Karsten Kynde

Since 1997 a new, complete edition of all extant materials from Kierkegaard’s hand is being published by the Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre in Copenhagen, under the name of Søren Kierkegaards Skrifter (Søren Kierkegaard’s Writings, hereafter abbreviated SKS). From the very start of the project, the aim has been to publish a book as well as a digital version from the same base data, created by the researchers at the Centre. Apart from Kierkegaard’s texts, it comprises explanatory notes, text critical accounts, and more, which are in the book version contained in the K-volumes (commentaries).

Letters constitute words that constitute lines that constitute pages that constitute a text. As, however, the text appears, letters, lines etc. are interpreted together with several other signals important to the reader. Any other concrete rendering of the text might convey the same meaning of the text. We shall term the union set of such renderings the abstract intention with the text, and show that it is more comprehensive than any single rendering, including the one delivered by the author of the text. The paper address the issue of how to encode and store a computer representation of a text whether it be the base of a printed copy of a book or an electronic version.