Ernst Bloch'un estetik anlayışı ışığında Thomas ve Heinrich Mann'ın eserleri: Büyülü Dağ ve Tebaa'ya ekspresyonizm tartışması üzerinden bir bakış

Since the concept of aesthetics emerged in the 18th century it was always discussed with its political background. Especially after the appearance of modern art the intersection between art and politics became inevitable. The economic and social crises in the last quarter of the 19th century followed by the two World Wars resulted in radical social upheavals in Europe. In this phase, which was marked by essential social changes, a similar process could be observed related to the function of art and the position of the artist. As a consequence, a widespread idea was that art was no longer in charge of depicting social processes according to classical art forms. As a result, modern artists tended to use new forms and techniques in almost every field of arts. Meanwhile, in Germany a serious and intense debate started in the face of this radical developments in arts. On the one hand there were criticisms made about the newly emerging avant-garde art, but on the other hand many thinkers who had political influence supported the new practices. The most influential essays on this topic formed the so-called Expressionism Debate which Ernst Bloch also contributed to and as a Marxist thinker he positioned himself in this debate pro avant-garde art, which is striking and needs to be considered, as avantgarde-art in many aspects does not coincide with Marxist aesthetics. The aim of this study is to analyze the works of Thomas Mann and Heinrich Mann published during the period 1910-1925, when artistic production was dominated by the expressionist style and to show the opponent elements in them. Der Untertan by Heinrich Mann and Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann contain elements which clarify the different points of view in the Expressionism Debate. This study presents the contradiction between Ernst Bloch and Georg Lukàcs, whose ideas form the core v contribution to the Expressionism Debate, shows the differences between the concepts of modernism and neoclassicism and exemplifies them with the analysis of the works of Heinrich Mann and Thomas Mann. The study presents an intense analysis of the aesthetic concepts which emerged in the last quarter of the 19th century and marked the first half of the 20th century. As a result, it has been found out that Der Untertan and Magic Mountain both represent a solution to the unsolved problems in the Expressionism Debate. The results have further shown that Bloch categorizes avant-garde art as progressive whereas he considers neoclassicist art rather to have a reactionary character. However, it has been found out that the works of Thomas Mann and Heinrich Mann, who adopt neoclassicist elements in their literary works, generally reflect a humanistic and progressive attitude. Ernst Bloch's idea of the Totum is unique and outstanding. In his The Principle of Hope he refers to classical literary works as the strongest representatives of the Totum. However, in the Expressionism Debate Bloch positioned himself against the works of Thomas and Heinrich Mann, which represent the totality and supported avant-garde art although it neglects the concept of totality. According to the results of this study the works of Thomas and Heinrich Mann reflect Bloch's ideas and his concept of the Totum. Keywords: Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann, Ernst Bloch, Expressionismusdebatte, Untertan, Zauberberg, Totum