16 KIERKEGAARD’S EXISTENTIAL MIMESIS Wojciech Kaftanski
Introduction My aim in this chapter is to introduce the reader to the complexity of mimesis in Kierkegaard by both emphasizing important features of the discussion present in the literature and contributing my own position on a particular aspect of the problem. After offering general technical insights into mimesis as a concept, I will present three interpretive lenses that have been used to analyze the phenomenon in question in Kierkegaard’s work. I then argue for a particular conceptualization of mimesis I find in Kierkegaard that I term ‘existential’ and characterize it as indirect, intention-oriented, ‘non-comparing,’ and concerned with ends rather than means.
Conceptual and linguistic remarks Identifying the different philosophical meanings attributed to mimesis is a challenging task. Since its conceptual formulation in the dialogues of Plato, it has carried different connotations depending on the period and context (Gebauer and Wulf 1995: 31; Potolsky 2006: 1–2). Furthermore, individual thinkers do not have one specific understanding of the word. No translation of the term into any vernacular is capable of exhausting its meaning. Mimesis can designate ‘emulation, mimicry, dissimulation, doubling, theatricality, realism, identification, correspondence, depiction, verisimilitude, resemblance’ (Potolsky 2006: 1). It qualifies the distinction between real and unreal, original and copy, true and untrue (Gebauer and Wulf 1995: 1–8). In this chapter I will rely heavily on the conceptualization of mimesis offered in Stephen Halliwell’s (2002) work. Of the five facets of mimesis Halliwell distinguishes, I choose three that are pertinent to the way mimesis is operative in Kierkegaard’s writings. They are imitation, representation, and emulation.This threefold classification of mimesis does not restrict its meaning but rather emphasizes its complexity and broadness. Consequently, when I refer to mimesis in this chapter, I do not simply mean imitation, but rather use the word in a broad sense that encompasses the aforementioned three facets of mimesis. The Danish language does not offer a direct translation of the Greek mimesis into a noun.The key Danish term in this context is Efterfølgelse, which is a translation of the Latin term imitatio, itself the translation of mimesis. Efterfølgelse is used for instance in the title of the Danish editions of Thomas à Kempis’ De imitatione Christi. The famous Danish Dictionary Ordbog over det danske 191