Repetition

Repetition (Danish:Gjentagelsen) is a book by the 19th century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard and published on October 16, 1843 under the pseudonym Constantin Constantius. Repetition is the story told by Constantin Constantius as he attempts to repeat a memorable trip by stage coach to see the Opera in Berlin but finds that he cannot recapture the feelings and experiences that he had the first time. Because so much of life depends on random... more

Repetition (Danish:Gjentagelsen) is a book by the 19th century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard and published on October 16, 1843 under the pseudonym Constantin Constantius. Repetition is the story told by Constantin Constantius as he attempts to repeat a memorable trip by stage coach to see the Opera in Berlin but finds that he cannot recapture the feelings and experiences that he had the first time. Because so much of life depends on random, accidental happenings, past events cannot be precisely recreated. But the desire to repeat the past necessarily creates different experiences. The dynamic of our relationship with this backward and forward nature of experience are central themes. Recollection is characterized as the melancholic feelings we have associated with the past that we know cannot be repeated and that often immobilize us; whilst repetition is the act and will to live forward. In recollection we place ourselves at the tragic end and we have no hope or desire. Hope and... less