- Joseph and His Brothers
"Joseph and His Brothers" ("Joseph und seine Brüder") is a four-part novel by
Thomas Mann , published over the course of 16 years. Mann retells the familiar stories ofGenesis , fromJacob to Joseph (chapters 27–50). Mann considered it his greatest work.The tetralogy consists of:
* "Die Geschichten Jaakobs" [written December 1926 to October 1930, Genesis 27–36]
* "Der junge Joseph" [written January 1931 to June 1932, Genesis 37]
* "Joseph in Ägypten" [written July 1932 to 23 August 1936, Genesis 38–40]
* "Joseph der Ernährer" [written 10 August 1940 to 4. January 1943, Genesis 41–50]Mann's presentation of the
Ancient Orient and the origins of Judaism is influenced byAlfred Jeremias ' 1904 "Das Alte Testament im Lichte des Alten Orients", emphasizing Babylonian influence in the genesis of Genesis, and by the work ofDmitry Merezhkovsky .Mann sets the story in the 14th century BC and makes
Akhenaten the pharaoh who makes Joseph his vice-regent. Joseph is aged 28 at the ascension of Akhenaton which would mean he was born in ca. 1380 BC in standardEgyptian chronology , and Jacob in the mid 1420s BC. Other contemporary rulers mentioned includeTushratta and Suppiluliuma.A dominant topic of the novel is Mann's exploration of the status of
mythology and his presentation of theLate Bronze Age mindset with regard to mythical truths and the emergence ofmonotheism . Events of the story of Genesis are frequently associated and identified with other mythic topics.Central is the notion of
underworld and the mythicaldescent to the underworld . Jacob's sojourn in Mesopotamia (hiding from the wrath ofEsau ) is paralleled with Joseph's life in Egypt (exiled by the jealousy of his brothers), and on a smaller scale his captivity in the well, are further identified with the "hellraid" ofInanna -Ishtar -Demeter , the MesopotamianTammuz myth, the JewishBabylonian captivity as well as theHarrowing of Hell ofJesus Christ .Abraham is repeatedly presented as the man who "discovered God" (aHanif , or discoverer of monotheism). Jacob as Abraham's heir is charged with further elaborating this discovery. Joseph is surprised to find Akhenaten on the same path (although Akhenaten is not the "right person" for the path), and Joseph's success with the pharaoh is largely due to the latter's sympathy for "Abrahamic" theology. Such a connection of (proto-)Judaism and Atenism had been suggested before Mann, and notably just before Mann began work on the tetralogy's fourth part bySigmund Freud in his "Moses and Monotheism " (1939), although there Akhenaten is postulated as a contemporary ofMoses (whereas the usual postulate concerning the contemporary pharaoh of Moses, also adopted by Thomas Mann in his novella "Das Gesetz" (1944), isRamesses II ).As Joseph is saved from the well and sold to Egypt, he adopts a new name,
Osarseph , replacing the Yo- element with a reference toOsiris to indicate that he is now in the underworld. This change of name to account for changing circumstances encourages Amenhotep to change his own name to Akhenaten.The tetralogy closes with a detailed account of the
Blessing of Jacob , his death and funeral. The characters of the individual brothers are determined by epitheta taken from the text of the Blessing of Jacob throughout the text; thus Reuben is "turbulent as the waters" (and associated with Aquarius by Jacob). Simeon and Levi are known as the "twins" (and associated with Gemini), even though they are a year apart, and portrayed as violent bullies. Juda is a lion (Leo), and inherits Abraham's blessing since Jacob disrobes his elder brothers of their birthright. Zebulun shows predilection for Phoenicians and seafaring. Jacob calls "bony" Issachar a donkey to evoke "Asellus", γ and δ ofCancer . Dan is sharp-witted and "suited as a judge" (Libra). Asher is fond of dainties. Joseph is blessed by Jacob in his dual aspect of male (Dumuzi , god of seed and harvest), with reference to Taurus, and female (since for Jacob, his beloved Rachel lives on in Joseph, and in his affinity with the nourishing Earth), with reference toVirgo . As Jacob comes to Benjamin, his strength is almost gone, and with his last breath he rather incoherently compares his youngest son with a wolf, partly because ofLupus inScorpio .Editions
*"Die Geschichten Jaakobs". S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main. ISBN 3-596-29435-5
*"Der junge Joseph". S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main. ISBN 3-10-048230-1
*"Joseph in Ägypten". S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main. ISBN 3-10-048232-8
*"Joseph der Ernährer". S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main. ISBN 3-10-048233-6English translations:
*Translated by H. T. Lowe-Porter. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1948. ISBN 0-394-43132-4.
*Translated byJohn E. Woods . New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-4001-9.Literature
* Jan Assmann: "Thomas Mann und Ägypten. Mythos und Monotheismus in den Josephsromanen". C. H. Beck Verlag, München 2006. ISBN 3406549772
*Thomas L. Jeffers, “God, Man, the Devil—and Thomas Mann,” "Commentary" (November 2005), 77-83.
* Hermann Kurzke: "Mondwanderungen. Ein Wegweiser durch Thomas Manns Josephs-Roman". Fischer Verlag Frankfurt am Main 2004. ISBN 3-596-16011-1
*Bernd-Jürgen Fischer: "Handbuch zu Thomas Manns "Josephsromanen". Tübingen/Basel: Francke 2002. ISBN 3-7720-2776-8
* R. Cunningham: "Myth and Politics in T.M.s 'Joseph und seine Brüder"', Bern/Frankfurt a.M. 1985
* E. Murdaugh: "Salvation in the Secular: The Moral Law in T.M.s 'Joseph und seine Brüder"', Stuttgart 1976.ee also
Citations of parallels between Torah portions and pages in "Joseph and His Brothers" at the "Further reading" section of these pages: Bereishit, Noach,
Lech-Lecha ,Vayeira ,Chayei Sarah ,Toledot ,Vayetze ,Vayishlach ,Vayeshev ,Miketz ,Vayigash ,Vayechi External links
*de icon [http://www.bis.uni-oldenburg.de/bisverlag/unireden/ur45/dokument.pdf Friedemann W. Golka: Die biblische Josephsgeschichte und Thomas Manns Roman]
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