42724915 explosion i of nietzsche s ecce homo

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Explosion I: Of Nietzsche's Ecce HomoAuthor(s): Sarah Kofman and Duncan LargeSource: Diacritics, Vol. 24, No. 4, Special Section: On the Work of Avital Ronell (Winter,1994), pp. 50-70Published by: The Johns Hopkins University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/465358Accessed: 15/11/2010 13:24

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EXPLOSION :O F NIETZSCHE'SC C E H O M O

SARAHKOFMAN1. Otitis, Meta-OtitisEcce homo: first it is a book, and the last one Nietzsche wrote, just before what isconventionally called his "collapse."' In 1888. The same year as Twilight of the Idols,The Case of Wagner, Dithyrambs of Dionysus, and The Anti-Christ. In the course of aparticularly "fruitful" year, then (and where Nietzsche is concerned this is no meremetaphor); more precisely during the autumn of 1888, when the richness of the vintagewas unparalleled [cf. EH III TI 2, 3].2 More precisely still, Ecce homo is a present whichNietzsche gives to himself and to life as a sign of gratitude, on 15 October 1888.3 Tocelebrate his forty-four years, he recounts "himself' to "himself." Himself? Ecce homo:behold, first, not so much a "man" as a season, a tremendous autumn, or a great autumnalwind blowing among the trees and making fruits fall everywhere.4Ecce homo was not intended to be Nietzsche's last book. The correspondence of theperiod presents it as a threshold book, a "high noon," facing two ways: it closes one doorand opens another.5 Once and for all it cuts the "umbilical cord"6connecting him to his

1. Translator'sNote (hereafter "TN"): the French version of this text appeared as theintroduction 9-43] to the irst volumeofSarahKofman s recenttwo-volume tudyof Ecce homo,Explosion. A full Englishtranslationof ExplosionI will bepublishedbyAthlonePress in 1996.2. TN: References to Nietzsche's letters and notes are to the KritischeGesamtausgabe(Briefwechsel and Werke respectively), by volume and page number. All other Nietzschereferencesare to sectionnumbers; hedivisionsofEcce homoare abbreviated sfollows: I-"WhyIAmSo Wise";II-" Why AmSo Clever";III-" Why WriteSuchGoodBooks";IV-" Why Ama Destiny."The ollowingfurtherabbreviationsapply:BGE-Beyond GoodandEvil;BT-The BirthofTragedy;CW-The Case of Wagner;EH-Ecce homo;GM-On theGenealogyof Morals;GS-The Gay Science;KGB-Nietzsche: Briefwechsel. KritischeGesamtausgabe;KGW-Nietzsche:Werke.KritischeGesamtausgabe; L-Selected Lettersof FriedrichNietzsche;SP-Nietzsche: ASelf-Portrait romHis Letters;TI-Twilight of the Idols;UM-Untimely Meditations;WP-TheWill to Power;Z-Thus Spoke Zarathustra.ForNietzschequotations, hepublishedEnglish ranslations istedunder "WorksCited"havebeen used(withmodifications)wherepossible-in thecase of theletters,Middletonbypreference.All other textshave been translated rom theGerman.3. Cf. letter to ConstantinGeorg Naumann,6 November 1888: "I resolved an extremelydifficulttask-namely thatof recountingmyself, mybooks,my opinions,and infragments,asfaras was required,my life-between the 15th Oct. and the4thNovember" KGBIII/5464].4. TN: Kofmanreturns to this image of the harvest in the chapterof Explosion I ("Desvendanges t la ClaudeLorrain" ["Vintages a la Claude Lorrain"] [145-59]) devoted to theparagraph("Onthisperfect day... ")whichNietzsche inserts betweentheforewordand "WhyAmSo Wise."5. Cf.letterto CarlvonGersdorff,20 December1887: "Inanimportantense my ifejustnowstands as if at highnoon:one door is closing, anotheropening.... Who and whatshouldremaintome,now thatI mustmove on to the mainrealpoint ofmyexistence[?] "[KGB111/5 14; SP 105].6. Cf. letter toPaul Deussen, 3 January1888: "when totalupall I have done over the last2years, italwaysstrikesme nowas beingone and thesamework of isolating myselffrommypast,

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past,tearshimawayandseparateshimfromwhat he has beenandwhat he hasproduced.It drawsaline, takesa balanceand settlesaccounts,7 eeping,reapingonlywhatdeservesto bekeptand o return ternally.Butthebook alsoopensonto the future.Itis thepromise8of a work whichis ripeningunder he autumnal un:theonlywork of Nietzsche'sworthyof the name, andof his name,which is to be for himthe "sanction" nd the aposteriorijustificationof his whole being. Without t, he says,9he mightwell remaineternallyproblematic.WithRevaluationofAll Values, hefirstpartof which(the only one he wasever able to write)Nietzschepublished he sameyearunder he titleof TheAnti-Christ,he intends to accomplishhis task,his mission,his destiny,andto become at last who heis: the manof destiny,bearerof anewfatumforhumanity;he manwho is to splithistoryin two,'?blow upin a "catastrophic" ay everything hathas so far beensanctified,andoverturnevery idol. No longera man butdynamite,anexplosive which will shake theearth and convulse it, transposingmountains and valleys [EH IV 1], and with thisunparalleledwar,wagedagainstall thathas been reckoned"great," naugurating newera, he one whichhenames-in opposition o the last man nZarathustra-the eraof theoverman. RevaluationofAll Values,anattempt o take thedestinyof humanity n handagain,1was to havebeen anepoch-makingbook: therewould have been a "before"andan "after" his explosive work,just as therewas a "before"and an "after"Socrates;Socrates, he decisiveturningpoint nGreekhistorywhom Nietzschecompares o a stonethrown nopportunelynto the works of the fine machinewhich was Greekphilosophy,changing tsdirectionandmovement orever.12Justastherewasa"before" ndan"after"Christ,aboveall,whose"good"news was theoriginof a"newman," heveryoneagainstwhom Nietzsche, under the significantname of Anti-Christ,wages a merciless war,seeking in turnradically o transformhumanity.IncomparisonwithRevaluationofAll Values,Nietzsche'searlierwritingsare udgedby himtobe distractions, e/creations13hichdelaytheexplosionbutalsoprepare orit,since theyfree him from all the negativityhe was carryingwithin him and make him fitfor the affirmation f new tables ofvalue. Henceallthepast"work"s considereda merepromise,a mere"preface"o the only truework.Ecce homo hasa morespecific statusas a test book which is toput spiritsto thetest,to gaugewhetheror not theywill be capableof bearingthe radical nversionof values,

ofseveringheumbilicalordbetweenmeandt.Ihave xperienced,anted,ndperhapschievedsomuch,hata kindofviolence sneededn orderormeto distancemyselffromt andgetridofit"[KGB 11/521].7. Cf.letter oCarlFuchs,14December887:"Iam .. right nthemidstof settlingmyaccountswithmenand hings ndputting ehindmemywholeifehitherto. lmostverythinghatI do nowsa 'drawing-a-line-under-everything"'KGBII1/509;SL280]. Cf.alsoletter oCarlvonGersdorff,0 December 887[KGB 11/514;SP105].8.Cf. etter oHeinrichKoselitz, 9April 887:"Shallwecelebrateogether hecompletionoftheGayScience,whichsbasicallyhecompletionfallmypreviousliterature'Ifeelthat hereis nowa scission nmy ife-and that nowhave hewholegreat askaheadofme! Aheadofmeand, venmore,ponme!"KGB 11/561].Cf.also etteroHeinrichKoselitz,0December887:"Iknowwhat s doneanddonewith:a linehasbeendrawn ndermypreviousxistence-thatwasthemeaningfthe astfewyears.Ofcoursenpreciselyhisway hatpreviousxistence asshownitself obewhat t is-a merepromise"KGB 11/513].9. Cf letter oPaulDeussen, January 888 KGB 11/522].10.Cf. etteroPaulDeussen,4September888 KGB 11/526;SL 11],EHIV1,and etterto Malwida onMeysenbug, October 888[KGB11I/5 47]. Cf.alsodraft etter oRuggeroBonghi, ndofDecember888[KGB II/5569].11.Cf. etter o HeinrichKoselitz, 0 October 888[KGB II/5461f.;SL319].12. For all the various inksbetweenNietzsche ndSocrates,cf. Kofman,"Nietzsche'sSocrates."13.Cf. etter o PaulDeussen,14September888[KGB 11/526;SL311].52


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whetheror nottheywill be strongenoughto tolerateandthus understandhe boldnessofthe immoralist, his hithertounheard-of ype which Nietzsche the artist nventedas hisown.14And because histypeandthe task he sets himself areunheard f, Nietzsche thinksfit to preparehesespiritsand to give a self-presentation, bove allso thattheydo notgoandtakehim forsomeoneelse-a monsterof virtue,forexample,or afounderof a newreligion, or a saint. In any case they would be more inclined to accuse him ofcounterfeiting,orworse, since invertingvaluesmeansbeinga new alchemist,takingallthathas hithertobeen most hated,feared,anddespised by humanity, he dross and therubbish,andtransformingt into the mostpreciousof things,turning t into his "gold."15If Nietzsche thinkshe needs to presenthimselfandpreemptivelydefendhimself againstall thedisfigurements ndaccusations, t is because he knowsverywell that no one elsecangive apictureof him whichmightdo himjustice:for,as wasthe case with Christ,noone so far-and he knowsthis will last atleast another ifty years-has had earsto hearhim or eyes to see him.16It is his profoundconviction that theproblemswhich arehis,andhispositionas animmoralist,arestill toopremature,oo sudden obe understood.Noone has reviewedhiswritingsor evenread hem. At anyratenoGerman.Onlya Dane-and asheemphasizes nthecorrespondence,"themostintelligentDane therenow is, i.e.aJew"-Georg Brandes,has helda seminaron hiswork at theUniversityof Copenhagenand taken a seriousenoughinterest n him to sense his originalityand his "aristocraticradicalism":"That swell said andwell felt. Ah, theseJews!"17Admittedlyhe knowsthathe has a groupof moresecret listeners andadmirers, ncludinga few Frenchmen, ikeHippolyteTaine.18Butthat s still notmany,andhe is constantlycomplainingof extremeisolation,which is otherwiseacknowledgedasnecessary o theindependence f theworkandas thevitalpreconditionof his writing:theonly criterion orknowingwhetherhe isindeedfollowinghis own pathsand notanyoneelse's;19 heonly criterion,aboveall, ofhisgreatness, he "rancune" fwhich,ashesaysinconnectionwithZarathustra,his mostexceptional"son"of all [EHIIIZ5], ispreciselysolitude, heremovalof thatwhichplacesitself at sucharemove,so farbeyond. "Therancuneof what isgreat,"or theransom, hepenancewhich canextendto absolutetorture, o thepointwhere he feels strangled,as ifby a snake,or piercedby anunspeakablewound, to thepointwhere he no longereven

14. Cf.draft etter toFranzOverbeck,20 July 1888: "I amenoughof an artist to be able tohold on to a statetill it becomes orm, till it takesshape. I have inventedor myselfat will thetypeswhoseboldnessgives mepleasure, e.g., the 'immoralist'--a hithertounheard-of ype"[KGBIIII5 363].15. Cf. letter to GeorgBrandes,23 May 1888 [KGB111/5 18; SP 118].16. Cf. letter to Franz Overbeck,18 October1888 [KGB111/5454; SL315], and letter toHeinrichKoselitz,20 December1887: "'Hearnot andsee not'-that seems to be the motto"[KGB111/5 12].17. Letterto HeinrichKoselitz,20 December1887 [KGB111/5 13]. Cf:also letter to GeorgBrandes,23 May1888 [KGBIII5 317-19; SP 118], andletter to KarlKnortz,21June 1888: "Thetask of giving you some picture of myself, as a thinker,or as a writerand poet, seems to meextraordinarily ifficult.Thefirst majorattemptof this kindwasmade lastwinterbythe excellentDane Dr. Georg Brandes, who will be known to you as a literaryhistorian. He gave, at theUniversityof Copenhagen,a longishcourseof lectures aboutme,entitled 'TheGermanPhiloso-pher FriedrichNietzsche"' [KGB III/5 339; SL 298f]. This letter goes on to emphasizethatBrandes had a brilliantsuccess, thathemanagedto interestanaudienceof threehundredpersonsin theboldnesswithwhichNietzscheposes questions,andthathe madeNietzsche's namepopularthroughout henorth.... Cf.also EH III CW4.18. Cf. lettertoKarlKnortz,21 June 1888 [KGB111/5 39f.; SL299].19. Cf. letter to FranzOverbeck,14 April 1887 [KGBIII/556], and letter to MalwidavonMeysenbug,12 May 1887: "Whatcommandsme to go on living, an unusual and difficulttask,commandsme also toavoidpeople and to bindmyselftono oneanymore.Itmaybe due to the stateofextremepurity owhichpreciselythat askhasbroughtme thatI canhardlystand humanbeings'any longer, least of all the 'youngpeople"' [KGBIII/569; SL266].diacritics / winter 1994 53


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knows whetherhe is alive and whetherhis life is not merelya prejudice;20o thepointof payingfor his immortalitywith his death:The moral is: you can perish from having done something immortal: you doconstant penance for it afterwards.21On a loggia high above the said piazza, from which one has a view across Rome..., that loneliest song was written that ever was written, the Night Song; at thistime a melody of unspeakable melancholy went on continually around me whoserefrain I rediscovered in the words "dead of immortality... " [EH III Z 4]One pays dearly for being immortal: one has to die several times while alive.[EHIII Z 5][I]t is not inconceivable that I am thefirstphilosopher of the age, perhaps evena little more, something decisive and fateful standing between two millennia.One is always doingpenance for such an aloofposition-by an ever increasing,ever icier, ever sharper isolation.22WhatNietzschesuffersfrom inparticulars thegeneral"deafness"of his "country-men" heGermans,who,becausehe is the mostindependentpirit nEuropeand theonlyGermanwriterworthyof the name, treathim "like someone who belongs in a lunatic

asylum."23In Germany, though I am in my45th year and havepublished aboutfifteen books(including a non plus ultra, Zarathustra), there has not yet been a single evenmoderately reputable review of any one of mybooks. People help themselves outnow with the phrases "eccentric, " "pathological, " "psychiatric. " There areplenty of bad and slanderous gestures in my direction; an unrestrainedly hostiletone isparamount in theperiodicals-learned and unlearned-but how is it thatno one ever protests against this?24This indeed is why Ecce homo, a text which is anti-German o the point of

annihilation,25ill in turncontinuallyhound his"stupid ace,""notone earof which"hehas beenable to win over,26ince all of them,like those of theyoung emperor onwhichthe fate of his books might depend, through he censorshipexercisedby the imperialpolice), are afflicted with "otitis,practicallyeven meta-otitis."27The young emperorwhom he calls a "scarlet hypocrite,"28 just as in Ecce homo, because he fears being takenfor one, he takes the initiative and calls all Germanphilosophers "'unconscious'counterfeiters."2920. Cf.EHForeword1, and letter toGeorgBrandes,23 May1888: "ForI am in the habitofforgetting now and then thatI am alive" [KGB111/5 18].21. Draft letterto FranzOverbeck,20July1888 [KGB111/5 63]-cf. also letter to MalwidavonMeysenbug,endof July 1888 [KGB111/5 77; SL302].22. Letter toReinhardtvonSeydlitz,12 February1888 [KGB111/5 48; SL284].23. Letter to Malwida vonMeysenbug,endof July 1888 [KGBI1/5 378; SL302].24. Letterto ReinhardtvonSeydlitz,12 February1888 [KGB111/5 48f.; SL284].25. Cf. letter toAugustStrindberg,8 December1888 [KGB 111/509; SL330].26. Draft lettertoRuggero Bonghi, endofDecember 1888 [KGBIII/5569].27. Draft lettertoJean Bourdeau,c. 17 December1888 [KGBIII/5534].28. Letter toAugust Strindberg,8 December 1888 [KGB111/5 09; SL330].29. EHIII CW4. Cf.also lettertoAugustStrindberg,8 December1888 [KGB111/5 09; SL330].

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Hencealso Nietzsche'srejectionof his Germanicorigins,the fantasticgenealogyhecontrivesfor himself,which allows himto set ata distance all his "maternal"elatives,whose proximity s too close anddisgustshim,whose contact,like his unclean contactwith the "German abble,"30efears and desires. Inorder o reassurehimself of his ownmentalequilibriumandemergefromsolitude,he is forcedby this radicalrejection thereverseside of a profound ove?) of the motherandof everythingGerman,especially"Reich"German, o look beyondthe bordersfor earscapableof hearinghim withouttakinghim formad.31AndhelooksforthemprincipallynFrance.32 ornothing hatgoes on inthe Frenchspiritualworldseems to himalien. Though t is true hathethinkshehasachieved,aboveall withZarathustra, omethingwhich has never beenequaled n theGermananguage;thoughheis notafraidofbeingcomparedwithanyone; houghhe is "bound o theGermanlanguageby a longstandingove, a secretintimacy,adeepreverence";33evertheless,hesays, he continually gives the impressionof writing in French. His affinitywith thislanguageseems to him so great hatheplansthe immediate ranslation f Ecce homo intoFrench,asking Strindberg-who in his opinionunderestimateshis good fortune n notbeing German,and to whom he declares(this is a constantleitmotiv from UntimelyMeditationsonward) that there is no other culture but French culture34-to be itstranslator, ecausehe, too, is a poet of the first rank.Speakingof The Case of Wagner-a text, he says, which is unique in today'sGermanyon accountof its taste and refinedstyle-Nietzsche claims that t would be aseasy to translate t into Frenchas it would be difficult,almostimpossible,to translate tintoGerman,35uch is the extentto which it is thought n French. And so it is in Frenchthatone mustread t. The advantagesof these translationswould be multiple: first,heneeds them n order oescapethebrutality f imperial ensorship;36henhe needs tobringthe intelligentnations over onto his side: well translated,Ecce homo would "surpass nnumberof editions evenNana."37His workmightbe readover half theplanet....38 Theessential hing s that histranslationwould allow Nietzsche to take a decisivesteptowardhis destiny, toward "himself," toward "Nietzsche"'sbecoming "Nietzsche,"whichpresupposesas its conditionthathe "come into theworldagainas a Frenchman"39thathe becomethemotherof himself,just as he is themotherof his books,his sole means ofself-recreation).Forit is impossible(in the sense in which Nietzschespeaksof his "impossibles") obe Germannowadays: mpossible, f one reallyloves andrespectsthe language,to readthe bookswhichare written n thislanguage. But thatalso meansthatthereare no moreGermansnowadays. For those who call themselvesby this name arenotworthyof it.There areno more Germansbecause there areno more men. Like Diogenes the Cynic,

30.TN:"Une enealogieantastique,thechapternKofinan's xplosion onEHI 3, hasappearednEnglish ranslations "AFantasticalGenealogy.31.Cf. etter o FranzOverbeck 4April1887[KGB 11/57].32.Cf.draftetter oJeanBourdeau,. 17 December888[KGB111/533].33.Letter o KarlKnortz,1June1888[KGB 11/541;SL300].34.Cf. etter oAugustStrindberg,8 December 888[KGB 11/539].35. Cf. etter o PaulDeussen,14September888[KGB II/5426;SL310f.],and etter oMalwida onMeysenbug, October 888[KGB111/547].36. "To ecuremyselfagainstGerman rutalities'confiscation'), I shall sendthe firstcopies,beforepublication,oPrinceBismarcknd heyoungmperor, ith etters eclaring ar-militarymen annoteply othatwith olicemeasures.I amapsychologist..."(letteroAugustStrindberg,December 888[KGB II/5509;SL330]).37.Cf. etter oAugustStrindberg,December 888[KGB 11/509;SL330].38.Cf. etter o Malwida onMeysenbug,October 888[KGB II/5447].39.Draft etter oJeanBourdeau,. 17 December 888[KGB II/5535].

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one could look for themin vain in broaddaylightwith a lantern.40Goethe is the only"German" ietzschecanstillread,chronologically he ast forwhom hefeels respect:yethe is preciselynot GermanbutEuropean,and he canbe so because he is a man,a total,completeman nspirednolongerby aChristian aithwhichsays"no,"butby aDionysianfaithwhich says "yes" unreservedlyo the totality[TIIX 48-51]. Napoleon,that othercompleteman, that ens realissimumwho, over and above all petty nationalisms,alsowantedtojoin the nationstogether nto a single Europe,understoodhim well: the end ofsection209ofBeyondGood andEvilrecallstheastonishment e feltwhen he sawGoethe:"itbetrayswhat hadfor centuriesbeenthoughtwas meantbythe 'German pirit.' 'Voilaun homme!'-which is to say: 'butthat s a man! And I hadexpected only a German!"'This meetingof the two "overmen"-of two figureswho best embodythe typeofsuperhumanictionedby Nietzsche in Zarathustra-is evokedat theendof a text whichrecalls hat hestrange,mad atherof Frederick heGreathadneverthelessunderstoodhatwhat was then most lackingin Germany-a deficiencywhich was moreworryingandurgentthanthe lack of cultureor of social graces-was menworthyof the name.Buryinghimself, explodinghimself as a German n orderto be reborn-to makehimself be reborn-and to reaffirmhimself as a Frenchman, oes not meanchanginghisnationality:whatdonationalitiesmatter oNietzsche,this "statelessperson,"hisbeyond-all-borders! It meanseffecting a much moreprofoundconversion:giving himself theopportunity f beingrecognized orwhat he is, a man-or Dionysus,which,understoodcorrectly, s the samething. "HaveI beenunderstood?-Dionysus againsttheCrucified"[EHIV 9]. Right up againsthim, in parody.Ecce homo:to be readfirst in "Napoleonic" ranslation, hen,thisphraseof PontiusPilate'spointingoutChristto theJews.Forif thereare no longer anymen,if peopleno longereven knowwhat a manis, theblame can be attributed o religion. Man has made a gift to the divinity of all thecharacteristicswhich make man a man:he has conceivedeverythinggreatandstrongassuperhuman,s alien tohimself. He has thus diminishedhimself anddividedupbetweentwo sphereshis twosides, the onepitifulandweak,the otherstrongandastonishing.Thefirstspherehe has called "man," he second "God"[KGWVIII/399].Because Christianityhas debased the notion of man,by projectingabove him his"superhumanity"r"divinity,"t shouldbe restored o him. Andfirst,as withChrist-inaparodyof Christ-it shouldbedisplayed:Ecce homo,beholdman,beholdGod,aliasDionysus.Understoodcorrectly,none of this has anythingmad about t....

2. AnAutobiography?TheQuestionof MadnessYetEcce homohasbeen consideredbyfarthe "maddest" ext n allphilosophy,one whichbearssymptomsof the "madness" o come. Andas suchit has beenrejected,or has beenthe objectof philosophicalreappropriation.At all events it is an exceptional"work"whichposes preciselythequestionof whether t is awork,anda work-ofphilosophy,asit settles its accounts with everythingthathas called itself by this name hitherto,andconstitutesa textwhich is strictlyspeakingunheard f-lacking earstohear t. Nietzscheknew this so well that, like the Zarathustra f the "Old and New Law-Tables,"headdressesonly himself in it, recounts"himself' to "himself."Ina gesturecharacteristicof the"autobiographical"enre,anddespitehis avowed reluctance o speakof himself(anexceptionalbeing,hecanonly exposehimself toincomprehensionndvulgarization),

40. "He lit a lampin broaddaylightandsaid, as he wentabout, 'I am looking or a man'"[Diogenes Laertius2: 43].56


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Nietzsche,inEcce homo,speaksof himself in the firstperson(somethingwhich he sayshehasneveryetdone,even thoughhe hasonly ever writtenwith his blood),and like theRousseauof theConfessions,whom he is also replaying n parody,he shows who he isso as notto be taken for someone else. Butthoughthere s "autobiography," ietzschehere in fact subverts the autobiographical"genre" n the most radicalway. It is thestrangest utobiographicalexteverwritten,"themostdepersonalized"here s,Nietzschesays paradoxically.How are we to understandhim?First,he does not tell thestoryof an"I,"a subjectalwaysalready herewhich in itssingularitymightbedistinguished romallothers. It is theautobiographical story"tselfwhichconstitutes he"I"and thesubjectof which it is supposedto be simplytelling thestory.Onlythe timeof theautobiography ermits he"I" o accedeto "itself' in agestureof selective and discriminativereaffirmation. Onthe thresholdof his forty-fifth year,Nietzschefeels it his dutyto say in whatrespectshe hasremained"himself' and in whatrespectshe has become someone else.41 Sayingwho he is means showing how he hasbecome who he is, in otherwordshow he has attainednot his mostprofound elf, but theonewhich was situatedway above"him,"at "his"highestpoint;now if he is so afraidofbeingtaken or someoneelse, it is becausehe "himself' took himself for "others" tfirst,went viamany"others."Beforereachinghisheight,he hadto takenumerousbyroadsandmakemanyaberrantdeviations,conceal himself in multiplehiding places42 nd undermultiplemasks: orexample,thatof aphilologist.Althoughhewas not a badphilologist,in the timeof thebiographical pres-coup,43 andonly then,Nietzsche can claim that hewas "outsideof his centre"44here. Similarlyit strikeshim now as an "eccentricity"ohave beena Schopenhauerianra Wagnerian.The timeof the"apres-coup,"beyondallthedigressions, ecreations,45nddispersals,allowshimtobring hemultiple"Nietzsches"back o a centerandaunity:theunityof asingletask,of which whatis named"Nietzsche"was theinvoluntaryandunwittingmissionary.46Wagner,Schopenhauer,Voltaire,PaulRee,Zarathustra, ionysus,andso on: so manymasksand names which Nietzschehadtoseize hold of in order o saywhat did notyethave aname. Thetime of theapres-coupallowshimtosay:all thesenameswerealready"me," implysignsforspeakingof "me,"as Socrateswas buta semiotic forPlato,and Kantor Buddhawere for Schopenhauer.

In thethirdandfourth Untimelies wopicturesof thesternestselfishness, self-disciplineare erected ... as signposts to a higherconcept of culture, to therestorationof the concept "culture":untimely types par excellence, full ofsovereign contempt for all that around them which was called "Reich,""culture, "Christianity, "Bismarck, "success"-SchopenhauerandWagneror, in one word,Nietzsche. [EHIIIUM 1]

41.Cf. etter o HeinrichKoselitz, 0August 882[KGB II11 38].42. Cf.letter oElisabethNietzsche, 0 May1885:"Everythinghave written ithertosforeground....amdealingwith hemostdangerousatters;hat commendheGermansetweentimes,napopularmanner,oSchopenhauerrWagner,rthink pZarathustra-thesehings reformerecreations,utaboveall hiding-places,ehindwhich cansitdownagain ora while"[KGBII/353;SL241].43. TN: heperspectiverom "afterheevent" althoughhe "event"maynot havebeen);retrospectivere)interpretation.heFrenchranslationfthepsychoanalyticermNachtraglichkeit("deferredction,""retroaction").44.Cf. etter o CarlFuchs,14 December 887[KGB 11/509f.;SL280].45. Cf.letter o PaulDeussen,14 September888: "Ineed all kindsof recreations nddeviationsoastosettheworkupwithoutnyeffort,ikeagame, ikeanactof 'freewill'" KGB111/526;SL311].46.Cf. etter oCarlFuchs,4December887[KGBII/5210;SL281]. Cf.alsoGM,Preface.diacritics / winter 1994 57


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WhatIdidbyand argewasto take wofamousand stillaltogetherundeterminedtypesby theforelock,as one takesanopportunityby theforelock, n order tosaysomething, n orderto have a couplemore ormulas,signs,meansof expressionin myhands.... It was in thiswaythatPlato employedSocrates,as a semioticfor Plato. [EH III UM 3]47

Just as man as a species is a type which is still undeterminedand unformed,mere"formlessness,material,an ugly stone which requiresa sculptor" EHIII Z 8] who isgrandioseenough oknowhowtoform tandmake tat last accedeto its truenature,homonatura,or itssuperhumanity,ikewisethe manwho has the name"Nietzsche,"andwhosetype was at first undetermined,was able to accede to his "type,"to what is highest,superhuman, xceptional,andunique n him-and thus to honorhispropername[nompropre]-only by firstlettinghimself be sculpted48ndformedby other"types"whichconferredon him their aces [figures]and names[noms]. Butas if by areturn hock,theundying renown [renom]of these figureheads[prete-noms]owes everythingto the"Nietzsche"who has accededto himself and, as a sign of gratitude,associates themforever with his immortality.The typeswith which he indeedidentifies arenecessaryfictionswhich owe moreto what Nietzsche is or will be thanto thosetheyaresupposedto figure,andthey helpone to understandwho he is or will be more than to graspthemthemselves.Nietzsche's model in clarifyingthe relationshe maintainswith these identificatoryfiguresis therelationshipwhich he himself establishesbetween Plato and Socrates. Onthisreading,Plato'sSocrates s a pure"chimera":"Plato nfront,Platobehind,chimerain the middle"[cf. BGE 190 andKofman,"Socrate"].Platoboldly seized hold of thecharacter nderotically ntroducedhimselfthewhole way, lendinghim his owndelicacyandnobility, his own masks, and all the richness of his nature. Likewise the figures,figureheads orNietzsche,areall chimericalcreations,enrichedand mpregnated yhim:"Nietzsche in front,Nietzsche behind,chimera in the middle." They are all big withNietzsche,with the Nietzschetheywill bring nto theworld,theNietzscheto come whohasnonameyet. Theyareall variations dinfinitum n the theme"Nietzsche," uccessiveversions, the original text of which the autobiography ntends to display: "homoNietzsche." Oncehe hadrecognized hecompenetration f thetwotypeswhichSocratesand Platorepresent,Nietzsche stroveto separate hemfrom each otherso as to restore oeach what properlybelongs to him: to the one his nobility, to the other his baseness.Likewise, the time of theautobiographys when he attempts o make the break andcutthe umbilical cord linking him to all those with whom he amorously,symbioticallycoupleduntilhe was corrupted nd contaminated y them tothepointof confusion. Theautobiographys first of all a work of mourning-and in this sense a thanatography-inwhich Nietzscheburieshimselfseveraltimes over so as to be able to bereborn o himselfand reappropriate imself:by virtue of an unparalleledgenealogicalflair-his wholegenius is in his nostrils [EH IV 1]49-he attemptsto divide up what in him properlybelongs to "him" and what were just borrowedmasks, hiding places, more or lessdemeaningfigureheads,occasionallyaberrant etours, n order o achieve his unityandhis centerand to transformhimself into a destiny.It goes withoutsaying that this reappropriativeesturecan be read as a defenseagainst"madness":irstof allagainst hemadnessof which theGermansaccuse him andwhichtheydiagnosewhentheycomplainof his "eccentricities,"while so long astheydo

47. TN:"Accessoires,"thechapter nKofman'sExplosionIIonEHIII UM3, isforthcominginEnglishtranslationas "Accessories."48: "Becomewhoyouareconstantly,be the teacherand creatorofyourself"[KGWV/2453].49. TN:thequotationemphasizes hat in French "flair"also means "senseof smell."

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not know wherehis centeris, Nietzschesays, they cannotreallyknow whereand whenhe has been eccentric so far.50The autobiography,by affirmingand designatinghiscenter, should save him from such suspicions;and also reassurehis publisher,who isanxiousanddesperatebecause a real stir has been createdover the significanceof hisliterature,o such an extent thatthispublisher s preparedo hand over the new editionsof his works-so thatpeoplewill stop sayingNietzsche is round thebend[debloque]-to anyonewho will promisehimalongessayon "Nietzscheen bloc."51Ecce homoplaysthe roleof thisessay,which noone has hadthecourageor theintelligencetowrite, ettingpeopleknow who he is andthat he is not mad. But it is a questionof reassuringhimselfabove all:of recounting o himself that he is not mad and that at thevery momenthe isplanningto blow up the entire earthhe is not himself in the process of exploding-ofshatteringnto a thousand igureswith no linkorunity. Ecce homo could well be a lastattempt o safeguardagainstthe threatening"madness"which will makeNietzschesayin the last letters-this time withoutanygenealogical dividing-up,andwithoutsayingallthatseparateshim from thesefigures-that he is basicallyeveryname inhistory;52 hichwill henceforth make him sign with multiple "signatures" Dionysus, the Crucified,Nietzsche,andso forth)53 ppendedat the bottom ofpageswhich the "reasonableman"mayfindextravagant,orin themheclaims thathehascreated heworld andhadCaiaphasput in chains,thathe, too, has been crucified. Writing n a letter of 3 January1889 toCosima Wagnerunder the name of "PrincessAriadne,"his "beloved,"Nietzsche/Dionysus reveals to her his multiple identities,which (de)constitutehim as a singlesubject denticalwith itself overtime,as an"autos,"and deconstitutehimalso as aman,since the namemanhasalways presupposed specificdifferenceassuring he humanraceanidentitywhichdistinguishes t from the others-from animalityordivinity-whereasNietzsche declares that he has also beena divinebeing, forexampleDionysus:

It is aprejudicethatI am a man. ButI haveoftenlivedamongmenalreadyandI knoweverything heycan experience, rom the lowest to thehighest. AmongIndiansI wasBuddha,in GreeceI wasDionysus,-Alexander and Caesararemy ncarnations,as is theShakespearepoet,LordBacon.Latterly was VoltaireandNapoleon, perhapsRichardWagner, oo.... But this timeI come as thevictoriousDionysus,who will makeafeast day of theearth.... Not thatI havemuch time. . . . The heavens are glad I am here .... I hung on the cross,too.... [KGBIII/5572 f.]

But is this letter really the symptom of an unsoundness of mind? Is Nietzsche not"repeating"his ancestorEmpedocleswho claimed he had been a fish, a bird,before50. Cf. etter o CarlFuchs,14December1887[KGB 111/509;SL280], andletter oHeinrichKoselitz,20 December1887 [KGB111/5 13], where, in connection with the reviewsof BeyondGoodandEvil senttohimbyNaumann,he writes: "thewords'psychiatric'and 'pathological'aresupposed to serve as groundsfor explaining my book and as a censorship of it. (Justbetweenourselves:theenterprise amengagedin has something mmenseandmonstrousaboutit-and I

can't blameanyone fhereandtherethey eel a doubtarise about t,as to whether am still 'inmyrightmind')."51. Letterto CarlFuchs, 14 December 1887 [KGBIII/5210; SL281].52. Cf. letter to Jacob Burckhardt, January1889 [KGBIII/5578; SL347].53. Cf.lettersto: "the llustriousPoles, "4January1889 [KGB111/5 77]; CardinalMariani,4January1889 [KGBIII111577]; Umberto ,Kingofltaly, 4January1889 [KGB111/5 77]; JacobBurckhardt,6 January 1889 [KGBIII/5 579; SL348]; Georg Brandes, 4 January 1889 [KGBII1/5573; SL345]; Hans vonBulow,4 January1889 [KGBIII/5573]; Paul Deussen, 4 January1889 [KGBIII/5574]; HeinrichKoselitz,4January 1889 [KGB111/5 75; SL345]; ErwinRohde,4January1889[KGB111/576]; CarlSpitteler,4January1889[KGBIII/5576]; HeinrichWiener,4 January1889 [KGBIII/5576].diacritics / winter 1994 59


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becominga man or agod? Andis he not related o thatotherphilosopher,Peregrinus,hefounderof Eclecticism,as he is describedby Gerardde Nerval(who was also takenforan eccentricbecausehe was fascinatedby the eccentricshe paintedinLes illumines)?Peregrinus-Proteus,hanks o metempsychosis,was ableto experienceeveryconditionanddestiny, ife, death,everysituationandsex;he was able toassumeeveryoffice, travelup and downevery land andeverycentury:I amhe whois neitherdeadnoralive,neithera shade nor abody,neitherchosennordamned,neitherhistorical normythical... ; I haveseen myselfas a child,a man,a womanbyturns,dyinglike the rest bychance or by destiny;mysoulhas travelledup and down the whole ladder of humanity, have been king,emperor, acique,artist,bourgeois, oldier, Greek, ndian,American,French.s4

Admittedly, rom theperspectiveof the reasonableman the endlessperegrination f thephilosopherPeregrinuscanonly be a sign of madness,makingthose people lose theirheadswho need every beingto possess one specific name and one specific positioninorder o reassure hemselves of theirown equilibrium.Adopting everyname andeverypositionmeansbeingeitherahoaxeroramadman cf.Nerval,Le comteSaint-Germain].CanNietzsche's discoursebe assimilated o thatof thisphilosopher-Proteus? ikeNerval-who identifieswith his charactersand imitatesmultiple iterarymodels to thepoint of losing any ascribable dentity-does he find himself caughtup in an endlessperegrination nddrifting?The authorofAngeliqueindeed s and is notDiderot,Sterne,Swift, Rabelais,MerlinCoccaie,Apuleius,Petronius,Lucian,Homer,andso forth,55ustas Nietzsche is and is not all the charactershe has fictioned:Wagner,Schopenhauer,Alexander, Caesar,Napoleon,Voltaire,LordBacon, Buddha,Dionysus, and so forth.YetalthoughNietzsche,like Nerval'sPeregrinus-a paradigm f thewriter-says hehasexperiencedall thatmen can feel, his wandering s not withoutend. It is orientedanddeterminedby the doubleperspectivehe carrieswithinhim, thatof life's lowest and oflife's highest,which allows him to knowboth,to be both. At its outset,"WhyI Am SoWise" announcesa doubleoriginwhichtearsapart he"subject"Nietzsche intoat leasttwo"Nietzsches," he onebeingthe doubleof the other:onebelongingatthetop,andonebelonging at the bottom of the ladder of life. A double origin which makes himsimultaneouslyadecadentandabeginning,capableof alwaysmaintainingwithinhimselfhis "pro"and his "contra,"withanoutstanding lair forthesigns of ascent anddecline.It markshim outasapeerlessmaster n the artof invertingperspectives,anddestineshim,andhimalone,forthe taskof invertingvalues. Thevarious ncarnationsistedin the lettertoAriadne, n anapparently delirious" isorder, efer ntheirdiversityback othe doubletypologyalwaysalreadypreinscribedn"Nietzsche."Theyareallrequired outeswhichNietzsche hadto takeinorder o reach hestageof introducingntohis double nheritanceof healthandmorbidityahierarchy avoringhealthandthe unreserved ffirmation f life.Favoring he triumph, n him,of Dionysusagainstthe Crucified.So one can no longer say,without at leastputting t in quotationmarks, hatEcce homois anautobiography,or whatthetext"recounts"s rather he deathof theautosas a stableand substantial ubject,as conceivedby metaphysics; t is also the deathof the"bios," fone takes this to mean that he"life"of aliving personhas itsorigininhis two parents o

54. Nerval,L'ane d'or[The GoldenAss] (a text which is entirelygraftedontoApuleius's ofthesamename).55.Cf.Nerval,Angelique,he tory fabookwhich annot efound,writtenyanauthorwhocannotbe found,the abbecomtede Bucquoy-so-calledcomte de Bucquoy-aneccentriccharacter hosename ndexistence rebothuncertain,ndwho s theparadigm fthewriter.Cf.Kofman,Nerval;orNerval's ndlessdrifting,f.alsoJeanneret.60


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whom he is boundby his "blood." When Nietzsche calls himself "full-blooded,"heunderstandshistermnotin abiological, physiological,or racialsensebut,aswe shallsee,in a typological and economic sense.56 Ecce homo is the most "depersonalized"autobiographyhereis. Its "hero"does not have an ascribablemother and father n theconventionalmanner,does not have one single face [figure],or even a single mask, asinglepersona. Inthis sense it is anautobiography f no one [personne]. The "I"whospeaks o himself of himselfisnotusingafirst-persondiscourse-which Platoconsideredthe least mimetic of all-for in this ""r here is morethanoneperson or there is no one[personne]: nothing but an accumulation of superabundantorces which explode.Nietzscheis not a man,he is dynamite.Althoughwith Ecce homo,in acertaindefensivegesture,Nietzschestill attempts osave himself from what the serious and reasonableman calls a "mad"dispersal, byemphasizingwhatproperlybelongsto himandby stilldividing upthe "central"rom the"eccentric," n the otherhandhetakes no care at all to avoidexplodingall thetime. Thecountlessquestionmarksandexclamationmarkswhichpunctuatehis text aresymptoms,in thewriting,of anaccumulation f forcesdischarginghemselvesexcessively and n themost extremefashion there is.It hasbeenpossibletoconsiderEcce homo a "mad" extabove all becauseof thistone,which is so singular,dazzling,stunning,and ubilant-unbearablefor the moralmanwhotakeshimselfseriously,because such a text breakswith the"conventional," cceptabletone,with all thecustomarymodestyand reserveadopted ngeneralby those who speakof "themselves"n the "firstperson,"as if observinga sense of decencywouldoffset theaudacityof displayingoneself in"person."Nietzscheconstantlyproclaims hathe is anexceptionalbeing, unprecedented ndunparalleled, lwaysandeverywhere he "first"-a"beginning,"oo,in the sense thathealways inauguratesna matchlessandunmatchablefashion: he first immoralist EHIV 2], the first to have been able to handlethe Germanlanguageso well [EHIII],the first to have solved theenigmaof Ariadne:"Who knowsexceptme whatAriadne is!" [EHIII Z 8]. The first to haveunderstood hetremendousphenomenonof Dionysianism,and as earlyas TheBirthof Tragedy EHIII BT 2]. Thefirst to have experienced true poetic inspiration,at the moment of Zarathustra,anextraordinary,ncomparablework-greater than hegreatest:n allgenresand n all lands[EHIIIZ 6].It is under he effect of Dionysianintoxication analogousto the intoxicationwhichthe Alcibiadesof theSymposiumneeded in order o praiseSocrates-another incompa-rable,anunparalleledbeing in every respect),underthe effect of a superabundancefoverflowing orces whichnosense ofdecency,noprohibition omesto inhibitany longer,thatthe immoralistgives himself therightto advertise rom his full height-not withouta malicewhich mocks all proprietyand seriousness-his titles to fame:"WhyI Am SoWise"(weise); "WhyI Am So Clever"(klug); "WhyI WriteSuch Good Books";and"WhyI Am a Destiny,"titles which place Ecce homo underthe sign of extravagance,defiance,provocation,and make it a satyric text.As Alcibiadessays of Socrates,Nietzsche, too, hasalwaysthought hat he belongstothegenus"satyr,"his followerof Dionysus, harbinger f thegod,alreadyentirely illedwith him. It is the "satyr" n "Nietzsche"which makes for the singulartone of his"wisdom,"orhis "science"[savoir],57which is alwaysspicedwith a greatdeal of maliceandgoodhumor,58nd n whichprofundityandexuberance o tenderlyhand nhand[EHIIIGS]. A combinationof two"contradictory"ones whichtramplesmoralityunderfoot

56. TN: f. Kofman, AFantasticalGenealogy."57. TN: heFrenchtitleofNietzsche's Die frohlicheWissenschaft TheGayScience)is Legaisavoir.58.Cf.draftetter oJeanBourdeau,. 17December888[KGB111/5 35].diacritics / winter 1994 61


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as it dances,and blows upall metaphysicaloppositions. A "satyric"onewhichmocksall those who do not know how to laugh at the serious or "tragic"aspects of life byparodying t. As earlyas July 1868 he writes to SophieRitschl:"we who take no pageof this life so seriouslythatwe cannotdraw n ajoke as a fleetingarabesque.And whatgodcan be surprisedf we behave ikesatyrsnowandthen,parodyingalife whichalwayslooks so serious and solemn but wears buskins on its feet"[KGBI/2 299].Becoming"Nietzsche" or Nietzscheessentiallymeansbecominga man of the"gayscience,"of the"GayaScienza." "For et us bear life no ill-will, but become more andmore who we are-the 'gay-scientists'."59Yet in the foreword to Ecce homo [2] the"satyr"s merelythe objectof a preference,even a last resort. Nietzsche wouldprefer,he says, to be taken for a satyr han a saint,that s, a servantof Christ, or he is neitherafanatic noranapostle,a founderof a religion,a monsterof virtue,or a moral man. Buttakinghimpurelyandsimplyfora satyrwould meanmakinganothermistake. Forthesatyris also thatcynical and shameless buffoon who is unafraid o wallow in his booksas in his own dung,andacknowledgesonly the animal in man,a "bellywith two needsanda head with one": someone who "sees, seeks and wants to see only hunger,sexualdesire,andvanity,as thoughthesewere the actualandsole motives of humanactions"[BGE 26]. Nietzsche feels no typological affinityat all with these buffoons,whosecynicism is the form in which only base andvulgarsouls prizewhat is called sincerity.Yet it is still better o be takenfor a cynic than a saint,forat least a certain ruth peaksfrom the mouthof thecynic,andso he is moreinstructive han hemoralman,who hideshis face,waxes indignant, loses his modestears atsatyricbuffoonery,and s himself butalie. "For heindignantman,andwhoever scontinually earingandrendinghimselfwithhisteeth... mayindeedmorally peaking tandhigher han helaughingandself-satisfiedsatyr, but in every other sense he is the more commonplace, less interesting,lessinstructive ase. And noonelies so muchastheindignantman" BGE26]. So Nietzscheis no cynic:he hasfar too muchnobilityand distinction or that. But while he keepshisdistance rom hecynic,he does not discount he assistanceofcynicismand tsbuffooneryinhis fight againstChristianmorality-the "infamous hing"whichmustbe"crushed,"6andwhich he constantlyattacks.Nietzsche is no cynic-he simply playsthecynic,andin doingso takeshim to the limit:"WhyI Am So Clever"[1] sets againsttheprevailing"moraline" f idealismanewremedy,a"medi-cynicism" EHIII5]. WhereasChristianmoralitymakes the salvationof humanitydependon theological"cuisine,"Nietzschemakesit dependenton whicheveralimentarydiet has beenadopted.As a newdietician,he drawsup a veritabletypology of different"cuisines,"the "worst"being the mostimpersonal:hereshouldbe asmanywaysof eatingasthereare"intestines" o befed,andeveryoneshouldbe his own measurehere,shouldknow how to nourishhimself so as toattainhis maximumof strength,of virtu,of "moraline-free"irtue. Nietzsche maintainsthat"pure pirit"s a"pure ie,"that he"spirit"s itself a stomach, hatalltheprejudicesof thespiritcomefrom thegut,fromdisturbed ntestinesandbaddigestion. He thusrunstheriskofbeingtaken oracynicor abuffoon,whenhehasmerelyseized hold of the maskof thecynic,for his ownuse,inorder o "refute"Christianity nd ts sacredbook,theNewTestament, he moststinkingbookof all,thecompleteabsenceof buffoonery romwhichserves as arefutation:"Inthe entireNew Testament here s not onesinglebouffonnerie:butthat factrefutesa book"[WP 187].

59. Lettero HeinrichKoselitz, 0August 882[KGB II/1239].60. "Crushhe nfamoushing""Ecrasez'infame"],hisphraseof Voltaire'swhichs thewatchwordakenupagainbyNietzschenhis ightagainstmoralityndall thatresemblest,ispracticallyhe astword n Eccehomo.Cf.EHIV8. [TN:cf.alsoKofmansforthcomingtudy fNietzsche ndVoltaire,"Etpourtant,lletremble!"]62


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3. Paganismagainst ChristianityIn otherwords,althoughEcce homoparodicallyrepeatsaphrase romthe New Testamentin its title, and althoughNietzsche also "reincarnates"he one who is pointedout byPontius Pilate to be crucified,the book cannot be an invitationto imitate Christ. Animitationwhich was urgedby medieval Christians,with thebody of Christon displayremindinghem hat"inmediavita,in mortesumus" inthemidstof life we are ndeath)-asaprayernthe Romanmissal of theCouncilof Trenthasit61-but also thatourmortalbodies, like Christ's,will be resurrected n glory. Nietzscheprobablywantedto alludetothis medievalprayerwhen heinitiallynotedamong he titlesenvisagedbutnot retained:"Inmedia vita." "Inmedia vita" is also the name given to section 324 of The GayScience-which is reproducedbelow in the originaland in translation:

In mediavita.-Nein! Das Leben hat michnicht enttduscht! VonJahrzuJahrfinde ich es vielmehr wahrer, begehrenswertherund geheimnisvoller,-vonjenemTagean,wo dergrosseBefreieriibermichkam, enerGedanke,dassdasLebeneinExperimentdesErkennenden eindurfe-und nichteinePflicht,nichteinVerhingnis,nichteineBetrigerei!--Und dieErkenntniss elber:magsiefiirAndere etwas Anderessein, zumBeispiel ein Ruhebettoder der Wegzu einemRuhebett,odereine Unterhaltung,odereinMiissiggang,--fir mich ist sie eineWeltderGefahrenundSiege, inderauchdie heroischenGefiihle hreTanz-undTummelpldtze aben. "Das Leben ein Mittel der Erkenntnis"-mit diesemGrundsatze mHerzen kannman nicht nurtapfer,sondernsogarfrohlich ebenund frohlich achen! Undwerverstiinde iberhaupt utzu lachenundzu leben,der sich nichtvorerstaufKrieg undSieg gut verstiinde?In media vita.-No! Life has not disappointedme! Yearafteryear, on thecontrary, findittruer,moredesirableandmysterious-ever since thedaywhenthegreat liberator came overme, the thought hatlife could be an experimentof the seeker or knowledge-and not a duty,not a calamity,nottrickery!-Andknowledge tself:let it besomethingelsefor others, or examplea bedtorest onor thewayto sucha bed,or anentertainment, r anidleness-for me it is a worldofdangersandvictories,inwhich heroicfeelings, too,haveplaces todance andplay. "Life a means to knowledge"-with thisprinciplein one's heart one canlivenotonly courageouslybutevengaily, and aughgaily, too. And who wouldknowhow to laughand live well atall, ifhedid not irst knowa gooddealaboutwarandvictory?In thistextNietzsche exclaims as heopposesaChristian,heologico-moralnterpre-tation of life: life, stampedwith the mark of sufferinganddeath,as simply a passagetowardanothermuchbetter,much ess disappointingife, toward heonly"trueife,"trulyworthyof the name. To accede to it, man would have tolive life "onearth"as a series ofduties to be carriedout in order to achieve his salvation. Nietzsche, on the contrary,

vigorouslymaintainshat ife, no,hasnotdisappointed im,thathe findsit,even fromone61. TN: betterknown to English-speakingreaders as part of the Order or theBurial of theDead nTheBookof Common rayer. n the "Supplementhapsodique""Rhapsodicupple-ment")at the endof ExplosionII[371-84], Kofmanreturns o thisformulation,notingthatDanteis possibly alludingto it in theopening of the Divine Comedy("Nel mezzodel cammindi nostravita . . . ")andstressing thatNietzsche'sallusion to it also allows a readingof theeternal returnas a parodic displacementof the Christian houghtof theResurrection: "Nietzsche'sEcce Homois afuneral ceremony n which the Christiangod is buried norderto comeback to life in theformofapagangodwhoplaces resurrection, n a whollypaganmanner,at theveryheartof life"[376].



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yearto thenext, truer,moredesirableandmysterious. In the midst of life it is not deathrearingupin frontof him ateverysteplike askeleton;what he finds is abeautifulwomanwho, despiteher infidelitiesor deceptions-the sufferingsshe brings-is neverdisap-pointingbutremainsdesirableandworthyofbeingloved,eternally,becausesheis alwaysfull of beautiesandmysteries[cf.alsoGS,Preface](worthyof returning ternally,unlikethe motherand hesister,aswe shallsee indiscussingsection3 of"Why Am SoWise").62Life as an endlessenigma,asa meansto knowledge-once the deathof Godandtheendof the ascetic ideal have beenproclaimed,his is what liberatesone fromdisgustatliving,preventsone fromfalling into pessimismandnihilism. This alone is what cangive ameaninganda new interest o life: forlife as "anexperiment f theseeker orknowledge"is not a long andpeacefulriver,or theway to a bedto reston, orsimplyanamusement.A world full of dangers,a demand for permanentconquestsandvictories, life, as anenigma,calls for bravuraandvirility:a woman, she always loves only a warrior63-awarriorwhoknows how totriumph ver herandconquerher. A happyand oyouswarriorwho feels all the stronger or encounteringrecurrent bstacles andresistances: for theconquestof life needs to be constantlyrenewed,since God is dead,the "stopgap"whogave a definitiveanswerto everyquestion,permanently liminatingeveryquestionandevery enigma. Every thought. Onlythe death of God transforms ife into a world ofvictoriesin whichheroicfeelings, joy, andlaughtercanhave theirspaceto dance, nto aworldwhich leaves spaceforthefeast of thought. Indeedtherecannotbe anyChristian"thought,"or there cannot be any Christianestivity:by abusingfestivals [fetes], theChurchhascorruptedestivity [la fete], which is essentiallypagan:

One has to be verycoarse in order not tofeel thepresence of ChristiansandChristianvalues as an oppressionbeneath which all genuinefestivefeelings[eigentliche Feststimmung]go to the devil. Festivals include: pride, exuber-ance, wantonness; mockeryof everythingserious and philistine; a divineaffirmation foneselfoutofanimalplenitudeandperfection-one and all stateswhich the Christiancannothonestlywelcome.The festival is paganismpar excellence [Das Fest ist Heidenthumparexcellence].64Ecce homo, in media vita:Dionysus againstthe Crucified,no longera Christianbut apagan.It is all themoreinteresting,at thispoint,to recall thatHeideggerused thissectionfrom The Gay Science, "In media vita" [324], as an epigraphfor the preface to hisNietzsche(1936-40). Strangelyreduced, hornof its exclamationmarks, hornof its titleand thusof its direct reference o the Christiannterpretationf life; shornof everythingthat connectsit to desire,woman,joy, laughter,victory,war, in a word thegreatpaganfestival of thought.65Here,then(intranslation),s the truncated orm n whichHeidegger

62.TN: f.Kofman, AFantasticalGenealogy."63.Cf. heepigrapho GMIII:"'Unconcerned,ocking,iolent-thuswisdomwants s: heis a woman ndalways ovesonlya warrior.'ThusSpokeZarathustra)."64. WP916 [KGWVIII/2219]. Besides estivals,the same text denounces he othercorruptionsheChurch asbroughtbout hroughbuse:ofasceticism,asting, hemonastery,couragen the aceofoneself,death.65.JacquesDerrida"Interpretingignatures]analyzeshispointery trongly,etwithoutindicatinghat he itleofsection 24ofTheGaySciencemakes eferenceotheprojectedubtitlefor Eccehomo,orthat t is theopening fa Christianrayer;hethereforeindsthis itleratherenigmaticnd ranslatestasjust "in hemediumf life" 10 f.]. Instead,"in hemidstof life"seems o me mperative.64


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quotes he text:"'Life .. moremysterious incethedaythegreat iberator ameoverme-the thought hat life should be anexperimentof knowers"'[Nietzsche1: xv].66Cuttinga text as onequotes t,andmoreoverusingthe authorhimselftobackoneselfup,since thequotations precededby"Nietzschehimself [whenknowingwho Nietzschehimself is is precisely what is at issue] names the experience that determines histhinking"-this is whatgoes to makeupaninterpretative trategy.ThesamestrategyasthroughoutHeidegger'sNietzsche: as PhilippeLacoue-Labarthe["Obliteration"]ndJacquesDerrida "Interpretingignatures,"OfSpirit]have shownverywell, it involvesshieldingNietzsche froma biologizingreadingwhich subordinateshis "philosophy"oa biologicalmodel and sees in it a celebrationof life conceived as theultimategoalorasBeing. Andhencesavinghim from a whole academictraditionwhich makes him into a"poet,"at best a philosopherof life, lackingin conceptualrigor. The quotation, n thistruncatedorm,indeedemphasizesthat ife cannotbe eithera model or a goal since it issimply a means: an"experimentof knowledge" moreover,Nietzsche says in German"einExperimentdesErkennenden,"o it would bebetter o translate t like Vialatte: "forthosewho seektoknow"["pourceuxquicherchenta savoir"]than ike Klossowski:"ofknowledge" ["de la connaissance"]).67 But if Heidegger thinks that in this way, byremovingfrom the textall thatNietzschecalls truly"life"(theentire instinctualaspect,the joyous and heroic, pagan affirmationof thoughtas infinite interrogation),he issafeguardingNietzschefromreappropriationyNazism(whichusesNietzsche'spseudo-biologism as a support)at the same momentas he himself is distancinghimself fromit,thenhe loses "Nietzsche"at least as much as he saves him. Heprotectshimonly so thathe can better nscribehim withinthehistoryof Westernmetaphysics,where "Nietzsche"has a very specific place, a limit place as the last thinker of metaphysics,which hecompletes by inverting t;a single placedefiningthe meaningof thename"Nietzsche,"which is thusreduced,beyondthe multiplicityof adoptedmasks, faces [figures],andnames, to the simplicity of a single name. A single name, itself the sign of a single"thought,"hat of thewill to power. So knowing"who Nietzsche is"does not involveentering nto a "living"relationshipwithhim,a typeof readingwhich-as he assertsofNietzsche's interpretation f the first masters of thought-remains superficial.68Itinvolves looking beyond Nietzsche's life, his "psychology"or his idiosyncrasy,hisempiricalorbiographicalpersonalityorpersonalities, o reach and to think thethinginquestion,the thought,in this case the still unthought houghtof the will to power. Athoughtwhich remained n a state of incompletion,not for any "subjective"reasons,whethernormalorpathological,butpurelyandsimplybecause tis a featureofeverygreatthought o containsomething unthought.

Nietzscheas the Thinkerof theConsummation f MetaphysicsWhoNietzscheis andabove all who hewill be we shall knowas soon as we areable to think hethought hathegave shapeto inthephrase "thewill topower."Nietzsche s thatthinkerwho trod hepathofthought o "thewill topower." WeshallneverexperiencewhoNietzsche s througha historicalreportabouthis life66. TN: since thepassages whichKofmancitesfromHeidegger's Nietzsche are not all to befoundintheEnglishtranslation, have used "Nietzsche"for referencesto theEnglishtranslationand "nietzsche"for referencesto theoriginalGermanedition(whichbears "heideggernietzsche"on its spines).67. TN:thecontrast s betweenAlexandreVialatte s French translationof "Inmediavita"-whichKofman seswhereI have used(amodifiedversionof) WalterKaufnann sEnglishversion-and Pierre Klossowski'sFrench translationof theHeidegger epigraph.68. Cf. theopening of Heidegger, "TheAnaximanderFragment."

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history,northroughapresentation DarstellungJofthe contentsofhis writings.Neitherdo we,norshouldwe want toknowwhoNietzscheis, ifwehaveinmindonlythepersonality Personlichkeit], hehistoricalfigure,and thepsychologi-cal objectand itsproducts. [Nietzsche3: 3]So Nietzsche has a single thought,andthis thoughthasnothingto do withwhathehimself, in hisattempto reunifyapres couphiswritingsandhis "life"(whichforhimarepreciselyindissociable,andone cannotseparate he"material f life" from the"materialof thought"as Heideggerdoes, repeating hemetaphysicalgesturepar excellence at theverymomenthe is claimingto condemn t),what he himself calls intheprefacetoOn theGenealogyofMorals theunityof one nativesoil, one sun,onetaste, na word of onewill,oragainin Ecce homo theunityof one task,one mission,orone destiny. The"unity"ofNietzsche's thought s notsymptomaticof his biopsychological singularity,of a certainhierarchization f the drives in him favoringone will which serves as a more or less

provisionalcenter of perspective: on the contrary, t is the singularityof Nietzsche'sthought, inkedto thesingularityof hislimit-position n thehistoryof Westernmetaphys-ics, thatsingularizesandallows one to understandhis propername,placedin quotationmarks n thepreface oNietzsche,sincethispropername s strictlyspeaking ustthenameof athought,anddesignatesnotapersonbuta moment naperiod nthehistoryof Being.And whatNietzsche calls his destiny,Heidegger-in a violentgestureof interpretation,disregardingheliteralityof thetexts-denies that t caninvolvean"individualate."TheNietzscheanfatumdesignates merelythedestinyof a thought,of "thehistoryof the eraof modem times,of the end of the West."Thisgoes withoutsayingfor someone who has earswhicharefine enoughto hear na singulardestinythe destinyof Being, butonly if he stops his earsto what Nietzscheproclaims,so asnotto hear,notwho is "HerrNietzsche"(forwhatdoes HerrNietzschematter to Nietzsche, he says in the preface to The Gay Science), but the questionoftypologicalidentityas heposes it in the foreword o Eccehomo,thequestionof knowingwho he is, who he hasbecome, and how he has become what he is.Yet Heideggeris not unawarethatby its title andsubtitle,Ecce homo:How OneBecomes WhatOneIs appears o indicatethat t is in this lasttext thatone must look forthe answer to thequestionof "who Nietzsche is." Buthe effaces the objection throughdisavowal: this self-display, in which others have sought to read "the harbingeroferuptingmadness,"or at any rate "uninhibited elf-presentationand boundless self-mirroring,"s no autobiography:n no way is it the storyof a singulardestiny.

Andyet-was notthe lastthingthatNietzschehimselfcompletedforpublicationthepiece thatis entitled Ecce Homo: How One Becomes WhatOne Is? Doesnot EcceHomospeakas his last will-that oneoccupyoneselfwithhim,with thisman,andlet oneselfbe toldbyhim thosethingsthatoccupythe sections of hisbook?-"WhyI am so wise. Why am so clever. Why writesuchgood books.Why am a destiny Schicksal]." Is thisnot theapotheosis ofuninhibited elf-presentationand boundlessself-mirroring?It is a gratuitousand thus oftenpractised procedure to take this self-publication of his own nature and will [diese Selbstveroffentlichung eineseigenenWesens undWollens]as theharbingeroferuptingmadness.However,in Ecce Homo it is a matter neitherof the biographyof Nietzsche nor of theperson of "HerrNietzsche." In truth, t is a matterof a "destiny, not thefate[Geschick] of an individualbut thehistory[Geschichte] of theera of moderntimes,of theendof the West.[Nietzsche3: 3]



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So Heideggersaves Nietzsche from"madness," utby ceasingto"squint omehowafterthe 'life' of the man"who createdthework,andeven after this workitself, for neitherconcernshim, Heideggerconfines him all themoreeasily to what is his sole affair andconcern,which he alone can understand:he historyof Being thoughtas totalityanduniqueness,where the essential thinkers take their place, "those exceptional humanbeings who are destinedto think one single thought,a thoughtthat is always 'about'beingsas a whole [dasSeiende im Ganzen]" Nietzsche3: 4].Intryingtoprotect o-calledNietzschefrommadness, s Heideggernot infacttryingto blind himselfto thatmadnesswhich threatens verythinkerandeverythought,every"subject"?On thepretextof nottaking ntoconsiderationNietzsche theperson,Nietzschethe "subject,"which derivesfroma typically "metaphysical"eading, s Heideggernotstriving,as PhilippeLacoue-Labartheutsit, to "obliterate" ot so muchthe subjectasthe fact that there is no subject? And this is what frightenshim, for in that case thesuspicioncould well arisethat,no more than there is a subject,there cannot be a singlethought,a singlename,asingle history,asinglemetaphysics,orbeingsas a whole. If hedreamsof effacing from the "thought"of "Nietzsche" all traces of desire, laughter,"eccentricity," uffoonery,carnivalesquemultiplicity, s itnot because all this can havenoplacein a logoswhichis supposed obe agathering ogetherandaunifying-becauseall this is tooexplosiveanddazzling?Is it not becauseNietzsche,if one understands imother than as an "essentialthinker,"precisely blows up-along with the subject andBeing, which are reducedby him to mere names ormetaphysical ictions (and"meta-physical"sawordwhich orhimhasacompletelydifferentmeaning han orHeidegger)-the idea of the logos which Heidegger, retranslatingHeraclitus for his own use,reappropriatesor himself?Whatis at stakein theNietzsche/Heideggerdebate s ultimately wo radicallydifferentways of contemplating houghtandthe logos, the one pagan,theother Christian.And becauseEcce homo is just aparodyof thatEcce homo whichdesignatesChristand hosewho are ikehim,Heideggercould no moreread t in its"literality"hanhecouldtakecareto read"literally"ection324 of TheGayScience. Nor does he fail togive somegoodreasons orthis: a thinker an neversayhimself what is mostproper o him: "whatis mostproper o athinker s not hispossessionbut thepropertyof Being." What s mostproper o him "mustremainunutteredbecause the utterablewordreceives its determina-tion from what is unutterable"nietzsche2: 484].Thisis why one must firsttryto findNietzsche's thought,and one must notlookforit in the form which Nietzsche intended, the form imposed on his thought by hisknowledge[savoir],for this form,the writtenform,can only hide what is unthought nhis thought,which is its essence and its truth:"Theburdenof thought s swallowedupinthe writtenscript,unless thewritingis capableof remaining,even in the scriptitself, aprogressof thinking,a way" [WhatIs Called Thinking?49]. If Heideggerbelieves hefinds theunthought ruthof Nietzsche's thought n TheWillto Power, it is becauseit isnot a finishedpiece of writing,so that he who chooses form,who knows, who writes,disappearsromit, and the essential movementof thethought s preserved n it. Linkingbackupwith atraditionalmetaphysicalgesture,Heideggersees writingasadangerwhichthreatenshought ust as muchas does madness:andthis is clearlyno coincidence.69Asis well known,if Socrates s for him thegreatestWestern hinker, hen this is becausehedid not writeanything.ReadingNietzsche,Ecce homo,differently o Heidegger,without ryingto save himfromwhat scalledmadness,without rying osavehis"thought"-andthere s morethan

69.Forallthis, f.Lacoue-Labarthe"Obliteration],whom amollowing erevery losely.68


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one-from writing,requiresus then to go beyondall metaphysicalreappropriationsndreturn o theactual iteralityof thetext,which leadsuspreciselyfirst of all toScripture.70Translatedand revisedbyDuncanLarge in collaboration with theauthorWORKSCITED

Derrida,Jacques. "Interpreting ignatures(Nietzsche/Heidegger):Two Questions."LookingafterNietzsche.Ed.LaurenceA. Rickels.Albany,NY:StateUof NewYorkP, 1990. 1-17.. Of Spirit:Heideggerand theQuestion. Trans.GeoffreyBenningtonand RachelBowlby. Chicago:U of ChicagoP, 1989.Diogenes Laertius.LivesofEminentPhilosophers. Ed. and trans.R. D. Hicks. 2 vols.Cambridge,MA: HarvardUP, 1925.Heidegger,Martin."TheAnaximanderFragment."EarlyGreekThinking.Trans.DavidFarrellKrell and FrankCapuzzi. New York:HarperandRow, 1975.Nietzsche. 2 vols. Pfullingen:Neske, 1961.. Nietzsche. Trans. David FarrellKrell, Joan Stambaugh,and Frank A.Capuzzi. 4 vols. New York:HarperandRow, 1979-87.-. What s Called Thinking?Trans.FredD. Wieck and J.GlennGray. New York:HarperandRow, 1968.Jeanneret,Michel. La leitreperdue: Ecriture et folie dans l'oeuvrede Nerval. Paris:Flammarion,1978.Kofman,Sarah."Accessories."Trans.DuncanLarge.Nietzsche:A CriticalReader.Ed.PeterSedgwick. Oxford:Blackwell. Forthcoming.. "Etpourtant, lle tremble! Nietzsche et Voltaire)." Forthcoming.. ExplosionI: De l'Ecce homo de Nietzsche. Paris:Galilee, 1992.. ExplosionII: Les enfantsde Nietzsche. Paris:Galilee, 1993."A FantasticalGenealogy:Nietzsche's Family Romance." Trans. DeborahJenson. Nietzsche and the Feminine. Ed. PeterBurgard. Charlottesville:UP ofVirginia,1994. 35-52.. Nerval: Le charme de la repetition.Lecture de "Sylvie." Lausanne:L'aged'homme,1979.. "Nietzsche's Socrates: Who'Is Socrates?"Trans.MadeleineDobie. Graduate

FacultyPhilosophyJournal 15.2 (1991): 7-29.. "Le Socrate chimeriquede Platon, selon Nietzsche" ["Plato's ChimericalSocrates,Accordingto Nietzsche"]. Socrate(s). Paris:Galilee, 1989. 53-58.Lacoue-Labarthe,Philippe. "Obliteration."Trans. Thomas Trezise. TheSubject ofPhilosophy. Ed. ThomasTrezise. Minneapolis:U of MinnesotaP, 1993. 57-98.Nerval,Gerardde. (Euvres. Paris:Garnier,1987.Nietzsche,Friedrich.BeyondGood andEvil. Trans.R.J.Hollingdale.Harmondsworth:Penguin,1973.. Ecce homo. Trans.R. J.Hollingdale. Harmondsworth: enguin,1979.. TheGayScience. Trans.WalterKaufmann. New York:Vintage,1974..Nietzsche: Briefwechsel.Kritische Gesamtausgabe. Ed. Giorgio Colli andMazzino Montinari. 16vols. Berlin: De Gruyter,1975-84.. Nietzsche:A Self-PortraitromHis Letters. Ed.and trans.PeterFuss andHenryShapiro. Cambridge,MA: HarvardUP, 1971.. Nietzsche: Werke.KritischeGesamtausgabe. Ed. Giorgio Colli and MazzinoMontinari.33 vols. Berlin:De Gruyter,1967-.

70. TN: thechapterin ExplosionI immediatelyollowing this introductiondiscusses "Eccehomo et l'ecriture"("Ecce homo andScripture") 45-54].diacritics / winter 1994 69


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. On theGenealogyofMorals. Trans.WalterKaufmann ndR. J.Hollingdale.Onthe Genealogy of Morals and Ecce homo. Ed. Walter Kaufmann. New York:Vintage,1967.. SelectedLettersof FriedrichNietzsche. Ed. and trans.ChristopherMiddleton.Chicago:U of ChicagoP, 1969.- . ThusSpokeZarathustra:A Bookfor All and None. Trans.Walter Kaufmann.Harmondsworth:enguin,1978.. TwilightoftheIdols. Trans.R.J.Hollingdale. Twilightof theIdols and TheAnti-Christ. Harmondsworth:enguin,1968.. UntimelyMeditations. Trans.R. J. Hollingdale. Cambridge:CambridgeUP,1983.. TheWillto Power. Trans.WalterKaufmannand R. J.Hollingdale. New York:Vintage,1967.

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