"Deutschlands ganze Tugend und Schoenheit entfaltet sich erst im Kriege". I "Pensieri di guerra" di Thomas Mann

Abstract

«Deutschlands ganze Tugend und Schönheit entfaltet sich erst im Kriege». Thomas Mann’s Thoughts in Wartime by Francesca Tucci Thomas Mann’s writings of a journalistic nature, produced on the day following the outbreak of the conflict, provide one of the most significant cross-sections of “Culture in wartime”. These writings are remarkably topical, and, as regards analogy of tone and theme, they are in perfect accordance with the militarist output of the time. However, a more profound level of signification can be traced in these writings, and this allows the original nucleus of specifically Mannian themes, bound with a double-knot to the sphere of Art, to shine through as a constant presence and virtuosic variation.