Kierkegaard's Writings, XIII, Volume 13: The Corsair Affair and Articles Related to the Writings

The __Corsair__ affair has been called the "most renowned controversy in Danish literary history." At the center is Søren Kierkegaard, whose pseudonymous __Stages on Life's Way__ occasioned a frivolous and dishonorable review by Peder Ludvig Møller. Møller was associated with __The Corsair__, a publication notorious for gossip and caricature. The editor was Meïr Goldschmidt, an acquaintance of Kierkegaard's and an admirer of his early work. Kierkegaard struck back at not only Møller and Goldschmidt but at the paper as a whole. The present volume contains all of the documents relevant to this dispute, plus a historical introduction that recapitulates the sequence of events surrounding the controversy. Parts I (Article) and II (Addenda) contain articles both signed by and attributed to Kierkegaard in response to the affair. A supplement includes writings pertaining to the __Corsair__ affair by Goldschmidt and Møller, as well as unpublished pieces by Kierkegaard from his journals and papers. Although the immediate occasion was literary, for Kierkegaard the issues as well as the consequences were ethical, social, philosophical, and religious. Howard Hong argues that the most important consequence was wholly unexpected and unintended: the second phase of Kierkegaard's authorship. CONTENTS HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION CHRONOLOGY I. Articles, 1842-1851 PUBLIC CONFESSION WHO IS THE AUTHOR OF EITHER/OR A WORD OF THANKS TO PROFESSOR HEIBERG A LITTLE EXPLANATION AN EXPLANATION AND A LITTLE MORE A CURSORY OBSERVATION CONCERNING A DETAIL IN DON GIOVANNI THE ACTIVITY OF A TRAVELING ESTHETICIAN AND HOW HE STILL HAPPENED TO PAY FOR THE DINNER THE DIALECTICAL RESULT OF A LITERARY POLICE ACTION AN OPEN LETTER II. Addenda A LETTER ANOTHER LETTER [A LETTER] LITERARY QUICKSILVER SUPPLEMENT Key to References P. L. Møller, M. Goldschmidt, The Corsair, and Related Publications, 1841-1848 From The Corsair, 1841-1845 "A Visit in Sorø," by P. L. Møller "To Mr. Frater Taciturnus," by P. L. Møller From The Corsair, 1846-1848 From Meïr Goldschmidt's Autobiography Selected Entries from Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers Pertaining to Articles The Corsair Affair Drafts of Writings for Possible Publication Journal Entries "An Open Letter" EDITORIAL APPENDIX Acknowledgments Collation of Articles in the Danish Editions of Kierkegaard's Collected Works NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE INDEX