SKC Research Seminar: Kierkegaard between Seriousness, Irony, and Humor
Kierkegaard wrote his magister thesis on the concept of irony, and in the course of his authorship he frequently returns to various definitions of the humor which he himself employs—almost to excess—in his texts. At the same time, he emphasizes the importance of a seriousness that is something other and more than a pious mask a person dons on special occasions or something one reproaches others for lacking. Seriousness is a category of authenticity, but it is indeed also a category characterized by important interfaces with irony and humor as well as with other capricious subcategories—e.g., with satire and parody. How are the interconnections among these to be spelled out in greater detail? And in interpreting Kierkegaard’s thoughts concerning the existential, the interpersonal, and Christianity, how does one endow irony and humor with the proper sort of seriousness? The four presentations will illuminate these matters from various perspectives.
***
Kierkegaard skrev magisterafhandling om begrebet ironi og vender igennem forfatterskabet hyppigt tilbage til forskellige definitioner af den humor, som han selv praktiserer nærmest umådeholdent i sine tekster. Samtidig betoner han vigtigheden af en alvor, der er andet og mere end en from maske, man ifører sig ved særlige lejligheder, eller noget, man bebrejder andre for at mangle. Alvor er en autenticitetskategori, men netop med betydelige kontaktflader til såvel ironi som humor og andre sprælske underformer, satire og parodi eksempelvis. Hvordan skal forbindelserne herimellem nærmere kortlægges? Og hvorledes omslutter man ironi og humor med den rette alvor i sin fortolkning af Kierkegaards tanker om det eksistentielle, det interpersonelle og kristendommen? Det vil de fire oplæg belyse fra forskellige perspektiver.
***
13:15-14:00 George Pattison: “Are you Serious? Finding the Unity in Kierkegaard's Writings”.
14:00-14:45 Iben Damgaard: “For the Observer, Socrates’ Life is like a grand Pause in the Course of History”.
14:45-15:15 Pause
15:15-16:00: Joakim Garff: “When Irony haunts and teases. On Irony’s Return”.
16:00-16:45: Henrike Fürstenberg: "'Et annonceret Tordenveir': Hvad er ironi? Med stadigt hensyn til Kierkegaard".