awareness with the myth of Joseph.; This thesis traces Mann's thought as it achieves the needed "re-humanization" of myth with Joseph. The author's words and those of later critics show that, although German fascism made uses of myth that seemed to lay firm claim to it, Thomas Mann could renew myth by treating it with an irony that expressed the movement of truth. |
