A Faith or Belief in Movement: The Influence of Søren Kierkegaard's Repetitional Faith on Gilles Deleuze's Cinema Volumes

Abstract

This article explores Gilles Deleuze’s evolving interpretation of Søren Kierkegaard’s notions of repetition and faith, highlighting a significant shift from his initial scepticism to a later acknowledgement. Deleuze at first critiqued Kierkegaard’s notion of repetition as a singular, transformative event — one that entails a “leap of faith”. However, 15 years later, Deleuze revised this view suggesting that Kierkegaard’s repetition entails a continuous, enduring engagement. This revaluation coincides with his metaphysical exploration of movement in cinema, which also focuses on the disconnect between humanity and the world, as it diminishes human’s ability to produce movements that significantly impact life. Deleuze posits that reestablishing this connection requires a form of faith or belief, subtly echoing Kierkegaard’s ideas of repetition and faith — referred to in this article as “repetitional faith”. Moreover, this paper sets out to cover a reading of Kierkegaard involving repetition and faith as requiring a continuous engagement, and examines how Deleuze extends this reading into the concept of cinematic faith or belief.