Snares for the Multitude. Nietzche in Australia by Noel Macainsh

Abstract

Noel Macainsh : Nietzsche in Australia, Munich, 1975

This unassuming, timely, and badly-presented paper-back demands close
attention from any literary critic in Australia who ventures ever again to reach for that handy hold-all, Nietzsche, when a writer's philosophy is under consideration. Many of those who resort to glib Nietzschean explanations of literary ideas have, as Dr Macainsh points out, been content "to cease their inquiry into Nietzsche's work as soon as they have found inspiration, and, or confirmation of themselves'' in some partial aspect of it.

The present reviewer has already had occasion to point out two unfortunate instances of this practice, which should have been apparent to anyone trained in elementary logic. Dr Macainsh has more formidable equipment: a scholar's knowledge of German, sharpened by residence in Germany, a skill in handling difficult philosophical concepts, familiarity with the German tradition of the 19th century, and what seems to me—though only a German-speaking Nietzsche expert could pronounce on this—an impressive grasp of his subject. What the layman has a right to say is that, whether Dr Macainsh's conclusions are correct or not, his book lays the foundations for a systematic inquiry into the real extent and the exact nature of Nietzschean influences in Australian literature. 

Vague generalisatlons based on an imperfect acquaintance with inadequate translations of Also Sprach Zarathustra and questionable versions of Der Wille zur Macht will no longer do.