Kierkegaard, Mimesis, and Modernity - A Critical Wojciech

In this review of Kierkegaard, Mimesis, and Modernity the reviewer finds a careful, scholarly intervention best suited to readers who want to reassess Kierkegaard beyond familiar religious readings. Wojciech Kaftanski's book reframes mimesis as a central interpretive knot in Kierkegaard's thought, and the single biggest reason to read it is its sustained linking of aesthetic categories with religious themes in a way that clarifies how imitation, repetition, and emergent concepts like affectivity and crowd behavior shape modern subjectivity.

Key Features

• Focused thesis: The book offers a sustained argument that mimesis is a crucial conceptual reference for reading Kierkegaard, helping readers reconceive familiar texts.
• Aesthetic-religious integration: Kaftanski traces how aesthetic categories such as imitation and repetition interlace with religious concerns, making abstract connections concrete for readers.
• Contemporary relevance: The analysis links Kierkegaard's ideas to modern issues of affectivity, contagion, and crowd behavior, showing why his thought matters for our era.
• Dialectical-existential approach: The author deploys a dialectical-existential reading that clarifies tensions between individual reflection and social imitation.
• Nuanced reading of core concepts: Familiar Kierkegaardian notions like imitation, repetition, and admiration are reconsidered rather than restated, offering new interpretive purchase.

Who It's For

This book is aimed at graduate students, scholars, and serious readers of philosophy and theology who want a targeted, interpretive study connecting Kierkegaard to broader debates about mimesis and modernity. It will appeal to those who value conceptual nuance and cross-disciplinary links between aesthetics and religion.

Readers looking for an introductory primer on Kierkegaard or a popular biography should look elsewhere, as Kaftanski assumes prior familiarity with Kierkegaardian vocabulary and the history of nineteenth-century philosophy.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Provides a compelling reinterpretation of Kierkegaard by centering mimesis within his work.
• Makes clear connections between aesthetic concepts and religious themes that illuminate modern concerns.
• Engages newer notions such as affectivity and crowd behavior, expanding the book's contemporary reach.

Cons

• The argument presumes familiarity with Kierkegaard and specialized terminology, which may limit accessibility for general readers.

Specifications

Title	Kierkegaard, Mimesis, and Modernity
Series	Routledge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Philosophy
Author	Wojciech Kaftanski
Main themes	Mimesis, aesthetics, religion, repetition, crowd behavior
Approach	Dialectical-existential reading
Intended audience	Scholars, graduate students, serious readers of philosophy

Our Verdict

Kaftanski's book is a thought-provoking, well-argued study that repays careful reading for anyone engaged with Kierkegaard, aesthetics, or modern social theory. While not introductory, it offers strong value to specialists because it reorients familiar concepts toward contemporary problems of affect and imitation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this book treat Kierkegaard as primarily religious?
The review notes that Kaftanski challenges that view and instead presents a reading where religious and aesthetic themes are entwined.

Is prior knowledge of Kierkegaard required?
Yes; the book assumes familiarity with Kierkegaardian concepts and works, so newcomers may struggle with some passages.

Does the book address modern relevance?
Yes; it explicitly connects Kierkegaard's ideas to contemporary issues like affectivity, contagion, and crowd behavior.