DSc in Philology, Professor, Head of the Department of Foreign Literature of Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, Russia, St. Petersburg, kafedrazar-lit@yandex.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2216-646
This article examines the concept of militant humanism, which emerged as a response to a new phase in the crisis of humanistic thought triggered by the rise of fascism. Under the looming threat of dehumanization and barbarism, a discourse of new humanism began to take shape in German culture, intertwining several anti-fascist narratives united by the ambition to rethink and preserve the humanistic tradition. These include E.R. Curtius's "total humanism," W. Jaeger's "third humanism," S. Zweig's "humanism of conscience," and A.M. Gorky's "proletarian humanism," proclaimed at the First All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers. The term "militant humanism" gained prominence during subsequent discussions at the International Congress of Writers for the Defense of Culture (Paris, 1935) and was adopted by several anti-fascist writers. In Thomas Mann's work, militanter Humanismus becomes the key to bridging the gap between spiritual culture and socio-political practice, between the logic of humanistic thought and the biophysical flesh of the social organism, between spirit and life. Of particular relevance in this context is Mann's seminal novel, Doctor Faustus (1947).
Thomas Mann; crisis of humanism; humanistic discourse; militant humanism; life creativity.
Download textFor citing: Zherebin A.I. (2025) The anti-fascist ideologeme «militant humanism» and its conceptualization in the works of Thomas Mann. Human being: Image and essence. Humanitarian aspects. Moscow. INION RAN. Vol. 3 (63). pp. 201-223. DOI: 10.31249/chel/2025.03.12