Research On Historicism In Preface Of Also Sprach Zarathustra

The preface of Thus Spoke Zarathustra is unique in that it tells the story of Zarathustra’s failed attempt to "downgoing" and give a speech to the people in the form of a drama.The purpose of this paper is to analyze the text of the preface of Thus Spoke Zarathustra,reveal the hidden meaning of the text,and explore the problem of historicism and Nietzsche’s method of overcoming it.The first chapter explores the unique writing form of Thus Spoke Zarathustra and clarifies its connection with an ancient art of writing,esoteric writing,in which Nietzsche uses esoteric writing to hide the truth in order to filter the readers he wants to address,whether it is his language,imagery,aphoristic writing,or Zarathustra’s image that is the material of esoteric writing.The second chapter begins to discuss the real intention of Nietzsche’s words and writing,and formally enters the textual analysis of the main text.By analyzing the details in the first and second sections of the preface,proves that Nietzsche has been writing with an anti-historical thinking from the beginning,and builds a circular structure for the whole text with Zarathustra’s "downgoing",and then the declaration of "God is dead" summarizes the whole modern history of the loss of faith and the crisis,and points out the reasons why God is dead.The third chapter focuses on the analysis of the third to fifth sections of the preface.The failure of Zarathustra’s speech is the central episode of the preface drama,the speech about Superman and the Last Man,which further reveals the dangerous situation of mankind under the domination of historicism since God has died.The fourth chapter analyzes the sixth to tenth sections of the preface.Through the analysis of the images of the Tightrope Walker,the buffoon,and the gravediggers and so on,it proves that both the new truths that Zarathustra eventually discovers and the way Nietzsche himself writes are ultimately departures from historicism.The conclusion part summarizes the full text.The esoteric writing lends literary techniques to build a ladder of transcendence for the reader,which not only reconciles the tension between the philosopher and society,but also enables the reader to leave the nest of historicism,and more importantly,it is a self-evidence of the possibility of transcendence,thus,it is as much a way to overcome historicism as Zarathustra’s "downgoing".Humans are seekers of truth and can never obtain it,but on this road of exploration,human beings gradually forget this essence and believe that they can reach truth by virtue of reason,or regard their own criteria as truth,and eventually become a thorough historicist.Zarathustra’s "downgoing" is a natural act of truth-seeking,and his choice to passionately pursue wisdom even after knowing that truth cannot be owned.In this sense,it is an inevitable tragedy for philosophers.