During the latter part of Thomas Mann’s prolific literary career, he ventured into a tapestry of themes and settings that spanned distant historical periods and exotic locales. This expansive reach is exemplified in The Transposed Heads, a work that taps into a rich vein of cultural traditions, reinterpreted through Mann’s unique lens. The novel draws its primary inspiration from a Sanskrit legend, a narrative introduced to Mann through the translations of Heinrich Robert Zimmer, an eminent Indologist. Mann dedicated the American edition of this novel to Zimmer, highlighting the profound impact of the source material on his creative process.

In his creation of The Transposed Heads, Mann was not solely influenced by Indian culture. He blended these Eastern inspirations with Western intellectual currents that significantly shaped his vision. Among these influences were the literary and philosophical works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and the existential ponderings of Arthur Schopenhauer, which infused the novel with a certain introspective and pessimistic tone. Furthermore, Mann weaved into his narrative the psychoanalytic insights of Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung, whose exploration of the collective unconscious resonated with Mann’s themes and further enriched the novel's psychological depth.

Despite the novel's distinctive cultural and thematic departure, Mann himself often referred to The Transposed Heads as a "metaphysical jest," indicating a playful yet profound engagement with the material. Written concurrently with some of his other notable works, the novel stands somewhat apart from Mann's more typical explorations of German themes as found in works like Lotte in Weimar and Doktor Faustus. Nevertheless, it shares a distant kinship with his tetralogy Joseph und seine Bruder, which delves into biblical narratives set in ancient Egypt, driven by Mann’s ongoing quest to illuminate fundamental moral values in human relationships.

While The Transposed Heads may not be considered a monumental achievement within Mann’s oeuvre — indeed, Mann himself did not regard it as such — it is testament to the breadth of his intellectual curiosity and his capacity to transform diverse cultural materials into his own literary expressions. The novel’s unusual subject matter and its exploration of an Indian legend within a Western literary framework underscore Mann’s ability to bridge disparate cultural worlds, reflecting his enduring fascination with the complexities of the human psyche and the universal themes that transcend cultural boundaries.