ABSTRACT
The weak quality of the Kierkegaard reception in Iran should not be blamed on Kierkegaard himself or on his writing style, but mainly on the predominance of Marxist literature and German idealism in this country. However, after the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the decline of Communism in Europe, there has been a new and lively interest in Kierkegaard among Iranian intellectuals and scholars. Perhaps there are several answers for the reason of this sudden revival of Kierkegaard in Iran. The first reason has to do with Kierkegaard himself. He is, first and foremost, a great writer with whom Iranian readers have established a magical contact. Secondly, after twenty-six years of revolution, war, and religious violence Kierkegaard is emerging as a thinker who could enable people to reopen the question of the sacred in a mood of new optimism. The Iranian encounter with Kierkegaard's philosophy has not been a random reception, but rather a critical choice.
