--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Mann was less interested, I think, in…" description: "\"Mann was less interested, I think, in constructing any kind of \"portrait of an age\" than he was in delineating an individual consciousness in which pro..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/498/philip-kitcher-4028_age_mann-was-less-interested-i-think-in-cons_1170617.jpg" --- # Mann was less interested, I think, in constructing any… ![“Mann was less interested, I think, in constructing any kind of "portrait of an age" than he was in delineating an individual consciousness in which profound struggles about identity and direction arise - struggles that Mann himself had not only reflected on but felt keenly. Visconti takes up this…” quote by Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/498/philip-kitcher-4028_age_mann-was-less-interested-i-think-in-cons_1170617.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/498/philip-kitcher-4028_age_mann-was-less-interested-i-think-in-cons_1170617.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/498/philip-kitcher-4028_age_mann-was-less-interested-i-think-in-cons_1170617.jpg) > “Mann was less interested, I think, in constructing any kind of "portrait of an age" than he was in delineating an individual consciousness in which profound struggles about identity and direction arise - struggles that Mann himself had not only reflected on but felt keenly. Visconti takes up this central focus of the novella, but he couples it with a more social perspective.” [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mann focuses on an individual's inner conflict about identity rather than depicting an entire era, while Visconti adds a broader social context. **In simple terms:** Mann explores personal struggle; Visconti adds social view. Key Takeaway Consider both personal and societal factors in storytelling. Themes identity society artistic focus Mood thoughtful analytical Type critical interpretive When to use this quote - novel analysis - film adaptation - character study Key Concepts existentialism social critique Questions to Reflect On - How does personal identity interact with social forces? - Can art balance inner and outer narratives? A Different Perspective Focusing solely on the individual may miss historical forces. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Arise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arise/) [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [Couple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/couple/) [Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt/) [Focus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focus/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Mann Interested](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mann-interested-3390633/) [Mann Reflected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mann-reflected-3390631/) [Perspective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perspective/) [Portraits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/portraits/) [Profound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profound/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social Perspective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-perspective-3390630/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [Struggles Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggles-identity-3390632/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [From a social perspective, I am looking for friends, not acolytes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fahey/from-a-social-perspective-i-am-looking-for-friends-not-acolytes/) [John Fahey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fahey/) > [What we know about Cleopatra's looks is based purely on her coin portraits. Engraving was imperfect, and that when you are a ruler and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/what-we-know-about-cleopatra-s-looks-is-based-purely-on-her-coin/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [I will never, for the future, paint the portrait of a tyrant until his head lies before me on the scaffold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-louis-david/i-will-never-for-the-future-paint-the-portrait-of-a-tyrant-until-his/) [Jacques-Louis David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-louis-david/) > [I hate to paint portraits! I hope never to paint another portrait in my life. Portraiture may be all right for a man in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-singer-sargent/i-hate-to-paint-portraits-i-hope-never-to-paint-another-portrait-in/) [John Singer Sargent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-singer-sargent/) > [Every interview is as much an impression of the journalist as it is the artist or subject. You look at interviews and you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-hegarty/every-interview-is-as-much-an-impression-of-the-journalist-as-it-is/) [Antony Hegarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-hegarty/) > [The future turns out to be something that you make instead of find. It isn't waiting for your arrival, either with an arrest warrant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/the-future-turns-out-to-be-something-that-you-make-instead-of-find-it/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [Let's say Twitter existed during the Civil War. We would have a better understanding of people in the Confederacy who were against slavery, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/let-s-say-twitter-existed-during-the-civil-war-we-would-have-a-better/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [People don't have time to wait for somebody to paint their portraits anymore. The money is in photography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mapplethorpe/people-don-t-have-time-to-wait-for-somebody-to-paint-their-portraits/) [Robert Mapplethorpe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mapplethorpe/) > [Many times I see you as a portrait of torture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ira-glass/many-times-i-see-you-as-a-portrait-of-torture/) [Ira Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ira-glass/) > [I wasn‘t—" I began. I didn‘t—" He began. How charming," V‘lane cut us off. His voice arrived before he did. "The very portrait of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/i-wasn-t-i-began-i-didn-t-he-began-how-charming-v-lane-cut-us-off-his/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow. Every job is a self portrait of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-lombardi/unless-you-try-to-do-something-beyond-what-you-have-already-mastered/) [Vince Lombardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vince-lombardi/) > [In a portrait, you always leave part of yourself behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ellen-mark/in-a-portrait-you-always-leave-part-of-yourself-behind/) [Mary Ellen Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ellen-mark/) > [In the past there were too many portraits of Chairman Mao in China. They were hung everywhere. That was not proper and it didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deng-xiaoping/in-the-past-there-were-too-many-portraits-of-chairman-mao-in-china/) [Deng Xiaoping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deng-xiaoping/) > [In 1984, I was contacted by Michael Taylor, who had won a commission from a sponsor and decided he would like to paint a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-bream/in-1984-i-was-contacted-by-michael-taylor-who-had-won-a-commission/) [Julian Bream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-bream/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More by Philip Kitcher > [I'm a fan of Hugh Kenner, Richard Ellman, Lionel Trilling and Frank Kermode. All these people have taught me how to read - but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/i-m-a-fan-of-hugh-kenner-richard-ellman-lionel-trilling-and-frank/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [Refined religion is aimed at realizing ethical values, including the fostering of human lives and human communities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/refined-religion-is-aimed-at-realizing-ethical-values-including-the/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [Many of the greatest works of philosophy seem to me to be valuable not because of their arguments, but because they offer us perspectives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/many-of-the-greatest-works-of-philosophy-seem-to-me-to-be-valuable/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [As I read Mann in German for the first time, the full achievement - both literary and philosophical - of Death in Venice struck…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/as-i-read-mann-in-german-for-the-first-time-the-full-achievement-both/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [Look at Mann's reading habits, his explicit comments on Nietzsche, and his copy of Birth of Tragedy, and it starts to seem doubtful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/look-at-mann-s-reading-habits-his-explicit-comments-on-nietzsche-and/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [My ethical naturalism sees us as facing the predicament of being social animals without evolved adaptations that make social life easy. The fundamental problem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/my-ethical-naturalism-sees-us-as-facing-the-predicament-of-being/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [So my methodological approach is to draw on many different features in highlighting different facets of the novella (and the opera and the film).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/so-my-methodological-approach-is-to-draw-on-many-different-features/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [In my view, we ought to replace the notion of analytic philosophy by that of synthetic philosophy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/in-my-view-we-ought-to-replace-the-notion-of-analytic-philosophy-by/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [Philosophers ought to aspire to know lots of different things and to forge useful synthetic perspectives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/philosophers-ought-to-aspire-to-know-lots-of-different-things-and-to/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [The balance between literature and philosophy in Schopenhauer and Nietzsche is different from that struck in the novella, but, as Mann clearly pointed out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/the-balance-between-literature-and-philosophy-in-schopenhauer-and/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [I don't think that anything of any consequence is known a priori: all our knowledge is built up by modifying the lore passed on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/i-don-t-think-that-anything-of-any-consequence-is-known-a-priori-all/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [Because the problems are objective features of the human situation - social animals without the capacities for making social life come easily - ethics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/because-the-problems-are-objective-features-of-the-human-situation/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [I'm very concerned about the increasing distortion of research by the intrusion of the market. Universities are beginning to see science as a means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/i-m-very-concerned-about-the-increasing-distortion-of-research-by-the/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [There's a disciplined erotic component to it, so that the height of sexual contact is the embrace, the modest touch, a relatively chaste kiss.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/there-s-a-disciplined-erotic-component-to-it-so-that-the-height-of/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [The classical allusions and the Platonic disquisitions on beauty are no longer a form of cover, but integral to Aschenbach's complex sexuality. Moreover, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/the-classical-allusions-and-the-platonic-disquisitions-on-beauty-are/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) [Explore all 117 Philip Kitcher quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) ## More Age quotes > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [When I first started writing, when I was 15, I would go to work with people and they would tell me my lyrics were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-claudio/when-i-first-started-writing-when-i-was-15-i-would-go-to-work-with/) [Sabrina Claudio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-claudio/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [I calculated that if I live up to the age of 80, then I end up using 450 toothbrushes in my life. All that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dia-mirza/i-calculated-that-if-i-live-up-to-the-age-of-80-then-i-end-up-using/) [Dia Mirza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dia-mirza/) > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-matthey/it-was-only-when-i-went-to-acting-school-that-i-was-like-you-are/) [Giles Matthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-matthey/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [We have started to make music at age seven. That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) [Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Mann was less interested, I think, in constructing any kind of \"portrait of an age\" than he was in delineating an individual consciousness in which profound struggles about identity and direction arise - struggles that Mann himself had not only reflected on but felt keenly. Visconti takes up this central focus of the novella, but he couples it with a more social perspective.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Philip Kitcher" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/mann-was-less-interested-i-think-in-constructing-any-kind-of-portrait/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Age" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/mann-was-less-interested-i-think-in-constructing-any-kind-of-portrait/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/498/philip-kitcher-4028_age_mann-was-less-interested-i-think-in-cons_1170617.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/498/philip-kitcher-4028_age_mann-was-less-interested-i-think-in-cons_1170617.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/498/philip-kitcher-4028_age_mann-was-less-interested-i-think-in-cons_1170617.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Mann was less interested, I think, in constructing any kind of \"portrait of an age\" than he was in…” — Philip Kitcher", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Philip Kitcher", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Mann was less interested, I think,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/mann-was-less-interested-i-think-in-constructing-any-kind-of-portrait/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/mann-was-less-interested-i-think-in-constructing-any-kind-of-portrait/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```