The Implicit Conception of Mimesis in Heidegger's Being and Time

Following the work of Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, this essay argues that there is an implicit conception of mimesis operative in Heidegger's conception of Dasein's being-in-the-world. More specifically, it argues that an examination of Heidegger's theory of repetition (Wiederholung) and play (Spiel) in relation to Dasein's uncanniness (Unheimlichkeit) illustrates Dasein's tendency to turn away from mimesis and, instead, opt for the comfort of mimetology, the comfort of submitting to a levelled down identification with the ready-to-hand and the they-self. Ultimately this analysis, which itself performs a mimetic re-reading of Being and Time, brings to the fore a counter-force within Heidegger's thought that arguably resists what Lacoue-Labarthe calls Heidegger's inadvertent reproduction of the metaphysics of presence and the worrisome political implications that attend it. Moreover, this re-reading suggests that, precisely when the implicit role of mimesis is emphasized, the temporal possibilities built into Dasein's way of Being might also be understood in a new light. [web URL: https://www.pdcnet.org/collection-anonymous/browse?fp=sympos ium&#x0 026;fq=symposium%2FVolume%2F8981%7C19%2F8998%7CIssue%3A+2%2F ]