Description
Book SynopsisModernity between Wagner and Nietzsche argues that the operas and writings of Wagner contradict the values that are fundamental to modernity. Analyzing Wagner’s works in contrast to the philosophical thought of Nietzsche, Brayton Polka examines how Wagner breaks with Nietzsche and their common influencer, Schopenhauer.
Trade ReviewPassionately and accessibly written, Brayton Polka's new book offers a bracing challenge to the prevailing view of Wagner and Nietzsche as the twin-progenitors of aesthetic modernism. Sharply critical of Wagner's 'falsification of the values that...constitute modernity,' Polka's study drives a sharp wedge between the musical 'master' and his one-time devotee. Eschewing a strictly immanent view of Wagner's revolutionary aesthetic, Polka's new study helpfully draws attention to modernism's deep philosophical and religious sources. -- Thomas Pfau, Duke University
Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Wagner’s Ring: Life Redeemed in Death – Love’s Sacrifice of Life to Death Chapter 3: Tristan und Isolde: Life Redeemed In Death – Love’s Sacrifice of Life in Death Chapter 4: Parsifal: Life Redeemed in Death - Love’s Sacrifice of Life through Death Chapter 5: Postlude Recapitulated as Prelude in Nietzsche: Ecce Homo! Chapter 6: Conclusion: Modernity as Biblical Consonance
