The Dilemma of Intellectual Opposition: A Comparative Analysis of the Struggle for Humanity and Aesthetics in the Writings of Virginia Woolf and Thomas Mann - Softcover

Konzett, Melanie

9783639053654: The Dilemma of Intellectual Opposition: A Comparative Analysis of the Struggle for Humanity and Aesthetics in the Writings of Virginia Woolf and Thomas Mann

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3639053656 ISBN 13: 9783639053654

Publisher: VDM Verlag, 2008

This essay discusses the impact of fascism and war on German and English literature. In particular, it analyses the dilemma of intellectual opposition during the 1930s and 1940s referring to works by Thomas Mann and Virginia Woolf. Applying a wide range of critical material, the argument focuses on close textual studies in order to examine the authors struggle for humanity and aesthetics. The first chapter provides the reader with the essential historical context and draws the line between political events and the authors respective standpoints. The second chapter highlights the authors attempts to predict and prevent war in their art. The third chapter assesses whether the Joseph tetralogy and The Years show attitudes that can be identified as escapist or whether the contemporary diffculties are implicitly rather than explicitly addressed. In Between the Acts and Dr Faustus the contemporary situation is approached directly, which is highlighted in the fourth chapter of this thesis. In the conclusion the main arguments of the essay are summarized. This book can be recommended to students of English Literature and History as well as scholars of the field.

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About the Author:

Melanie Konzett studied English Literature with History at the University of Westminster in London, UK. The native Austrian gained a Bachelor of Arts (BA) with first class honours.

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