<i>Repetition</i> and the Art of Writing Novels
Journal
Kierkegaard Studies Yearbook
ISSN
1430-5372
1612-9792
Date Issued
2022
Author(s)
Tellez-Maqueo, David-Ezequiel
Rojas, Fernanda
Type
Resource Types::text::journal::journal article
Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>
<jats:p>In this paper we wish to analyze how Kierkegaard understood the art of writing novels, that is, as a way to express and develop the life-view of the author. We would like to argue that this notion, presented for the first time in <jats:italic>From the Papers of One Still Living</jats:italic> (1838), was put into practice in the short novel <jats:italic>Repetition</jats:italic> (1843), in which Kierkegaard used the biblical story of Job to explain the development of selfhood through the existential category of repetition. According to Kierkegaard, true repetition—which is the central category of the life-view he is trying to convey—helps the individual “recollect” the past correctly so he or she can reconcile with the present and grow into the future.</jats:p>
<jats:p>In this paper we wish to analyze how Kierkegaard understood the art of writing novels, that is, as a way to express and develop the life-view of the author. We would like to argue that this notion, presented for the first time in <jats:italic>From the Papers of One Still Living</jats:italic> (1838), was put into practice in the short novel <jats:italic>Repetition</jats:italic> (1843), in which Kierkegaard used the biblical story of Job to explain the development of selfhood through the existential category of repetition. According to Kierkegaard, true repetition—which is the central category of the life-view he is trying to convey—helps the individual “recollect” the past correctly so he or she can reconcile with the present and grow into the future.</jats:p>