Technical Backgrounds of Literature. The Influence of the Medium on the Text on Example of Nietzsche’s Typescripts Schreibmaschinentexte Cover Image

Techniczne zaplecza literatury. Wpływ medium na kształt tekstu na przykładzie maszynopisów F. Nietzschego Schreibmaschinentexte
Technical Backgrounds of Literature. The Influence of the Medium on the Text on Example of Nietzsche’s Typescripts Schreibmaschinentexte

Author(s): Karolina Sidowska
Subject(s): Literary Texts
Published by: Łódzkie Towarzystwo Naukowe
Keywords: Nietzsche; the Maling Hansen typewriter; technical medium; self-perception; creative activity

Summary/Abstract: The main focus of this article is a bibliophile edition of Nietzsche’s letters and short writings, typed on the Maling Hansen typewriter. The interesting and unfamiliar to wide audience “medial” episode in the biography of German philosopher is presented here in extended context, including his relationship with Lou Andreas Salome, which took place at the same time as fascination about typewriting. New technical medium seems to have affected strongly his writing style, both on formal and semantic level, but also his thinking and self-perception. Typewriting itself is often a topic in the letters to his friends and a source of metaphors, which express an intimate relation between author and his tool. The correspondences between the medium and creative activity of the subject, noticed and reflected in Nietzsche’s texts, are of great importance in the new media theory, represented in the article by McLuhan and Kittler.

  • Issue Year: 55/2012
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 201-214
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Polish