„Mein Bestreben, das Martyrium zu verherrlichen…“ Zur Idee des Martyriums in Kierkegaards Journalen ab 1846

Abstract The article aims at analysing a long and unduly neglected concept in Kierkegaard’s thought: the concept of martyrdom. I argue that this is indeed of central concern for Kierkegaard, and, moreover, that he conceptualizes it in a semantically unified and consistent way. In order to prove this I will focus on the so-called NB journals and provide a comprehensive account of the terms martyrdom and martyr in the context of these sources. Upon closer scrutiny, Kierkegaard distinguishes between two basic types of martyrdom: immediate and reflective. All other forms, as they appear in the journals (and also in the pseudonymous authorship), can be traced back to these basic types.