Review of the third Thomas Mann Lecture
On 27 November, the third Thomas Mann Lecture at ETH Zurich was held. The lecture focussed on the visual media that Thomas Mann used very early and consciously for his public self-portrayal as an author.
Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Görner of the Queen Mary University in London discussed two aspects of visual media in the Semper Aula in a well-attended lecture. He began by discussing the first-ever external page sound film to feature a German author, which was made with the collaboration of Thomas Mann in 1929. He continued by placing Thomas Mann’s text “Okkulte Erlebnisse” (English: “And Experience in the Occult”) in a new context, addressing the visual images common in occult media. Thematically, the contribution was a perfect fit for the exhibition "Thomas Mann und Amerika" at Strauhof Zurich, which has been running since October until 19 January 2020 and is also strongly oriented towards Thomas Mann's media appearance.
The entire third Thomas Mann Lecture was recorded on video and is available to view via ETH Zurich’s video portal.
