Democracy in Heinrich Mann's Die kleine Stadt

Abstract

Socio-political novels of real literary merit which deal positively with the processes of democracy are very rare in German literature. The best and most successful one is quite probably Heinrich Mann's Die kleine Stadt.1 The reason this work has not been universally recognized as such is that Mann's reputation as a critic of the German Empire has overshadowed all his other achievements. Consequently most students of Heinrich Mann failed to see the obverse of this author's scathing attacks on the era of William II, although Heinrich's brother Thomas had mentioned jene geistige Wendung zum Demokratischen evident in Die kleine Stadt as early as 1910.2 A detailed study of one aspect of this novel will corroborate Thomas Mann's insight; it will demonstrate that the struggles between the four leading political characters in it are those fought out daily in free societies; that, contrary to the opinion of some scholars, Heinrich Mann furnished a first-rate guide book for the democratic life.8 Before dealing with the main theme one does well to tackle two related problems which arise frequently in the Heinrich Mann literature. The first has to do with the role of the artist in society, and especially in a society moving toward ever stronger democratization; the second concerns Mann's choice of an Italian rather than a German setting for his novel.