Friedrich Nietzsche and Stefan George: mourning for the Plastic God

La literatura alemana del siglo XX solo puede entenderse a partir de Nietzsche, cuyos textos experimentaron una extraordinaria difusión desde 1890. Cabe analizar más a fondo, sin embargo, los motivos y consecuencias de su recepción, en absoluto limitados a su pensamiento filosófico. Así lo manifiesta la «guerra de cantores» a la que le conminó Stefan George, poeta y maestro, centro de varios círculos de intelectuales y personaje decisivo para la inteligencia alemana de la primera mitad del siglo XX, quien reprochaba a su rival, entre otras carencias, la falta del «dios plástico». 20th century German literature can only be understood after Nietzsche, whose texts were widely spread from 1890 onwards. However, the reasons and consequences of his reception deserve a deeper analysis, as they are not absolutely constrained to his philosophical views. This is particularly shown in the «minstrel contest» that Stefan George challenged him with. The fact is that George, poet and master writer as well as the epicentre of various intellectual circles and a decisive figure for the German Intelligentsia during the first half of the 20th century, berated his rival as someone lacking in «plastic god», among other deficiencies.