In the essay Bilse und ich (1905) Thomas Mann, who would utilize the literary essay
repeatedly to clarify fundamental aspects of his own poetry, makes his first
attempt at working out in a systematic manner the supporting principles for his
personal conception of writing. The opportunity presents itself with a trial regarding
giving offence, in which The Buddenbrooks (1901) was compared by the public
prosecutor to works by Fritz Oswald Bilse, a soldier, who, some time previously,
had gained a certain notoriety for publishing a roman à clef in which unpleasant
events taking place in the military unit where he was serving, had been revealed.
Rejecting this comparison, Mann reflects on certain paradigms conventionally
associated with the sphere of aesthetic creativity, discussing critically the nexus
between invention and narrative effectiveness.
