Is it stupid to like Thus Spake Zarathustra as an unironic work?
- Windrammer
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Is it stupid to like Thus Spake Zarathustra as an unironic work?
It has some silly moments. I just feel like that might actually serve a rhetorical purpose beyond appealing to the humor of the audience of his time. Maybe it just touches my love of fantasy/mythology but so far I've found it kind of rousing to read, and I'm wondering if reading it as if it were a serious work is going to work against me as far as interpretation goes (not that I'd presume to be the one guy to "correctly" interpret it).
Someone reassure me
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Re: Is it stupid to like Thus Spake Zarathustra as an unironic work?
It is a comedy in the classic sense. It is made to evoke laughter as opposed to tragedy which evokes sorrow and sympathy. In Nietzsche comedy or levity is the antidote to “the spirit of gravity” (see the section “Three Metamorphoses of the Spirit”), part of the overcoming of the burden that weighs us down, the burden of guilt engendered by “thou shalt”. It is a comedy in that it has a “happy ending”.For a while it was completely lost on me that it's supposed to be "comedic" to some degree …
Comedy can be serious. It holds a mirror up to life and shows us something about ourselves and others, our weaknesses and folly. There are different types of laughter, from derisive to compassionate. Take note of when Zarathustra laughs.I just feel like that might actually serve a rhetorical purpose beyond appealing to the humor of the audience of his time.
It is a very serious work.… and I'm wondering if reading it as if it were a serious work is going to work against me as far as interpretation goes (not that I'd presume to be the one guy to "correctly" interpret it).
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