Volume 12, Tome V: Kierkegaard's Influence on Literature, Criticism and Art: The Romance Languages, Central and Eastern Europe (Kierkegaard Research: Sources, Reception and Resources)

While Kierkegaard is primarily known as a philosopher or religious thinker, his writings have also been used extensively by literary writers, critics and artists. This use can be traced in the work of major cultural figures not just in Denmark and Scandinavia but also in the wider world. They have been attracted to his creative mixing of genres, his complex use of pseudonyms, his rhetoric and literary style, and his rich images, parables, and allegories. The present volume documents this influence in the different language groups and traditions. Tome V treats the work of a heterogeneous group of writers from the Romance languages and from Central and Eastern Europe. Kierkegaard has been particularly important for Spanish literature: the Argentine writers Jorge Luis Borges, Leonardo Castellani, and Ernesto Sábato, the Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes, and the Spanish essayist and philosopher María Zambrano were all inspired to varying degrees by him. The Dane also appears in the work of Romanian writer Max Blecher, while the Portuguese author Fernando Pessoa was almost certainly inspired by Kierkegaard’s use of pseudonyms. Kierkegaard has also influenced diverse literary figures from Central and Eastern Europe. His influence appears in the novels of the contemporary Hungarian authors Péter Nadas and Péter Esterházy, the work of the Russian writer and literary critic, Mikhail Bakhtin, the Polish writer Witold Gombrowicz and the Czech novelist Ivan Klíma. Tome V also examines how Kierkegaard’s treatment of the story of Abraham and Isaac in Fear and Trembling interested the Polish-born Israeli novelist Pinhas Sadeh. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of Contributors List of Abbreviations Part I The Romance Languages Max Blecher: The Bizarre Adventure of Suffering Jorge Luis Borges: The Fear without Trembling Leonardo L. Castellani: Between Suero Kirkegord and Thomas Aquinas Carlos Fuentes: “Poor Mexico, so far away from God and so close to the United States” Fernando Pessoa: Poets and Philosophers Ernesto Sábato: The Darker Side of Kierkegaardian Existence María Zambrano: Kierkegaard and the Criticism of Modern Rationalism Part II Central and Eastern Europe Mikhail Bakhtin: Direct and Indirect Reception of Kierkegaard in Works of the Russian Thinker Péter Esterházy: Semi-Serious Witold Gombrowicz: The Struggle for the Authentic Self Ivan Klíma: “To Save My Inner World” Péter Nádas: Books and Memories Pinhas Sadeh: The Poet as “the Single Individual” Index of Persons Index of Subjects