Throughout both 'The Birth of Tragedy' and 'The Genealogy of Morals', Friedrich Nietzsche explains the role and power of the artist. The artist, in particular, the writer, is a creator of illusions. Due to the increase in electronics and technology in the modern area, illusions can be transported into people's everyday lives. The artist, being the main creator of illusions, becomes so empowered within the modern world that he becomes a force in himself rather than just a pawn. This new power allows the artist to affect society like other groups and individuals. This is a manifestation of the "will to power".
The concept of the illusion has always been an essential facet of philosophical thought. It is one of the simplest ways to escape the cruel and thoughtless reality we live in. In 'The Birth of Tragedy' by Friedrich Nietzsche, there is an attempt to divide art into two separate doctrines: one being based on Apollo and the other upon Dionysus. Nietzsche claims that Apollo, as the Greek god of Light, is a being which gives life and so is a god which reinforces a strong sense of individuality. Dionysus, on the other hand, is the god of wine and music, and so represents a sense of forgetting and becoming a person among the beauties of nature. To Nietzsche, both these divinities represent a particular side of art, and that they are both needed in order to create any art. Without Apollo, Dionysus lacks the structure to create any form of art, while without Dionysus, Apollo lacks the passion to make art.
[...] Nietzsche seems to be ignoring the idea of the artist as a catalyst for new social change and ideas, as well as a person whose relation with their art carries a very personal and emotional association. It cannot be said that the artist is able to escape all of the confinements Nietzsche places upon the artist, but within the modern world the role of the artist has evolved into humanity's need to define and deal with the speeding rise in advancements in human society through the use of technology. [...]
[...] The artist is confined within Nietzsche's concept of the artist's role, and it seems that in the modern literary field the writer is not confined, but rather an observer and commenter on the inner workings of current day society. Nietzsche sees the artist as a person who creates illusions for people living in a reality which requires dreams in order for its inhabitants to survive. Humanity has intense longing for illusion” (“Birth of Tragedy', 32). Not only do we require these delusions, but the ultimate one is the act of dreaming in itself which “will appear to us as illusions of illusions, hence as a still higher form of satisfaction of the original desire of illusion.” (33). [...]
[...] The modern world, through its many advancements, have made dreams important as a way to understand human existence and the growth of individuals, as well as lead to alterations in human society. Since the artist is the creator of the supreme illusion, illusions of an illusion”, they are able to individually become overwhelming forces themselves. Despite what Nietzsche says, the artist is able to stand proudly (or against) the world for their changes of attitude” and deserve a particular focus and definition of their [...]
[...] “With august gesture the god shows us how there is need for a whole world of torment in order for the individual to produce the redemptive vision and to sit quietly in his rocking rowboat in mid-sea, absorbed in contemplation.” 34). the individual is able to create internal illusions in order to deal with a world of torment and torture. The world is made up of a mass of people, and the moment one person becomes an individual they are like a wave, rising up to be seen, only to crash back down into the unnamed masses. [...]
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