I seriously side eyed the Park Jaehoon character in “Love is for suckers” thumbing through Nietzsche’s “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” while sunbathing. I noticed this book appearing in one other KD but can’t recall which. Some have described Nietzsche’s work as a harbinger of the Nazis but whether that is entirely accurate is debated as his sister doctored his archives for decades after his death and was a Nazi sympathiser at the very least.
@midnight: Thanks for confirming my impression. Of course I am not advocating for it not to be read in any shape or form but a superficial display of such a book is problematic as it has been misinterpreted and used to justify the Nazi ideology.
Honestly I think this is a simplistic reading of Nietzsche, although like a lot of dead white men he was wealthy and privileged and didn’t realise the extent to which his wealth and privilege was a social construction, preferring instead to think that he was somehow special. This is his biggest flaw I think as a philosopher – his socioeconomic obliviousness.
@leetennant: LOL. I didn’t claim to be a Nietzsche scholar so I chose my words carefully. What I wrote certainly isn’t universally accepted about his work but is not entirely refuted either.
I was about to say this, the Nietzsche references in kdrama are ubiquitous. I’ve never quite understood why.
When I reviewed Greasy Melo, I included an entire section on how the drama drew on Nietzsche
I have always just kind of taken it as shorthand for “this character is literary and smart, they read philosophy!” in much the same way that characters in Western tv do – I don’t know if that’s an accurate interpretation but that’s how I have thought of it You definitely notice the same names and works coming up often.
Sometimes there’s a more obvious link eg The Little Mermaid in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho but they generally make a bigger deal than just having a character reading a book in passing in that case.
DancingEmma
October 12, 2022 at 1:28 PM
I seriously side eyed the Park Jaehoon character in “Love is for suckers” thumbing through Nietzsche’s “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” while sunbathing. I noticed this book appearing in one other KD but can’t recall which. Some have described Nietzsche’s work as a harbinger of the Nazis but whether that is entirely accurate is debated as his sister doctored his archives for decades after his death and was a Nazi sympathiser at the very least.
Midnight
October 12, 2022 at 1:42 PM
Nietzsche comes up a lot in kdramas. I don’t know if it has any significance or not.
DancingEmma
October 12, 2022 at 2:19 PM
@midnight: Thanks for confirming my impression. Of course I am not advocating for it not to be read in any shape or form but a superficial display of such a book is problematic as it has been misinterpreted and used to justify the Nazi ideology.
LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi
October 12, 2022 at 4:44 PM
Honestly I think this is a simplistic reading of Nietzsche, although like a lot of dead white men he was wealthy and privileged and didn’t realise the extent to which his wealth and privilege was a social construction, preferring instead to think that he was somehow special. This is his biggest flaw I think as a philosopher – his socioeconomic obliviousness.
DancingEmma
October 13, 2022 at 9:00 PM
@leetennant: LOL. I didn’t claim to be a Nietzsche scholar so I chose my words carefully. What I wrote certainly isn’t universally accepted about his work but is not entirely refuted either.
LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi
October 12, 2022 at 4:42 PM
I was about to say this, the Nietzsche references in kdrama are ubiquitous. I’ve never quite understood why.
When I reviewed Greasy Melo, I included an entire section on how the drama drew on Nietzsche
beffels
October 12, 2022 at 11:34 PM
I have always just kind of taken it as shorthand for “this character is literary and smart, they read philosophy!” in much the same way that characters in Western tv do – I don’t know if that’s an accurate interpretation but that’s how I have thought of it You definitely notice the same names and works coming up often.
Sometimes there’s a more obvious link eg The Little Mermaid in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho but they generally make a bigger deal than just having a character reading a book in passing in that case.
Midnight
October 12, 2022 at 11:47 PM
“I have always just kind of taken it as shorthand for “this character is literary and smart, they read philosophy!”
Exactly me😂