Nietzsche’s Approach on History and The Great Gatsby’s Historiographical Performance

For Nietzsche, history creates the dull illusion of past. The constructed nature of the historiography that narrates the past through the perspective of the present drains the vital energy of the past and transforms it into a carcass. For the cure, Nietzsche suggests incorporating the artistic approach into the practice of historiography. He explains that art has the opposite effect of history in terms of vitality. In his consideration, if history transforms into a pure piece of art than it would involve and be able to transmit the vital energy of past. The artistic approach to historiography would recreate the sensation of the past hence the representation would sustain the vital energy. Nietzsche’s suggestion towards the artistic execution of historiography provides a fruitful field to discuss the historiographical performance of the diegetic historical film. Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby’s (2013) will be analyzed through in the presentation with such perspective.