Mothers and Melancholia: Sacrifice in Søren Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling

Abstract The article examines sacrifice in Søren Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling. I argue that in order to understand the meaning of sacrifice in this work, we have to account for the four poetic images of a weaning mother – often overlooked by commentators – that we find in the section entitled “A...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Varslev-Pedersen, Cæcilie (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2022
In: Interdisciplinary journal for religion and transformation in contemporary society
Year: 2022, Volume: 8, Issue: 2, Pages: 377-392
Further subjects:B Mother
B Modernity
B Kierkegaard
B Sacrifice
B Mourning
B weaning
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Summary:Abstract The article examines sacrifice in Søren Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling. I argue that in order to understand the meaning of sacrifice in this work, we have to account for the four poetic images of a weaning mother – often overlooked by commentators – that we find in the section entitled “Attunement”. I show that we can make sense of the images once we situate them within the context of Kierkegaard’s (or his pseudonyms’) broader critique of modernity, autonomous subjectivity, and the loss of premodern forms of authority. On my interpretation, for Kierkegaard, sacrifice entails a rupture of a communal bond; yet his pseudonyms explore both secular and religious ways of responding to such a rupture. Finally I argue that while Fear and Trembling ultimately offers no clear solutions, the story Kierkegaard conveys to us – a story about sacrifice, mourning, and mothering – can inspire us to reflect on the modern condition.
ISSN:2364-2807
Contains:Enthalten in: Interdisciplinary journal for religion and transformation in contemporary society
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.30965/23642807-bja10051