MONRAD, MARCUS JACOB

(1816-1897)

A Norwegian philosopher andcritic, Monrad was strongly influenced by Hegelianism but was also one of the first serious readers ofSøren Kierkegaardin Norway. A man with a distinctly conservative bent, Monrad was the primary spokesperson for the right in the cultural and political struggle in Norway during theModern Breakthrough. A prolific contributor to the literary debates in theScandinavian literary journalsand newspapers, he wanted to harmonizeromanticismandrealism; the Hegelian synthesis ofthese to opposites was referred to as poetic realism. His most important philosophical work isTankeretninger i den nyere Tid: Et kritisk Rundskue(1874; Directions of Thought in Recent Times: A Critical Survey).