Divine Suspense: On Kierkegaard’s 'Frygt og Bæven' and the Aesthetics of Suspense

Andreas Seland

Published by De Gruyter 2018

Divine Suspense

On Kierkegaard’s 'Frygt og Bæven' and the Aesthetics of Suspense

Andreas Seland

Volume 39 in the series Kierkegaard Studies. Monograph Series

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110563504

Overview
Contents

About this book

What is suspense, and why do we feel it? These questions are at the heart of the first part of this study. It develops and defends the ‘imminence theory of suspense’ – the view that suspense arises in situations that are structurally defined by something essential being imminent.

Next, the study utilizes this theory as an interpretative key to Søren Kierkegaard’s seminal work ‘Frygt og Bæven’ (‘FB’). FB is an exploration of what it means to take the story of Abraham and Isaac as a paradigmatic example of faith. The study argues that a core aspect of how Kierkegaard conceptualizes faith through the figure of Abraham is suspense. The argument is built upon the observation that to have faith is to be a hero. To be hero means to belong to a story. Stories manifests different conceptualizations of time. Abraham’s story, as FB frames it, is radically geared towards something imminent – it is characterized by an essential relation of suspense.

The study then explores how suspense not only forms part of the conceptualization of faith, but is also part of how this conceptualization is communicated. Thus, the study argues that there exists a symmetry of suspense between the rhetorical and the conceptual levels of the text.

Author / Editor information

Andreas Seland, Oslo, Norway.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Acknowledgements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 1: The Imminence Theory of Suspense Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
Chapter 2: Narrativity, Heroism and the Knight of Faith Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
Chapter 3: Bakhtin, Suspense and the Knight of Faith Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
Chapter 4: Symmetry of Suspense Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	190
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	200
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	204
Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	210
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Scholars and students of Philosophy of Religion, Literary Theory, Theology, Kierkegaard Studies.
Pages
- Front matter: 10
- Main content: 212
Keywords: Søren Kierkegaard; Faith; Suspense; Literary Aesthetics.

eBook

Published: July 23, 2018
ISBN: 9783110563504

Hardcover

Published: July 23, 2018
ISBN: 9783110562651