Repetition (Kierkegaard)

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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.

The chief character in this work is "The Young Man" who despairs over the ethical dilemma of breaking off an engagement with his former fiancée. That would require a dedication to only one person, that is, repetition. Instead of this repetition, The Young Man decides to leave her so he can recollect her poetically; recollection being an aesthetic category. This work is seen as reflection of Kierkegaard's own breakup with his former fiancée Regine Olsen.

Lacan reads Kierkegaard's Repetition in light of Freud's Fort-da narrative to examine the play of signification, the real and the subject's relationship to trauma in The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis (60-62).

Kierkegaard's central relationship echoes Dante's love for Beatrice Portinari in The Divine Comedy and La Vita Nuova. Dante falls in love with Beatrice, the most beautiful woman in Florence, only to have her die. But she returns, in beatific vision (and as a guide), to illustrate the Christian afterlife to Dante. Having (repetitive/immanent) love and losing it teaches Dante about the transendent elements of divine love.