This thesis will claim that applying the concepts of J.L Austinâs speech act theory to Søren Kierkegaardâs practice of indirect communication will provide insight into the performative aspects of indirect communication and will reveal that its ability to introduce readers to the decisive categories of Christianity depends upon this performative capability. Kierkegaard, through indirect, pseudonymous forms of discourse, introduces ethical and religious categoriesâcategories which are concerned with the subjective relation to Godâinto the aesthetic existence and thought of those living within what he calls Christendom. Because the pseudonyms introduce reflected discourse into an objective form of existence, Kierkegaardâs pseudonymous authorship draws attention to the readerâs relationship to God in a way that direct communication cannot, namely by altering the mode of communication from an objective to a subjective one. Kierkegaard hopes that this will prompt the reader to become aware of her relation to God and then to make a decision concerning it. After explaining the relevant portions of Austinâs and Kierkegaardâs respective projects, I will argue that Kierkegaardâs use of indirect communication can succeed because of the performative nature of indirect communication which enables the pseudonyms to introduce the reader to the subjective categories of Christianity.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-11302017-112306 |
| Date | 06 December 2017 |
| Creators | Bragg, Hunter Alan |
| Contributors | Paul DeHart, William Franke |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-11302017-112306/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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