Description
In 1901, a year after her brother Friedrich's death, Elisabeth Foerster-Nietzsche published The Will to Power, a hasty compilation of writings he had never intended for print. In Nietzsche's Sister and the Will to Power, Carol Diethe contends that Foerster-Nietzsche's own will to power and her desire to place herself--not her brother--at the center of cultural life in Germany are centrally responsible for Nietzsche's reputation as a belligerent and proto-Fascist thinker.
Offering a new look at Nietzsche's sister from a feminist perspective, this spirited and erudite biography examines why Elisabeth Foerster-Nietzsche recklessly consorted with anti-Semites, from her own husband to Hitler himself, out of convenience and a desire for revenge against a brother whose love for her waned after she caused the collapse of his friendship with Lou Salome. The book also examines their family dynamics, Nietzsche's dismissal of his sister's early writing career, and the effects of limited education on intelligent women. Diethe concludes by detailing Foerster-Nietzsche's brief marriage and her subsequent colonial venture in Paraguay, maintaining that her sporadic anti-Semitism was, like most things in her life, an expedient tool for cultivating personal success and status.
A volume in the series International Nietzsche Studies, edited by Richard Schacht
A penetrating study of the sister who betrayed and endangered her famous brother's legacy
About the Author
Carol Diethe is a former lecturer and research fellow at Middlesex University in London and a founder of the British Friedrich Nietzsche Foundation. She is the author of Nietzsche's Women: Beyond the Whip, Historical Dictionary of Nietzscheanism, and other books.
Reviews
"A pleasure to read. Diethe corrects the superficiality that has characterized prior treatment of Elisabeth Foerster-Nietzsche, offering a nuanced explanation of her perspective and motivations."
--Kathleen Higgins, author of Comic Relief, Nietzsche's Gay Science
"Diethe does a remarkably even-handed and often insightful job of not only conveying the damage done by Elisabeth Foerster-Nietzsche, but her personality as well. Her understanding of Nietzsche is obviously profound."
--Journal of the History of Behavioral Sciences
"Carol Diethe's pleasantly written biography is a valuable contribution for all interested in Nietzsche studies."--Alexandre Kostka, Universite Cergy-Pontoise and Centre Marc Bloch, Berlin
"Diethe has written a much-needed book. Recommended."--Choice
Book Information
ISBN 9780252074677
Author Carol Diethe
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint University of Illinois Press
Publisher University of Illinois Press
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 20mm
