How did Friedrich Nietzsche’s writing style contribute to both his influence and the misunderstanding of his ideas?

Friedrich Nietzsche’s writing style was characterized by an aphoristic, poetic, and often fragmentary approach, which significantly shaped both his enduring influence and the frequent misinterpretation of his work.123

Influence

Nietzsche’s prose is widely regarded for its artistic merit and originality, which helped his ideas permeate diverse fields including philosophy, psychology, theology, and literature. His ability to challenge conventional Western philosophy and morality through a vitalistic and provocative style inspired major 20th-century thinkers, including existentialists and post-structuralists, who found his critique of objectivity and his focus on perspectivism foundational to their own work.1423

Misunderstanding

Conversely, his unsystematic and stylistic choices made his complex ideas susceptible to oversimplification and distortion. Because he often avoided traditional, linear argumentation, his concepts—such as the will to power and the superman—were easily taken out of context.13

This vulnerability was exploited after his death by his sister, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, who published bowdlerized texts that falsely cast him as a proponent of nationalism and anti-Semitism. These misrepresentations were later adopted by the Nazi regime, a perversion of his thought that stands in direct opposition to his actual views, as he explicitly abhorred both nationalism and anti-Semitism.1