The Point of View of My Work as an Author

The Point of View of My Work as an Author

The Point of View For my Work as an Author (subtitle: A Direct Communication, Report to History) is an autobiographical account of the 19th century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard's use of his pseudonyms. It was written in 1848, published in part in 1851 (as On my Work as an Author), and published in full posthumously in 1859. This work explains his pseudonymous writings and his personal attachment to those writings. Walter Lowrie, a Kierkegaardian translator and scholar called this an autobiography "so unique that it has no parallel in the whole literature of the world." [1]

I will allow someone else to speak, my poet, who, when he comes, will usher me to the place among those who have suffered for an idea and say: "The martyrdom this author suffered can be described quite briefly in this way: He suffered being a genius in a market town. ... Yet also here in the world he found what he sought: "that single individual"; if no one else was that, he himself was and became that more and more.

Søren Kierkegaard, The Point of View in the Essential Kierkegaard, p.479-80

However, Kierkegaard did make the following remarks in The Point of View that cast doubt on whether he regarded the pseudonymous writings as highly as he did his Christian writings. The best way to find out what The Point of View was about is to read the book. He published Either/Or under the pseudonym, Victor Eremita, February 20, 1843 and Two Edifying Discourses, May 16, 1843 under his own name. The Point of View is his own interpretation of his work up to 1848, he didn't want others to define his writings so he did it himself. He had just published Works of Love in 1847, where he attempted to explain how to love your neighbor as yourself.

Although Either/Or attracted all the attention, and nobody noticed the Two Edifying Discourses, this book betokened, nevertheless, that the edifying was precisely what must come to the fore, that the author was a religious author, who for this reason has never written anything aesthetic, but has employed pseudonyms for all the aesthetic works, whereas the Two Edifying Discourses were by Magister Kierkegaard.”

Søren Kierkegaard, The Point of View, Walter Lowrie, 1962 p.12

The first group of writings represents aesthetic productivity, the last group is exclusively religious: between them, as the turning-point, lies, the Concluding Postscript. This work concerns itself with and sets ‘the Problem’, which is the problem of the whole authorship, how to become a Christian. So it takes cognizance of the pseudonymous work, and of the eighteen edifying discourses as well, showing that all of this serves to illuminate the Problem-without, however, affirming that this was the aim of the foregoing production, which indeed could not have been affirmed by a pseudonym, a third person, incapable of knowing anything about the aim of a work that was not his own. The Concluding Postscript is not an aesthetic work, but neither is it in the strictest sense religious. Hence it is by a pseudonym, though I add my name as editor-a thing I did not do in the case of any purely aesthetic work.

Søren Kierkegaard, The Point of View, Walter Lowrie, 1962 p.13

I held out Either/Or to the world in my left hand, and in my right the Two Edifying Discourses; but all, or as good as all, grasped with their right what I held in my left. I had made up my mind before God what I should do: I staked my case on the Two Edifying Discourses; but I understood perfectly that only very few understood them. And here for the first time comes in the category ‘that individual whom with joy and gratitude I call my reader’, a stereotyped formula which was repeated in the Preface to every collection of Edifying Discourses.

Søren Kierkegaard, The Point of View, Walter Lowrie, 1962 p.20

…one does not begin thus: I am a Christian; you are not a Christian. Nor does one begin thus: It is Christianity I am proclaiming; and you are living in purely aesthetic categories. No, one begins thus: Let us talk about aesthetics. The deception consists in the fact that one talks thus merely to get to the religious theme. But on our assumption, the other man is under the illusion that the aesthetics is Christianity; for, he thinks, I am a Christian, and yet he lives in aesthetic categories. …in a formal sense I can very well call Socrates my teacher-whereas I have only believed, and only believe, in One, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Søren Kierkegaard, The Point of View, Walter Lowrie, 1962 p.41

I felt a real Christian satisfaction in the fact that, if there were no other, there was one man who (several years before existence set the race another lesson to learn) made a practical effort on a small scale to learn the lesson of loving one’s neighbor and alas! Got at the same time a frightful insight into what an illusion Christendom is, and (a little later, to be sure) an insight also into what a situation the simpler classes suffered themselves to be seduced by paltry-newspaper writers, whose struggle or fight for equality (since it is in the service of a lie) cannot lead to any other result but to prompt the privileged classes in self-defence to stand proudly aloof from the common man, and to make the common man insolent in his forwardness.

Søren Kierkegaard, The Point of View, Walter Lowrie, 1962 p.49

Notes

  1. ^ - Essential Kierkegaard, p.449


Notes

References

  • Hong, Howard V. & Edna H. The Essential Kierkegaard. Princeton University Press, 2000.
  • The Point of View of My Work as An Author: A Report to History, by Soren Kierkegaard, written in 1848, published in 1859 by his brother Peter Kierkegaard Translated with introduction and notes by Walter Lowrie, 1962 Harper Torchbooks

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Point of view — On Wikipedia, NPOV refers to the policy on Neutral point of view (NPOV) Point of view, sometimes used interchangeably with viewpoint, may refer to: Point of view (literature) or narrative mode, the perspective of the narrative voice; the pronoun… …   Wikipedia

  • point of view — 1. a specified or stated manner of consideration or appraisal; standpoint: from the point of view of a doctor. 2. an opinion, attitude, or judgment: He refuses to change his point of view in the matter. 3. the position of the narrator in relation …   Universalium

  • On the Concept of Irony with Continual Reference to Socrates — The cover page to Søren Kierkegaard s university thesis. On the Concept of Irony with Continual Reference to Socrates (Danish: Om Begrebet Ironi med stadigt Hensyn til Socrates) is Søren Kierkegaard s university thesis paper that he submitted in… …   Wikipedia

  • The Blessed Trinity —     The Blessed Trinity     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Blessed Trinity     This article is divided as follows:          I. Dogma of the Trinity;     II. Proof of the Doctrine from Scripture;     III. Proof of the Doctrine from Tradition;… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • The Golden Ass —   Title page from John Price s Latin edition of Apuleius novel Metamorphoses, or the Golden Ass …   Wikipedia

  • The Oxford Movement (1833-1845) —     The Oxford Movement (1833 1845)     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Oxford Movement (1833 1845)     The Oxford Movement may be looked upon in two distinct lights. The conception which lay at its base, according to the Royal Commission on… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • The Golden Compass (film) — The Golden Compass Theatrical release poster Directed by Chris Weitz Produced by …   Wikipedia

  • The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran —   …   Wikipedia

  • The Big Lebowski — Theatrical release poster Directed by Joel Coen Ethan Coen (Uncredited) …   Wikipedia

  • The Republic (Zeno) — The Republic of Zeno was a work written by Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoic philosophy at the beginning of the 3rd century BC. Although it has not survived, it was his most famous work, and various quotes and paraphrases were preserved by… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”