Kabbalah – Jewish Mysticism in Philosophy and Literature: Walter Benjamin, Franz Kafka and Jon Fosse
Lecture by Arild Linneberg and Janne Sund

Modern Kabbalah emerged in southern France and Spain in the 13th century. Its central text is Zohar – The Book of Radiance. Especially German philosophy and literature – from Hegel and Goethe to Kafka and Walter Benjamin – are deeply infused with Kabbalistic mysticism. Jon Fosse’s key inspiration Harold Bloom based his foundational text Kabbalah and Criticism (1975) on this tradition. In this lecture, Linneberg and Sund outline a map of this literary-philosophical landscape.

Arild Linneberg (b. 1952) holds a Dr.philos. and is Professor of General Literary Studies at the University of Bergen. Among other works, he has translated Theodor W. Adorno’s Aesthetic Theory (1998) and Minima Moralia (2003) into Norwegian. He has also been a literary critic and has worked extensively on the relationship between literature, law and justice.

Janne Sund (b. 1974) is a philosopher, writer, and translator.