Poetics of repetition

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explore the movement of repetition as a dynamic with unpredictable effects, ravelling the alleged order of past, present, and future. To this end, the article presents Søren Kierkegaard's notion of repetition as one he counterposes to Plato's understanding of reminiscence and shows the impact of this notion on Gilles Deleuze's reflections on “difference and repetition.” In addition, Jean François Lyotard's ethical understanding of anamnesis and rewriting is examined. Finally, the article deals with Jeanette Winterson's literary vision of “twisted time” as presented in her science fiction novel The Stone Gods (2007). This novel features a human–posthuman intimate relationship in recurring periods in the history of mankind. Since acts of rewriting and rereading fixed identity positions are not only negotiated thematically in the novel but are also part of its poetic form, special attention will be paid to the novel's “queer structure.” It will be shown how this structure dismantles the idea of straight relationships and linear progress and replaces it with the vision of repetition as a movement towards an indefinite future.