The Truth Behind the Text: Rachel Bespaloff as a Reader of Kierkegaard from 'the Most Torn-Apart Backdrop of History'.

Although Rachel Bespaloff published only two short studies of Kierkegaard's works (1934-1935), her work, some of the first critical analyses of his philosophy, had a profound impact on Kierkegaard's reception in France. Despite the fact that she published no studies of Kierkegaard's works after 1935, her essays and letters nevertheless attest to a continued interest in the Danish philosopher, in whom she seeks a new source for philosophy. As a Jewish intellectual writing in a historically troubled context, Bespaloff's readings are critically engaged and question how Kierkegaard's philosophy can be received and appropriated in the context of the 20^th century [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]