Contradiction and Synthesis. Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain and the Search for German Identity

Abstract

The article is an attempt to treat Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain as a novel about Germany. According to its author the spiritual condition of Germany personified by Hans Castorp was established during the history through the collision of the elements of Western and Eastern cultures. The first protest against the West was raised by Martin Luter in his critique that led to the internalization of German life. As a consequence, the culture of the nation was dominated by music. This domination mirrored the process in which both elements characteristic for both antagonistic spheres, namely arbitrariness and order, were united as in music counterpoint. Thomas Mann’s idea of humanism, being the continuation of Goethe’s and Nietzsche’s postulates, is a project of their synthesis.