Home “My Dear Reader—but to Whom Am I Speaking?” Kierkegaard Read with the Rhetorical Theory of Narrative
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

“My Dear Reader—but to Whom Am I Speaking?” Kierkegaard Read with the Rhetorical Theory of Narrative

  • Ville Hämäläinen EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: July 11, 2023
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Author Information
Kierkegaard Studies Yearbook
From the journal Kierkegaard Studies Yearbook Volume 28 Issue 1

Abstract

This article introduces a rhetorical theory of narrative in reading Kierkegaard, comparing Kierkegaard’s praxis to Phelan’s definition of “somebody telling somebody else that something happened on some occasion and for some purpose(s).” Use of pseudonyms problematizes “the somebody” telling and makes apparent the differing purposes of author and narrator. In the early authorship, the purpose is usually a life-view. The “something happened” may seem irrelevant in Kierkegaard, but it evokes questions of lived experience and life-view. The “occasion” for telling is textually mediated, and thus draws a novel connection to literary history. Finally, I examine Kierkegaard’s real and authorial readers.

Published Online: 2023-07-11
Published in Print: 2023-07-11

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Titlepages
  2. Titlepages
  3. Preface
  4. Contents
  5. Section 1: Interpreting Kierkegaard’s Works
  6. Section 1:   Interpreting Kierkegaard’s Works
  7. ‘No One Was As Great As Abraham’: Exemplarity and the Failure of Hermeneutical Refiguration in Fear and Trembling
  8. Kierkegaards Begriff Angst als „gottesfürchtige Satire“
  9. Seeing as the Eccentric Lover: An Exploration into Vision, Forgiveness, and Anamorphic Dynamic in Kierkegaard’s “Love Hides a Multitude of Sins”
  10. Section 2: Concepts and Problems in Kierkegaard
  11. Section 2:   Concepts and Problems in Kierkegaard
  12. Kierkegaard and the Figure of the Philistine: a Negative Way of Highlighting Existence
  13. Is There a Suspension of Subjectivity?
  14. The Call to Selfhood: Kierkegaard, Narrative Unity, and the Achievement of Personal Identity
  15. Between Mood and Spirit: Kierkegaard’s Conception of Death as the Teacher of Earnestness
  16. “My Dear Reader—but to Whom Am I Speaking?” Kierkegaard Read with the Rhetorical Theory of Narrative
  17. “Forgiveness is forgiveness:” Kierkegaard’s Spiritual Acoustics
  18. Section 3: Kierkegaard’s Sources and Historical Context
  19. Section 3:   Kierkegaard’s Sources and Historical Context
  20. The Kantian Sublime Reflected in the Kierkegaardian Sublime
  21. Der Begriff Ernst. Zur Kritik ironischer Selbstverhältnisse bei Hegel und Kierkegaard
  22. The Young Kierkegaard as a Student of Liunge’s Kjøbenhavnsposten
  23. Section 4: Receptions of Kierkegaard’s Thought
  24. Section 4:   Receptions of Kierkegaard’s Thought
  25. Fast vergessen: Die Nachwirkungen von Kierkegaards Kulturkritik im Krisendiskurs der dänischen Nachkriegszeit
  26. The Hong Kong Reception of Kierkegaard: From the 1950s to the Present
  27. Kierkegaard: Existenzphilosoph nur im ‚Nebenberuf‘? Überlegungen im Anschluss an Jürgen Habermas
  28. Kierkegaard and Religionswissenschaft: A Source- and Reception-Historical Survey (Part 2)
  29. Articles
  30. Abbreviations
https://doi.org/10.1515/kierke-2023-0009

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Titlepages
  2. Titlepages
  3. Preface
  4. Contents
  5. Section 1: Interpreting Kierkegaard’s Works
  6. Section 1:   Interpreting Kierkegaard’s Works
  7. ‘No One Was As Great As Abraham’: Exemplarity and the Failure of Hermeneutical Refiguration in Fear and Trembling
  8. Kierkegaards Begriff Angst als „gottesfürchtige Satire“
  9. Seeing as the Eccentric Lover: An Exploration into Vision, Forgiveness, and Anamorphic Dynamic in Kierkegaard’s “Love Hides a Multitude of Sins”
  10. Section 2: Concepts and Problems in Kierkegaard
  11. Section 2:   Concepts and Problems in Kierkegaard
  12. Kierkegaard and the Figure of the Philistine: a Negative Way of Highlighting Existence
  13. Is There a Suspension of Subjectivity?
  14. The Call to Selfhood: Kierkegaard, Narrative Unity, and the Achievement of Personal Identity
  15. Between Mood and Spirit: Kierkegaard’s Conception of Death as the Teacher of Earnestness
  16. “My Dear Reader—but to Whom Am I Speaking?” Kierkegaard Read with the Rhetorical Theory of Narrative
  17. “Forgiveness is forgiveness:” Kierkegaard’s Spiritual Acoustics
  18. Section 3: Kierkegaard’s Sources and Historical Context
  19. Section 3:   Kierkegaard’s Sources and Historical Context
  20. The Kantian Sublime Reflected in the Kierkegaardian Sublime
  21. Der Begriff Ernst. Zur Kritik ironischer Selbstverhältnisse bei Hegel und Kierkegaard
  22. The Young Kierkegaard as a Student of Liunge’s Kjøbenhavnsposten
  23. Section 4: Receptions of Kierkegaard’s Thought
  24. Section 4:   Receptions of Kierkegaard’s Thought
  25. Fast vergessen: Die Nachwirkungen von Kierkegaards Kulturkritik im Krisendiskurs der dänischen Nachkriegszeit
  26. The Hong Kong Reception of Kierkegaard: From the 1950s to the Present
  27. Kierkegaard: Existenzphilosoph nur im ‚Nebenberuf‘? Überlegungen im Anschluss an Jürgen Habermas
  28. Kierkegaard and Religionswissenschaft: A Source- and Reception-Historical Survey (Part 2)
  29. Articles
  30. Abbreviations
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 17.10.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/kierke-2023-0009/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button