Abstract

In a letter from June 3, 1945, Adorno candidly relates to Thomas Mann his innermost feelings about meeting the novelist in the United States: “When I was able to meet you here in person, upon this remote western coast, I had the feeling that I was only now, for the first time, actually encountering that German tradition from which I have received everything—including the strength to resist the tradition.”¹ At first glance, there is nothing too remarkable about this note from an admirer of one of the masters of European letters. Under closer scrutiny, however, this seemingly innocuous letter accentuates…