Russian, Stalinist and Soviet Re-Readings of Kierkegaard: Lev Shestov and Piama Gaidenko

Abstract

This is a comparative analysis of the Russian re-readings of Seren Kierkegaard. The paper demonstrates a profound interdependence between the text and cultural context. Special attention is given to Lev Shestov’s presentation of Kierkegaard as “Dostoevsky’s Double” and Piama Gaidenko’s modernist depiction of Kierkegaard as a “master of paradox and irony.” The former was written in France at the beginning of the twentieth century, while the latter was realized during the “thaw” of the 1970s. This study of the Russian reception of Kierkegaard complements and links the existing European and North American interpretations of his philosophical system to the Russian intellectual tradition. The paper concludes that Gaidenko fruitfully joined the discourse on Being and Existence, even though she had no access to the mainstream postmodern debates, but she did so on the basis of Europe’s shared cultural tradition.