| Thomas Mann's «Joseph Und Seine Brueder» and the Phallic Theology of the Old Testament Contributor(s): University of Stanford (Editor), Bridges, George (Author) |
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ISBN: 3906755029 ISBN-13: 9783906755021 Publisher: Peter Lang Group Ag, International Academic P OUR PRICE: $92.10 Product Type: Paperback Published: September 1995 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | European - German - Religion | Biblical Criticism & Interpretation - Old Testament - Religion | Christianity - Literature & The Arts |
| Dewey: 833.912 |
| LCCN: 95009301 |
| Series: Stanford German Studies |
| Physical Information: 284 pages |
| Themes: - Religious Orientation - Christian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: When Thomas Mann began to work on his "Joseph" novel, he was motivated to do so by the image of the beautiful seventeen-year-old youth and the erotic attraction this image exercised on him personally. He undertook to retell the biblical story of Joseph in order to explore the meaning of this attraction. In the phallic theology of the Old Testament - Israel's covenant with Yahweh was a sacred marriage, outwardly marked by circumcision, for the purpose of mutual sanctification and aggrandizement - Mann discovered the framework of a metaphysics of homoerotic desire. This book explores the many implications Mann found in his biblical source, including the paradoxical notion that a certain degree of suppression of the original desire is required if it is to continue to play its all-important role as a motivating force. |