From the Papers of a Formalist Critic: Kierkegaard's Theory of the Novel

This article argues that Kierkegaard is a pioneer when it comes to theorizing about the novel and fiction. In a close reading of From the Papers of One Still Living (1838), the article shows how Kierkegaard in this early work on the novels of Hans Christian Andersen turns to a study of the formal features of the novel to distinguish what—and what does not—make novelistic characters believable and come to life. From here, the article proposes that Kierkegaard's theory of the novel is a theory that equates the novel with its most identifiable characteristic: fictionality.