Johnny Kondrup

Johnny Kondrup

Professor

My current research runs along two lines:
One is the concept of text. As a result of my previous research in textual scholarship, I have become increasingly interested in the most elementary questions, not only of this discipline, but of literary studies and many of the other humanities fields as well: What is a text? What makes a text (or a cluster of texts) into a work? Driven by a theoretical urge to understand the ontology of the concepts ‘text’ and ‘work’, which we all use, but seldom define, I explore different usages of these terms in literary theory and textual scholarship, and try to judge them critically by their merits.

The other line of research concerns the Dansih Golden Age, i.e. the period from approx. 1800 to 1870. Earlier, this period was much discussed, not least with respect to its basic philosophy of life: Was it monistic, optimistically dualistic or dualistic without restraint? Was a timid 'Biedermeier' the main current of the culture, or did they investigate the abyss of the mind and the empty universe? I try to catch up upon these discussions and to find some patterns in the diversity.

Primary fields of research

  • Danish literature from circa 1800 to 1960.
  • Biography as a genre and biographical methods. Autobiography and memoirs.
  • Textual Scholarship (textual criticism, variants, commentary, digital editing etc.).
  • The History of Editing.
  • Co-editor of Søren Kierkegaard’s Writings (Søren Kierkegaards Skrifter), see: http://sks.dk/forside/skr.asp
  • Co-editor of N.F.S. Grundtvig’s Works (N.F.S. Grundtvigs Værker), see: http://www.grundtvigsværker.dk

Teaching

  • Danish and Scandinavian literary history
  • Textual Scholarship and History of Editing
  • Thematic readings of selected oeuvres and works

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