In his Birth of Tragedy Friedrich Nietzsche famously developed a “dionysiac” theory of the tragic chorus. Nietzsche’s is a theoretical model that touches on aesthetic, philosophical and even philological concerns, while explicitly reacting against the most prevalent nineteenth-century theories on the subject, such as August Wilhelm Schlegel’s theory of the chorus as “ideal spectator” and Friedrich Schiller’s one, which sees the chorus as a “living wall”. A correct approach and understanding of this problem cannot be achieved only by looking at Nietzsche’s Birth of Tragedy, but should be include other fundamental works such as The Greek Music Drama and his Basel lectures. In particular my analysis concentrates here on three aspects, which have a crucial meaning in Nietzsche’s conception: the chorus’s original centrality in the tragic performance, its relationship with the cult of Dionysus, and the chorus’s own specifically “dionysiac” function in the tragic performance.
«Nur Chor und Nichts als Chor». El papel del coro en El nacimiento de la tragedia
Ugolini, Gherardo
2017-01-01
Abstract
In his Birth of Tragedy Friedrich Nietzsche famously developed a “dionysiac” theory of the tragic chorus. Nietzsche’s is a theoretical model that touches on aesthetic, philosophical and even philological concerns, while explicitly reacting against the most prevalent nineteenth-century theories on the subject, such as August Wilhelm Schlegel’s theory of the chorus as “ideal spectator” and Friedrich Schiller’s one, which sees the chorus as a “living wall”. A correct approach and understanding of this problem cannot be achieved only by looking at Nietzsche’s Birth of Tragedy, but should be include other fundamental works such as The Greek Music Drama and his Basel lectures. In particular my analysis concentrates here on three aspects, which have a crucial meaning in Nietzsche’s conception: the chorus’s original centrality in the tragic performance, its relationship with the cult of Dionysus, and the chorus’s own specifically “dionysiac” function in the tragic performance.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.