The Modern Nihilistic Life Crisis Of German Intellectuals In Death In Venice,Steppenwolf And Homo Faber

Nihilism is considered as the radical confrontation with the modern civilization and the deep suspicion of absolute values and morality.It is the decay of the highest values set in the modern age.Nihilism in the modern sense was first incubated in Germany and the philosophical nihilistic theories exerted great influence on modern German civilization in return through Nietzsche and Heidegger.The philosophical nihilistic theories find its specific expressions in german classical literature.The objective of this paper is to interpret the modern nihilistic life crisis and overcoming of nihilism by German intellectuals in Death in Venice,Steppenwolf and Homo Faber.With content analysis as research method and philosophical nihilistic theories,German intellectuals are innovatively linked to modern nihilism in order to find out the same characteristics of this group in overcoming nihilism.The interpretation shows that Death in Venice by Thomas Mann and Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse reflect Nietzsche's philosophy of nihilism.These two works are written before and after the First World War,each shows the creative crisis or life crisis of German intellectuals and thus the death-aesthetical overcoming of nihilism and the spiritual overcoming of nihilism are taken.The classic postwar novel Homo Faber by Max Frisch deeply reveals the spiritual nihilistic crisis of Western society in the setting of the prevalence of modern technology and instrumental reason,in which the transformation of the technician Faber corresponds to the nihilistic salvation of Heidegger.The nihilistic life crises of German intellectuals in three works differ because of the change of time and the differentiation of motives.The death-aesthetical overcoming of nihilism,the spiritual overcoming of nihilism or the overcoming of nihilism against supernaturalism and metaphysics in works prove to be an attempt and practice of nihilistic philosophical theories.