4 ms·
do you have to learn german just to read nietzsche?
by posterboy 7y ago
do you have to learn german just to read nietzsche?
- mitchty 7y agoAs someone that has learnt German for other reasons, it definitely helps. There is a lot of word play in German in his writings that I feel translation loses. As well as emphasis in word choices stemming from German as a language that tends to either get glossed over or overlooked. But in the end, no you don't, but it helps in the nuances of what is trying to be conveyed.
- mbillie1 7y agoIn English, the Kaufmann translations are excellent.
- SuoDuanDao 7y agoIMHO, Nietzsche was both a great poet and a great philosopher, and the former can't really be translated. I'd imagine it's a bit like watching a shakespear play in a foreign language - still a dramatic and entertaining time, but you might be left wondering what all the fuss is about.