Monstrous Aesthetics: Literature and Philosophy in Søren Kierkegaard

Abstract

Tests the validity of Kafka’s observation regarding the “magic” of Kierkegaard’s prose, which he characterized as a destruction of the world that was not destructive but constructive. Examines Kierkegaard’s strangely eloquent mixture of poetry and speculation, of literature and philosophy, by exploring the rhetorical and philosophical implications of such metaphors as the cloud-high castle, the monster, the blotting paper, and the paper kite, concluding that aesthetic “irritation” in his writing is a precondition for aesthetic “attention.” Believes readings that examine Kierkegaard’s works in isolation highlight the mismatch between concepts and images and destroy the harmonious aesthetic form. Those who explain how readers appropriate the works demonstrate how this destruction proves to be constructive.