Part 1 – Introduction

 

Nietzsche’s major work “Thus spoke Zarathustra” has influenced the Identaria project in some important conceptual and ideological aspects. At first glance “Thus spoke Zarathustra” does not feel like a nationalistic book. Apart from the grand ideas in Nietzsche’s most popular work it is also a uniquely personal record for the author himself. Nietzsche does not make use of the terms “nation” (Nation) or “nationalism” in the text at all. Zarathustra was written in the years immediately preceding the strict distinction between nation (Nation) and people (Volk) in German state law doctrine which was introduced by Neumann in 1888, the year of Nietzsche’s mental breakdown. Nietzsche himself, throughout his life was a champion neither of the nation, nor of the people. So, if we assume nationalism to be only a collectivist concept, then Zarathustra is not of much relevance for a project on nationalism. Overall, Nietzsche’s attitude to any human society is highly critical, with some misanthropic tendencies to be found here and there in his work. The people (das Volk) as a whole are sharply criticized, especially in chapters “On the flies of the market place”, “On the rabble” and “On the gift-giving virtue”. Nietzsche is also very critical of different categories of people. For example, in Part Four of the book he castigates the so-called “higher men” as well as “the petty people” with their “petty virtues”. This is how Nietzsche defines human society in the chapter “On old and new tablets” (section 25), opposing his view to the conventional social contract theory:

 

“Human society is a trial: thus I teach it — a long trial; and what it tries to find is the commander. A trial, O my brothers, and not a “contract.”

 

Obviously, individualism is Nietzsche’s choice of worldview and, consequently the overman (der Übermensch) – arguably the most influential concept in the book – is an explicitly individualistic and lonesome concept. As noted by Kaufmann, the most important single clue to Zarathustra is that it is the work of an utterly lonely man (Kaufmann, 1976). Loneliness is the other side to Nietzsche’s extreme individualism.

 

On the other hand, there are also more nuanced statements about “the people” in the book. For example, in the chapter “On the thousand and one goals” Nietzsche highlights the primacy of the peoples in creating values: “First, peoples were creators; and only in later times, individuals. Verily, the individual himself is still the most recent creation.” In addition, new peoples (neue Völker) are prophesied in the chapter “On old and new tablets” (section 25): “O my brothers, it will not be overlong before new peoples originate and new wells roar down into new depths.”

 

Having in mind Nietzsche’s ambiguous attitude towards “the peoples” (and by analogy towards “the nation”), this paper will examine several important concepts developed in “Thus spoke Zarathustra” which are very relevant for the Identaria project. A great challenge is the unsystematic, very personal and poetic style of Nietzsche, his addiction to plays on words. Quite rightly Kaufmann, the author of the best English language translation of the book has highlighted “the gross unevenness of Zarathustra” in terms of style (Kaufmann, 1976). In some parts Nietzsche makes use of high-level concepts (e.g.,“life”, “soul” or “eternity”) as characters with whom Zarathustra has a certain relationship. For example, quite strikingly, in the chapter “The other dancing song” the relation between Zarathustra and Life (das Leben) is described as a playful love relationship. In the context of this very playful relationship, in which Life is likened to a witch Zarathustra makes fun of the notorious dictum in Part One of the book about the whip and the woman: “Keeping time with my whip, you shall dance and cry!”

 

On the other hand, this highly innovative approach is a clear manifestation of the author’s creativity and originality. It is one of the reasons for the book’s significant impact over the past one hundred and forty years. In the next installments, I will focus on concrete concepts and ideas in Zarathustra which have relevance for the Identaria project.

 

Bibliography

Kaufmann, Walter. ‘Introduction and editor notes’, The portable Nietzsche (Penguin Books, 1976).

Neumann, Friedrich Julius. Volk und Nation. Eine Studie (Dunckler & Humblot reprints, 1888).

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus spoke Zarathustra. A book for all and none, trans. Walter Kaufmann  (Penguin Books, 1976).

 

 

Nikolay Pavlov