Volume 9
Heiberg, Kierkegaard and the Danish Golden Age
by Jon Stewart
This volume contains eleven chapters that explore Kierkegaard’s
complex relations to Johan Ludvig Heiberg and other important
figures of the Golden Age such as Hans Lassen Martensen, Eggert
Christopher Tryde and Rasmus Nielsen. It demonstrates the
importance of these relations for understanding Kierkegaard’s
primary texts. The analyses document how, despite the frequent
appearance of a negative polemical relation, Kierkegaard was in
fact positively influenced by figures such as Heiberg, from whom
he borrowed a number of ideas and concepts. This work brings the
reader closer to some of the most important figures of the
Danish Golden Age and offers new insights into the understanding
of some of Kierkegaard’s best-known works.
(ca. 300pp.)
Volume 10
The Master of the “Thief Language”:
Kierkegaard’s Hidden
Satire of Heiberg in Repetition,
by Mads Sohl Jessen
This work explores the complex relation between Søren
Kierkegaard and Johan Ludvig Heiberg. While most commentators
claim that Kierkegaard had great respect for Heiberg up until
the time when the latter dismissively criticized Either/Or,
the thesis of this monograph is that Kierkegaard’s polemic with
Heiberg began sooner than is generally recognized and was much
more extensive than scholars have appreciated. By means of
meticulous textual analysis, the author demonstrates that
Heiberg and Kierkegaard engaged in a kind of hidden polemic,
making use of what is called in Danish a “tyvesprog.” Literally
a “thief language,” this term indicates a kind of inside joke or
polemic that is only understood by those who are in on the
secret, in this case, Heiberg and Kierkegaard. This work
represents a major advance in our understanding of this complex
relation and sheds a refreshing new light on a handful of
central Kierkegaard texts.
(ca. 200pp.)
Volume 11
From Idealist
Speculation to Edifying Spirituality:
Kierkegaard and the
Mystical Tradition
by Peter Šajda
Among the traditions that collectively shaped Kierkegaard’s
intellectual and spiritual development was the rich tradition of
Christian and non-Christian mysticism. Hegel’s laudatory
presentation of speculative mysticism gave rise to a lively
debate on both mysticism’s relation to German idealism and its
compatibility with essential Christian dogmas. Hans Lassen
Martensen was an important figure in this debate and contributed
significantly to the popularization of speculative mysticism in
Golden Age Denmark. Kierkegaard had first-hand knowledge of
Martensen’s research on mysticism and although he never
confronted Martensen on this issue, his writings show that he
chose a very different approach to the mystical tradition. The
monograph outlines the course of the contemporary debate on
speculative mysticism and presents the intriguing development of
Kierkegaard’s view of the mystical tradition. It will also
examine the direct impact of the mystics’ works upon
Kierkegaard’s philosophical and spiritual writings.
(ca. 300pp.)
Volume 12
Kierkegaard’s German Sources and the Danish Golden Age
by Jon Stewart
The importance of German language and culture in the Golden Age
has not always been adequately appreciated. Hegel’s philosophy,
Goethe’s literature and Schiller’s theater all profoundly shaped
the Danish cultural landscape of the period. This work explores
these German influences on the work of Søren Kierkegaard. It
examines in detail Kierkegaard’s use of figures such as
Schleiermacher, Karl Werder, Carl Daub, Solger, Goethe, Hegel
and Schelling. This study demonstrates that Kierkegaard was in a
constant dialogue with Germanophone thinkers and that this
dialogue constitutes a very substantial dimension of his
thought.
(ca. 300pp.)
