Interpreting Kierkegaard in the general context of Golden Age Denmark, this interdisciplinary anthology features articles which treat his various relations to his most famous Danish contemporaries. By means of the analyses of these various relations, aspects of Kierkegaard's authorship are brought into new and insightful perspectives.

I. Philosophy Poul Lübcke/F.C. Sibbern, Epistemology as Ontology · Peter Thielst/Poul Martin Møller, Scattered Thoughts, Analysis of Affectation, Struggle with Nihilism · Johannes Witt-Hansen/H.C. Ørsted, Immanuel Kant and the Thought Experiment · K. Brian Söderquist, Kierkegaard's Contribution to the Danish Discussion of 'Irony' · Jon Stewart, Kierkegaard and Hegelianism in Golden Age Denmark II. Theology John Saxbee, The Golden Age in an Earthen Vessel: The Life and Times of Bishop J.P. Mynster · Curtis L. Thompson, H.L. Martensen's Theological Anthropology · Niels Thulstrup, Martensen's Dogmatics and its Reception · Flemming Lundgreen-Nielsen, Grundtvig and Romanticism III. Literature Kathryn Shailer-Hanson, Adam Oehlenschläger's Erik and Roller and Danish Romanticism · Niels Ingwersen, The Tragic Moment in Oehlenschläger's Hakon Earl the Mighty · John L. Greenway, Reason in Imagination is Beauty: Ørsted's Acoustics and H.C. Andersen’s The Bell · Katalin Nun, Thomasine Gyllembourg's Two Ages and her Portrayal of Everyday Life IV. Literary and Dramatic Criticism Henning Fenger, Kierkegaard - A Literary Approach · George Pattison, Søren Kierkegaard: A Theatre Critic of the Heiberg School · Janne Risum, Towards Transparency: Søren Kierkegaard on Danish Actresses · Peter Vinten-Johansen, Johan Ludvig Heiberg and his Audience in Nineteenth-Century Denmark · Hans Hertel, P.L. Møller and Romanticism in Danish Literature V. Art Else Kai Sass, Thorvaldsen: An Introduction to his Work · Ragni Linnet, Golden Tears: Johan Thomas Lundbye and Søren Kierkegaard

"Kierkegaard and His Contemporaries is as a whole a most welcome contribution to the continuing effort of a part of many scholars to offer accounts of the cultural and intellectual milieu in which Kierkegaard worked that will provide a surer foundation for understanding his works in terms of the norms and expectations of his time. The volume is clearly based on the assumption that a rounded, textured, and subtly nuanced contextualization will contribute significantly to the understanding of his works."Steven P. Sondrup in: Scandinavian Studies 2005

"Kierkegaard and His Contemporaries is as a whole a most welcome contribution to the continuing effort of a part of many scholars to offer accounts of the cultural and intellectual milieu in which Kierkegaard worked that will provide a surer foundation for understanding his works in terms of the norms and expectations of his time. The volume is clearly based on the assumption that a rounded, textured, and subtly nuanced contextualization will contribute significantly to the understanding of his works."Steven P. Sondrup in: Scandinavian Studies 2005