Elisabeth Flucher

This review discusses five new contributions addressing Nietzsche’s relation to literature: two critical editions, two collected volumes, and one monograph. In discussing these recent publications, the article examines the current state of discourse within the field of Nietzsche scholarship with regard to his literary thought. This review evaluates the contributions under discussion with regard to their standing within this field, focusing on Nietzsche’s own literary styles, his sources and role models, but also his reception by other authors.

In Nietzsche, Tension, and the Tragic Disposition, Matthew Tones undertakes an ambitious journey through Nietzsche’s writings, dealing with, among other things, Nietzsche’s notion of tragedy, his relation to ancient Greek thought, his naturalism, and the concept of nobility developed in GM and BGE. Tones thus gives a detailed and insightful reconstruction of Nietzsche’s philosophy. But this strength of the book is unfortunately also its limit. Tones highlights the complexities of the problems he discusses, but one gets the impression that he succumbs to his “will” to systematize Nietzsche’s thinking: he creates harmonies where there are tensions and gives answers where Nietzsche leaves us with questions....