Kierkegaard - Fear & Trembling / Repetition (Princeton, 1983)

Søren Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling / Repetition. Vol. VI of Kierkegaard's Writings, edited and translated, with introduction and notes, by Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. Princeton University Press, 1983.

ISBN 9780691020266 | 464 pages | PDF

Presented here in a new translation, with a historical introduction by the translators, Fear and Trembling and Repetition are the most poetic and personal of Soren Kierkegaard's pseudonymous writings. Published in 1843 and written under the names Johannes de Silentio and Constantine Constantius, respectively, the books demonstrate Kierkegaard's transmutation of the personal into the lyrically religious. Each work uses as a point of departure Kierkegaard's breaking of his engagement to Regine Olsen -- his sacrifice of "that single individual."

From this beginning Fear and Trembling becomes an exploration of the faith that transcends the ethical, as in Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac at God's command. This faith, which persists in the face of the absurd, is rewarded finally by the return of all that the faithful one is willing to sacrifice.

Repetition discusses the most profound implications of unity of personhood and of identity within change, beginning with the ironic story of a young poet who cannot fulfill the ethical claims of his engagement because of the possible consequences of his marriage. The poet finally despairs of repetition (renewal) in the ethical sphere, as does his advisor and friend Constantius in the aesthetic sphere. The book ends with Constantius' intimation of a third kind of repetition -- in the religious sphere.

Kierkegaard's Writings is a definitive, systematically translated, scholarly edition of Søren Kierkegaard's works in English, comprising twenty-five volumes of text and a separate cumulative index. Each volume includes a historical introduction, selections from Kierkegaard's journals and provisional manuscripts, notes and an index.

Review

"The definitive edition of the Writings. The first volume . . . indicates the scholarly value of the entire series: an introduction setting the work in the context of Kierkegaard's development; a remarkably clear translation; and concluding sections of intelligent notes." -- Library Journal