Mimesis, violence, and the sacred : an overview of the thought of René Girard

This chapter provides an overview of the thought of the French-American literary and cultural theorist René Girard, beginning with his theorization of "mimetic desire", the explanatory hypothesis Girard employs to theorize interpersonal relations. Girard postulates that desire is pre-eminently imitative. Thence we turn to the "scapegoat" or "victimage" mechanism-Girard's model for how cultural and religious formation takes place through the banishment or lynching of a victim. This event-or series of events-functions to initiate and sustain cultural stability. Finally, we consider the relationship between Judea-Christian scripture and the scapegoat mechanism, considering Girard's depiction of the Bible as representing a trenchant critique of "sacred violence".