Abstract

Content and formal structures are inextricably linked in Nietzsche’s texts. Formal qualities convey meaning, for example, by indicating whether an expressed thought should be understood as an assertion, or rather subverted and ultimately negated. The following recent publications explore intermediality and performativity in Nietzsche’s language from different perspectives. Federico Celestini and Rüdiger Görner each examine the musicality of Nietzsche’s language against the grain of the common assumption of the language-like character of music. However, the two authors arrive at different conclusions about the correspondence between language and music in Nietzsche’s work. A volume edited by Christian Benne and Dieter Burdorf draws connections between Nietzsche and the philologist Rudolf Borchardt in terms of their concept of language. While Nietzsche and Borchardt exhibit parallels with regard to language skepticism and the self-creative process of writing, they fundamentally disagree in their conception of art. Finally, Diemo Landgraf sees Nietzsche’s work as the culmination of nineteenth-century decadent literature, grounding his critique of Nietzsche’s unique approach, which arises out of a music philosophical perspective, by labelling it as nihilistic.