Heinrich Mann and the Politics of Reaction

Abstract

The name Heinrich Mann (1871-1950) has today become almost synonymous with the politics of reason. As a novelist and essayist (whose reputation has since been overshadowed by that of his younger brother Thomas), Heinrich Mann was, in the I920S, perhaps one of the best known writers in Germany, and certainly one of the strongest defenders of the Republic. As an intellectual committed to the principles of ethical humanism, he cast his lot for 'congealed rationality' wherever and in whatever form it could be found. In Wilhelmine Germany this meant that he joined with independent left-leaning intellectuals who hoped to confront the raw power of the state with morality and rational intelligence.1 In the German Revolution of I918-I9, it meant he sided with the Politische Rdte geistiger Arbeiter (political councils of intellectual workers), who planned to set up a new society based on the ideals of humanitarian socialism.2 During the Weimar period it meant that he defended what he considered the rational framework of the Republic against 'irrational' attacks from the left and right. In each case, his guideline for the good society was rationality. Whatever was founded on reason and tempered by moral concern would necessarily serve the best interests of mankind. This is the image of Mann which remains today, some 20 years after his death. It is one which is revered both by German liberal democrats, who continue to draw on his heritage, and by communist party Literaten of the DDR who also claim him as one