Repetition in Physiological, Mimetic and Ritual Processes

Abstract

This paper examines the following three interlinked aspects of repetition. To start with, biologically speaking, human life is only possible through repetition. Second, human beings develop into human beings only through cultural learning. Human development through cultural learning takes place essentially in mimetic processes, for which repetitions are constitutive. Thirdly, ritual repetitions play an indispensable role in the production and transformation of communities and the creation of social life.