Kierkegaard—The Indirect Communication

A study of the problem of Soren Kierkegaard's (1813-1855) "indirect communication" (a term coined by Kierkegaard himself for his writings). Instead of treating Kierkegaard's works of the 1840s as perfectly serious presentations of authorial meaning, Poole (literary theory, U. of Nottingham, England) shows how Kierkegaard, deploying the sorts of textual tools and devices associated today with Jacques Derrida, refuses to offer a personal view on any of his great themes: love, duty, faith, and the anguish before choice. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Roger Poole is Reader in Literary Theory, Department of English Studies, University of Nottingham, England. His books include Towards Deep Subjectivity: The Unknown Virginia Woolf; and (with Henrik Stangerup) The Laughter Is on My Side: An Imaginative Introduction to Kierkegaard.