Thomas Mann Lectures
The Thomas Mann Lectures at ETH Zurich
The Thomas Mann Lectures see internationally renowned literary scholars invited to lecture at ETH Zurich every year. The series of lectures is organised by the Thomas Mann Archive in collaboration with the Professorship of Literary and Cultural Studies at ETH Zurich. The lectures address fundamental and topical issues inherent in Thomas Mann’s oeuvre and are aimed both at the interested general public as well as an academic audience.
Seventh Thomas Mann Lecture
Wednesday, 22 November 2023
18.00–19.00
Dr Veronika Fuechtner, Chair of Comparative Literature and Associate Professor of German Studies at Dartmouth (USA).
Like no other writer of the 20th century, Thomas Mann represents a German cultural heritage – not only his literature, but also his biography, which is closely linked to central identity-forming moments in German history. And yet there are parts of his story that have been left out: the Brazilian origins of his mother, Julia Mann, her connection to the colonial economy and slavery, and the fundamental influence of her literary production. Thomas Mann's literary processing of migration and foreignness reflects rejection and identification, shame and fascination in complex ways. From a Brazilian perspective, Mann has therefore sometimes been seen as a Brazilian writer, and in another way he could also be considered an American writer.
In her lecture, Dr Veronika Fuechtner illuminates Thomas Mann as a figure of world literature who belongs not only to the German-speaking world, but to many places. A must for all those interested in literature and culture who would like to take a new look at Thomas Mann.
Programme
Welcome
Dr Rafael Ball, Director of the ETH Library
Introduction
Prof. Dr Andreas Kilcher, Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Keynote lecture
Who owns Thomas Mann?
Dr Veronika Fuechtner, Dartmouth (USA)
Followed by an apéro.
Sixth Thomas Mann Lecture
Wednesday, 30 November 2022
18.00–19.00
Prof. Dr Dr h.c. mult. Jan Assmann, Egyptologist, Religious and Cultural Studies Scholar
This year, the Thomas Mann Lecture will once again allow for attendance. Jan Assmann will give his lecture “Thomas Mann’s ‘Journey To The East’ – The Joseph Novels” on 30 November 2022 at 18.00,at the Audi Max of ETH Zurich. The event can be watched online at the same time. The link to participate virtually will be posted on this page one week before the event.
Jan Assmann and Aleida Assmann have been researching cultural memory together for decades. Their collaborative work has shaped cultural studies around the world. Jan Assmann’s papers on Thomas Mann’s relationship to ancient Egyptian culture has made him an essential contributor to research on Thomas Mann.
When Thomas Mann told his friend and fellow writer Hermann Hesse in a letter that the second part of Mann’s Egyptian novel tetralogy, Joseph and His Brothers, contained a reference to Hesse’s work, he was referring to Steppenwolf. And when Hesse’s novel The Glass Bead Game was published in 1944, Mann first saw its connection to his own novel in progress Doctor Faustus.
In his lecture, Jan Assmann will examine previously less well-known ways in which the two authors’ works refer to each other, and will explain the relationship between Hesse’s The Glass Bead Game and Mann’s Joseph novels.
Programme
Welcome
Dr Rafael Ball, Director of ETH Library
Introduction
Prof. Dr Andreas Kilcher, Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Keynote lecture
Thomas Mann’s ‘Journey To The East’ – The Joseph Novels
Prof. Dr Dr h.c. mult. Jan Assmann, Egyptologist, Religious and Cultural Studies Scholar
Fifth Thomas Mann Lecture
Tuesday, 16 November 2021
18.00–19.00
This year, ETH Zurich’s Thomas Mann Lecture will once again be held as a virtual event, with Professor Judith Ryan joining us live from Harvard University. Her lecture, “Thomas Mann and crowd psychology” will be held in German. Simultaneous interpretation into English will be provided. In her lecture, Professor Ryan discusses how Thomas Mann analysed contemporary theories of crowd psychology in his novella Mario and the Magician, and how an understanding of mass psychology phenomena was already apparent in his first novel, Buddenbrooks.
Programme
Welcome
Dr Rafael Ball, Director of ETH Library
Introduction
Prof. Dr Andreas Kilcher, Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Keynote lecture
Aufklärung und Gegenaufklärung auf dem «Zauberberg»
Prof. Dr Judith Ryan, Robert K. and Dale J. Weary Professor of German and Comparative Literature, Harvard University.
Fourth Thomas Mann Lecture
Wednesday, 04 November 2020
In the novel “The Magic Mountain”, the protagonist Hans Castorp follows heated debates between the humanist Settembrini and the Jesuit Naphta. These opponents represent respectively the Enlightenment (associated with France and Italy) and the reactionary, even totalitarian Counter-Enlightenment. The lecture will explore Thomas Mann’s understanding of both concepts and, turning to the present, argue for the undiminished relevance of the Enlightenment in an age of Counter-Enlightenment populism.
The lecture will be given in German.
Programme
Welcome
Dr. Rafael Ball, Director of ETH Library
Introduction
Prof. Dr. Andreas Kilcher, Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Keynote lecture
Aufklärung und Gegenaufklärung auf dem «Zauberberg»
Prof. Dr. Ritchie Robertson, Schwarz-Taylor Professor of German, University of Oxford, Fellow of The Queen’s College
Third Thomas Mann Lecture
Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Görner, Queen Mary University of London
How did one of the world authors of the 20th century stage himself in the media? The lecture shows that Thomas Mann's irony became visible not only in his work, but also in his handling of visual media.
The lecture will be given in German.
Programme
18.00
Welcome
Dr. Rafael Ball, Director of ETH Library
Introduction
Prof. Dr. Andreas Kilcher, Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Keynote lecture
Sich ins Bild rücken und es beim Wort nehme. Thomas Mann und die visuelle Medialität
Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Görner, Professor of German with Comparative Literature and Director of the Centre for Anglo-German Cultural Relations in the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film, Queen Mary University of London
19.00
Apéro riche
in the foyer of the Semper-Aula
Second Thomas Mann Lecture
Wednesday, 21 November 2018
Keynote lecture
Prof. Stanley Corngold, Princeton University
The lecture examines the legacy left behind by Thomas Mann during his extremely productive three-year exile in Princeton: literary works and political statements, anecdotes, historical items and his legacy.
The lecture will be given in German.
Programme
18.00
Welcome
Dr. Rafael Ball, Director of ETH Library
Introduction
Prof. Dr. Andreas Kilcher, Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Second Thomas Mann Lecture
Thomas Mann im Lichte unserer Erfahrung. Zum amerikanischen Exil
Stanley Corngold, Professor of German and Comparative Literature, Princeton University
19.00
Apéro riche
in the foyer of the Semper-Aula
Wednesday, 13 December 2017
Opening talk
Prof. Russell A. Berman, Stanford University
Starting from the dichotomy of artist/citizen, the talk tackles the questions as to how much civil society has to do with culture, how freedom of art affects political freedom and what threats freedom faces today. The lecture forges an arc through the complete works of Thomas Mann and focuses on Thomas Mann in the current context as an author of freedom in unfree times.
The lecture will be given in German.
Programme
18.00
Welcome
Dr. Stefan Wiederkehr, Head Collection and Archives of the ETH Library
Introduction
Prof. Dr. Andreas Kilcher, Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Thomas Mann Lecture
Thomas Mann – Literature and Freedom
Russell A. Berman, Professor of Comparative Literature and German Studies, Stanford University
19.00
Apéro riche
in the foyer of the Semper-Aula