Søren Kierkegaard, Frygt og baeven [Fear and Trembling]

William McDonald (University of New England)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.3.2: Danish Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Julie Allen (Brigham Young University), Sven Hakon Rossel (Universitat Wien), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (University College London)

Domains

History/ Philosophy of Religion
Philosophy (any)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1843

Places

Denmark (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Treatise

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Fear and Trembling

[

Frygt og Bæven

] was published on 16 October 1843 - the same day as Kierkegaard published

Repetition

and

Three Edifying Discourses

. It is published under the pseudonym Johannes de Silentio (John of Silence) and has the subtitle “Dialectical Lyric”. The text bears the following epigraph from J.G. Hamann: “What Tarquinius Superbus said in the garden by means of the poppies, the son understood but the messenger did not”. Tarquinius had cut the heads off the tallest poppies with his cane, thereby communicating to his son that he was to kill the leading citizens of Gabii.

Fear and Trembling is an indirect communication, by an ironist using loquacious silence, to convey the ineffability of faith. It is a lyrical paean to faith and a dialectical movement towards

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1883 words

Citation: McDonald, William. "Frygt og baeven". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 March 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5015, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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