Imitation, Mirror Neurons, and Mimetic Desire: Convergence Between the Mimetic Theory of René Girard and Empirical Research on Imitation – by Scott Garrels
Scott Garrels, of Fuller Theological Seminary in California, says this: “Psychological mimesis is the tendency of human beings to imitate the gestures, behaviors, and intentions of other persons; it is the very cornerstone upon which the entire work of René Girard is constructed. From this foundation, Girard has made a number of bold claims about […]
Desired Possessions: Karl Polanyi, Rene Girard, and the Critique of the Market – by Mark Anspach
The market illusion—the idea of an “invisible hand”—perpetuates the idea of “market motives,” or purely economic motives. These do not exist. Social relationships are embedded deeply in the market, and there is no desire that is not social. As Mark Anspach observes, “faith in the naturalness and inevitability of the “economic motive” absolves those who […]
The Evangelical Subversion of Myth – by René Girard
Girard begins this subversive exploration of the evangelical (Gospel) subversion of myth by quoting Sigmund Freud in his famous work, Totem and Taboo. Freud recognizes that long before he intuited the violent origins of human culture, the Gospels had already revealed them. “In the Christian doctrine,” he writes, “men were acknowledging in the most undisguised […]
Mimetic Theory of René Girard and Asian Culture
The thought of Girard is beginning to infiltrate Asian countries. This is the site of Korean professor Ilkwaen Chung, for example, who have begun to explore the origins of Buddhist through the lens of Girardian theory. He asks many fascination questions like, “Is Buddha a scapegoat?” Professor Chung is perhaps the foremost Girardian scholar in […]
Mimetics: A Blog About René Girard and the Mimetic Theory
The best blog about Girard available in Brazil (a Portuguese-language blog) covering all things, including a nice description of Girard. Most South American countries have heavily Marxist strains running through the cultures, which Girardian theory can go a long way toward explaining. (Along with the West’s own self-hatred.) If that’s confusing, read on. Visit Mimetics
Giardian Lectionary: Understanding the Bible Anew Through the Mimetic Theory of René Girard
One of the most comprehensive online resources for biblical studies, a website run by Paul Nuechterlein, a well-respected voice in theological circles with over 30 years of experience in ELCA congregations. This is a website that will help anyone see the scripture’s through the lens of mimetic theory. Visit Giardian Lectionary
Shakespearean Cultures: Latin America and the Challenges of Mimesis in Non-Hegemonic Circumstances
by João Cezar de Castro Rocha In Shakespearean Cultures, René Girard’s ideas on violence and the sacred inform an innovative analysis of contemporary Latin America. Castro Rocha proposes a new theoretical framework based upon the “poetics of emulation” and offers a groundbreaking approach to understanding the asymmetries of the modern world. Shakespearean cultures are those whose […]
René Girard’s Mimetic Theory – by Wolfgang Palaver
A systematic introduction into the René Girard’s mimetic theory of the French-American literary theorist and philosophical anthropologist René Girard, this essential text explains its three main pillars (mimetic desire, the scapegoat mechanism, and the Biblical “difference”) with the help of examples from literature and philosophy. This book also offers an overview of René Girard’s life […]
For René Girard: Essays in Friendship and in Truth
by Sandor Goodhart, Jørgen Jørgensen, Tom Ryba, James Williams In his explorations of the relations between the sacred and violence, René Girard has hit upon the origin of culture—the way culture began, the way it continues to organize itself. The way communities of human beings structure themselves in a manner that is different from that of other species on […]
Evolution of Desire: A Life of René Girard – by Cynthia L Haven
René Girard (1923–2015) was one of the leading thinkers of our era—a provocative sage who bypassed prevailing orthodoxies to offer a bold, sweeping vision of human nature, human history, and human destiny. His oeuvre, offering a “mimetic theory” of cultural origins and human behavior, inspired such writers as Milan Kundera and J. M. Coetzee and […]