Mimesis and Theory: Essays on Literature and Criticism, 1953-2005
Mimesis and Theory bring together twenty of René Girard’s uncollected essays on literature and literary theory, which, along with his classic, Deceit, Desire, and the Novel, have left an indelible mark on the field of literary and cultural studies. Spanning over fifty years of critical production, this anthology offers unique insights into the origin, development, and expansion of Girard’s “mimetic theory“―a groundbreaking account of human interaction and of the genesis of cultural forms. The essays run the gamut of Western literary culture, from Racine and Shakespeare to the existentialist writings of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. The authors who have most influenced Girard―Stendhal, Proust, and Dostoevsky―receive extended treatment, and Girard’s observations on the changing landscape of literary studies are chronicled in several essays devoted to psychoanalysis, formalism, structuralism, and post-structuralism. Though at times overshadowed by his work in religious and cultural anthropology, Girard’s work in the area of literary studies has been the wellspring of his thought. All of the essays in this volume develop the idea that the greatest authors are also the greatest students of human nature, for their artistic intuitions are generally more penetrating than the analyses of the philosophers or the social scientists. Girard does not offer us a theory of literature but literature as a theory. Check out Mimesis and Theory on Amazon
Sacrifice: Breakthroughs in Mimetic Theory – by René Girard
In Sacrifice, René Girard interrogates the Brahmanas of Vedic India, exploring coincidences with the mimetic theory that are too numerous and striking to be accidental. Even that which appears to be dissimilar fails to contradict the mimetic theory but instead corresponds to the minimum of illusion without which sacrifice becomes impossible. The Bible reveals collective violence, similar to that which generates sacrifice everywhere, but instead of making victims guilty, the Bible and the Gospels reveal the persecutors of a single victim. Instead of elaborating myths, they tell the truth absolutely contrary to the archaic sense. Once exposed, the single victim mechanism can no longer function as the model for would-be sacrificers. Recognizing that the Vedic tradition also converges on a revelation that discredits sacrifice, mimetic theory locates within sacrifice itself a paradoxical power of quiet reflection that leads, in the long run, to the eclipse of this institution which is violent but nevertheless fundamental to the development of human culture. Far from unduly privileging the Western tradition and awarding it a monopoly on the knowledge and repudiation of blood sacrifice, mimetic analysis recognizes comparable, but never truly identical, traits in the Vedic tradition. Check out Sacrifice on Amazon.
Job: The Victim of His People – by René Girard
What do we know about the Book of Job? Not very much. The hero complains endlessly. He has just lost his children all his livestock. He scratches his ulcers. The misfortunes of which he complains are all duly enumerated in the prologue. They are misfortunes brought on him by Satan with God’s permission. We think we know, but are we sure? Not once in the Dialogues does Job mention either Satan or anything about his misdeeds. Could it be that they are too much on his mind for him to mention them? Possibly, yet Job mentions everything else, and does much more than a mention. He dwells heavily on the cause of his misfortune, which is none of those mentioned in the prologue. The cause is not divine, satanic nor physical, but merely human. Check out Job on Amazon.
I See Satan Fall Like Lightning – by Rene Girard
One of Girard’s most important books, and one highly recommended for beginners –especially those interested in the religious implications of his work. It starts exploring the tenth commandment, which Girard believes is really an injunction against mimetic rivalry, and goes on to explain the apparent similarities between mythology and the Gospels. In Girard’s view, the similarities don’t threaten the uniqueness of Christianity but are rather the basis on which its uniqueness is made obvious. The Gospels are truly revelation, the Myth to end all myths…because it reveals the falsity of myths and the truth that lies underneath all of them. This book’s chapters are as follows: PART ONE: The Biblical Knowledge of Violence Scandal must come The Cycle of Mimetic Violence Satan PART TWO: The Enigma of Myth Resolved 4. The Horrible Miracle of Apollonius5. Mythology 6. Sacrifice7. The Founding Murder8. Powers and Principalities PART THREE: The Victory of the Cross 9. The uniqueness of the bible10. The uniqueness of the Gospels11. The Triumph of the Cross12. Scapegoat13. The Modern Concern for Victims14. The Twofold Nietzchean Heritage Check out I See Satan Fall Like Lightning on Amazon.
Evolution and Conversion: Dialogues on the Origins of Culture – by René Girard
Evolution and Conversion explore the main tenets of René Girard’s thought in a series of dialogues. Here, Girard reflects on the evolution of his thought and offers striking new insights on topics such as violence, religion, desire and literature. His long argument is a historical one in which the origin of culture and religion is reunited in the contemporary world by means of a reinterpretation of Christianity and an understanding of the intrinsically violent nature of human beings. He also offers provocative re-readings of Biblical and literary texts and responds to statements by Daniel Dennett and Richard Dawkins. Including an introduction by the authors, this is a revealing text by one of the most original thinkers of our time. Check out Evolution and Conversion on Amazon.
Deceit, Desire, and the Novel: Self and Other in Literary Structure – by René Girard
This study extends beyond the scope of literature into the psychology of much of our contemporary scene, including fashion, advertising, and propaganda techniques. In considering such aspects, the author goes beyond the domain of pure aesthetics and offers an interpretation of some basic cultural problems of our time.” Check out Deceit, Desire, and the Novel on Amazon.
Christianity, Truth, and Weakening Faith: A Dialogue – by René Girard
The debate over the place of religion in secular, democratic societies dominates the philosophical and intellectual discourse. These arguments often polarize around simplistic reductions, making efforts at reconciliation impossible. Yet more rational stances do exist, positions that broker a peace between relativism and religion in people’s public, private, and ethical lives. Christianity Truth and Weakening Faith advances just such a dialogue, featuring the collaboration of two major philosophers known for their progressive approach to this issue. Seeking unity over difference, Gianni Vattimo and René Girard turn to Max Weber, Eric Auerbach, and Marcel Gauchet, among others, in their exploration of truth and liberty, relativism and faith, and the tensions of a world filled with new forms of religiously inspired violence. Vattimo and Girard ultimately conclude that secularism and the involvement (or lack thereof) of religion in governance are, in essence, produced by Christianity. In other words, Christianity is “the religion of the exit from religion,” and democracy, civil rights, the free market, and individual freedoms are all facilitated by Christian culture. Through an exchange that is both intimate and enlightening, Vattimo and Girard share their unparalleled insight into the relationships among religion, modernity, and the role of Christianity, especially as it exists in our multicultural world. Check out Christianity, Truth, and Weakening Faith on Amazon.
Battling to the End: Conversations with Benoît Chantre – by René Girard
Carl von Clausewitz (1780–1831), the Prussian military theoretician who wrote On War, is known above all for his famous dictum: “War is the continuation of politics by other means.” In René Girard’s view, however, the strategist’s treatise offers up a more disturbing truth to the reader willing to extrapolate from its most daring observations: with modern warfare comes the insanity of tit-for-tat escalation, which political institutions have lost their ability to contain. Having witnessed the Napoleonic Wars firsthand, Girard argues, Clausewitz intuited that unbridled “reciprocal action” could eventually lead foes to total mutual annihilation. Haunted by the Franco-German conflict that was to ravage Europe, in Girard’s account Clausewitz is a prescient witness to the terrifying acceleration of history. Battling to the End issues a warning about the apocalyptic threats hanging over our planet and delivers an authoritative lesson on the mimetic laws of violence. Check out Battling to the End on Amazon.
Anorexia and Mimetic Desire – René Girard
René Girard shows that all desires are contagious—and the desire to be thin is no exception. In this compelling new book, Girard ties the anorexia epidemic to what he calls mimetic desire: a desire imitated from a model. Girard has long argued that, far from being spontaneous, our most intimate desires are copied from what we see around us. In a culture obsessed with thinness, the rise of eating disorders should be no surprise. When everyone is trying to slim down, Girard asks, how can we convince anorexic patients to have a healthy outlook on eating? Mixing theoretical sophistication with irreverent common sense, Girard denounces a “culture of anorexia” and takes apart the competitive impulse that fuels the game of conspicuous non-consumption. He shows that showing off a slim physique is not enough—the real aim is to be skinnier than one’s rivals. In the race to lose the most weight, the winners are bound to be thinner and thinner. Taken to extremes, this tendency to escalation can only lead to tragic results. Featuring a foreword by neuropsychiatrist Jean-Michel Oughourlian and an introductory essay by anthropologist Mark R. Anspach, the volume concludes with an illuminating conversation between René Girard, Mark R. Anspach, and Laurence Tacou. Check out Anorexia and Mimetic Desire on Amazon.
Theater Of Envy: William Shakespeare – by René Girard
In this ground-breaking work, one of our foremost literary and cultural critics turns to the major figure in English literature, William Shakespeare, and proposes a dramatic new reading of nearly all his plays and poems. The key to A Theater of Envy is Girard’s novel reinterpretation of “mimesis.” For Girard, people desire objects, not for their intrinsic value, but because they are desired by someone else – we mime or imitate their desires. This envy – or “mimetic desire” – he sees as one of the foundations of the human condition. Bringing such provocative and iconoclastic insights to bear on Shakespeare, Girard reveals the previously overlooked coherence of problem plays like Troilus and Cressida and makes a convincing argument for elevating A Midsummer Night’s Dream from the status of a chaotic comedy to a masterpiece. The book abounds with novel and provocative interpretations: Shakespeare becomes “a prophet of modern advertising,” and the threat of nuclear disaster is read in the light of Hamlet. Most intriguing of all, perhaps, is a brief, but brilliant aside in which an entirely new perspective is brought to the chapter on Joyce’s Ulysses in which Stephen Dedalus gives a lecture on Shakespeare. In Girard’s view only Joyce, perhaps the greatest of twentieth-century novelists, comes close to understanding the greatest of Renaissance playwrights. Throughout this impressively sustained reading of Shakespeare, Girard’s prose is sophisticated but contemporary, and accessible to the general reader. Check out Theater Of Envy on Amazon.