ABSTRACT
A number of painstaking Kierkegaard studies have been undertaken, but only a few of them can be quantitatively and qualitatively comparable to Hidehito Otani's magnum opus, A Study of Kierkegaard's Authorship, which was published from 1989 to 1991 by Keisou-shobou. Otani's Kierkegaard's Authorship consists of two volumes. Kierkegaard's Authorship, Part 1, which this review discusses, deals with Kierkegaard's early studies on literature, especially with three legendary medieval figures: Don Juan, Faust, and Ahasverus. Part 2 deals with the dialectical structure of Kierkegaard's works as a whole. In Otani's judgment Kierkegaard's dialectic is certainly philosophical, yet also literary in its nature, since it utilizes irony and humor as its main principles and methods. Otani's intensively Christian method may appear to be provocative to some Kierkegaard researchers. According to Otani, Kierkegaard researchers need to humble themselves, to have a "transparent" relation to the Idee, to have a life of prayer, and to interpret Kierkegaard's works in the light of God's grace.
