In his acceptance speech for the Thomas Mann Prize in 2008, Daniel Kehlmann called the novel cycle Joseph and His Brothers an "unread masterpiece" and an "ignored novel of the century." Indeed, this four-volume work, totaling nearly 2,000 printed pages, may be the least known among Thomas Mann’s major novels. Begun in 1926 in Munich and continued in exile in Switzerland and the USA, Joseph and His Brothers is both a novel of its time and, paradoxically, Mann’s most timeless work.
In this epic, Thomas Mann rewrites the Old Testament’s story of Joseph, transforming it into a narrative of humanity that reaches far beyond the boundaries of Jewish cultural history. At the same time, Mann masterfully relates the story to his own present, reflecting on National Socialism, which forced him into exile, and on the United States, in which he placed great hope for the fight against the Nazi regime.
Presented as part of the public lecture series Thomas Mann – Milestones of His Work, organized by the Studium Generale at the University of Freiburg.
