Judith Marcus - Georg Lukács and Thomas Mann

Georg Lukacs and Thomas Mann, two of the great figures in the history of twentieth-century cultural life, had a complex literary relationship. In this study, Judith Marcus suggests that Manns character Leo Naphta in The Magic Mountain is modelled on Lukacs - the Jewish intellectual. Professor Marcus goes on to argue that Mann consistently portrayed this ideal type throughout his work as ironically containing a totalitarian personality which was inspired by radicalism, rigidity, dogmatism, and asceticism - all negative traits that Mann found in Lukacs and that prevented the growth of personal intimacy between these two men. Marcus study is largely based on Lukacs and Manns early work, on their correspondence, and on previously undiscovered, untranslated, and/or unpublished archival materials. Her research was carried out in three countries and in interviews conducted with Lukacs, Katja Mann, Ernst Bloch, and Arnold Hauser, among others.