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The Stranger's Return: Strindberg, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche
Author(s) -
Pettey John Carson
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
orbis litterarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.109
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1600-0730
pISSN - 0105-7510
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0730.1991.tb01902.x
Subject(s) - drama , zoroaster , literature , philosophy , narrative , repetition (rhetorical device) , theme (computing) , focus (optics) , art , linguistics , computer science , operating system , physics , optics
The biblical reference contained in its title has led many critics of August Strindberg's seminal drama, To Damascus, I , to regard only the religious influences in its content. This focus has tended often to ignore the substantial contributions of modern philosophy to the composition of Strindberg's work, especially in terms of dramatic structure and characterization. The following article traces and identifies the importance of Kierkegaard's Repetition and Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra ‐ two philosophical narratives ‐ for both the theme of the “stranger's return” and its rendering within the drama's symmetrical structure and typification of the dramatis personae.