A Theater of Ideas: Performance and Performativity in Kierkegaard’s _Repetition_

In this article, I argue that Søren Kierkegaard’s oeuvre can be seen as a theater of ideas. This argument unfolds in three steps. First, I will briefly introduce a theoretical framework for addressing the theatrical dimension of Kierkegaard’s writings. This framework hinges on a distinction between “performative writing strategies” and “categories of performativity.” As a second step, I will examine “Repetition: A Venture in Experimenting Psychology” by Constantin Constantius, which exemplifies Kierkegaard’s innovative philosophical approach. This peculiar and elusive book introduces the challenging and counter-intuitive concept of repetition. Repetition serves as a category of performativity designed to engage the subjectivity of the reader. This performative effect is achieved by confronting the reader with an “unresolved” existential problem that is not yet drawn into clarity but is staged in all its confusions and contradictions. Kierkegaard’s pseudonym Constantius relies here on a performative writing strategy that is animated by a dialectic of advance and withdrawal. As a final step, I will analyze Constantius’s own reflections on the performative nature of his text. Constantius has left several clues, each indicating that he intentionally crafted a performative writing strategy.