The Role of Political and Sexual Identity in the Works of Klaus Mann

Author

James R. Keller, CUNY Graduate CenterFollow

Date of Degree

1998

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Germanic Languages & Literatures

Advisor

Burton Pike

Committee Members

Dorothy James

Rolf Kieser

Subject Categories

German Language and Literature

Keywords

German Literature, Theatre and Performance Studies, Comparative Literature, Personality and Social Contexts

Abstract

This critical study of Klaus Mann attempts to determine the role of sexual and political identity in his works. By examining such recurrent thematic patterns as the work of art as progeny, supernatural births, the image of the writer as soldier and monk, or obsession with death, among others, the study finds in Klaus Mann a characteristic sense of "social self-identity." The study considers Mann's fiction and non-fiction prose, drama, and diaries to show the interrelationship between his political development as an anti-fascist and his sexual identity as a gay writer.

The theoretical approach to Mann's works contrasts earlier twentieth-century conceptions of personal identity, articulated by such writers as Erik Erikson, Karen Horney, and Erich Fromm, with more recent thinking on identity. These more current ideas include queer theory as developed primarily by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick and Judith Butler, and its application to Mann and his writing. The results are some interesting conclusions about the importance of sexual identity in literary production and the dynamics of sexual and political motifs.

Mann's position and role in his renown family and his relations with his sister Erika and father Thomas are investigated, along with the influence of Andre Gide in questions of sexual and political identity. Mann's writing career, which spanned the mid-century from Weimar Germany to the postwar period, has usually been interpreted from either sexual or political perspectives. This study focuses instead on the symbiosis of various identity factors in Mann. His leading publishing role among German writers in exile is discussed. The contribution of his oeuvre to literary modernism and cultural anti-fascism is analyzed in its specific instance of having originated from a gay writer.

Comments

Digital reproduction from the UMI microform.

Recommended Citation

Keller, James R., "The Role of Political and Sexual Identity in the Works of Klaus Mann" (1998). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/6348