Let the Word alone do the Work: Mimetic Theory Goes to Church
Notes from the Desire Factory
Andris Berry uses his understanding of mimetic theory and experience in the film industry to examine advertising and its impact on American culture. This paper was presented at the Colloquim for Violence and Religion held in June 2008 in Riverside, California.
Witness for the Persecution: A Model of Conversion from the Musical, Wicked
Raven Foundation founder, Suzanne Ross, highlights the lessons of scapegoating, persecution, and conversion in the hit Broadway musical, Wicked. She explains how this piece of popular theater illustrates the transformative effect of mimetic theory.
Download DocumentGiving and Loving, or What's the Most Important Thing by Mark R. Anspach, Ph. D.
An American anthropologist and social theorist based in Europe, Mark Anspach has been affiliated for the past twenty years with the Centre de Recherche en Épistémologie Appliquée at the École Polytechnique in Paris. His book about vengeance, gift and market exchange (À charge de revanche: Figures élémentaires de la réciprocité. Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 2002) includes a chapter that analyzes O. Henry’s short story, The Gift of the Magi. In it he suggests that love is best understood as gift: an act of completely gratuitous giving that appears unprompted, asks for nothing in return, and cannot easily be subjected to an economic cost/benefit analysis.
Snark Bites
Raven Foundation Founder Suzanne Ross reviews Snark by David Denby.
From Pesach to Pasach: The Sacrifice of Passover
Prof. Sandor Goodhart explores the festive meal of Passover, a sacrificial meal (pesach) in honor of God’s “passing over” (pasach). What does “passing over” mean? It is the act of God giving up sacrifice, passing it over in favor of something else. The pesach meal reminds us of past victims (the shankbone on the table) so that we let go of, pass over, the making of more victims.
The Universal Truths of Islam and Mimetic Anthropology
Adam Ericksen's paper delivered at Fearful Symmetries COV&R Conference, 2009.
In the paper, Adam explores the Islamic concept of tawhid in relation to mimetic anthropology. The work of Tariq Ramadan and the life of Abdul Ghaffar Khan support the argument that the God revealed in Islam stands with the victims of culture, without desiring to create victims of oppressors.
Oops! I Did It Again...
Jim Grote, co-author of Clever as Serpents: Business Ethics and Office Politics (a Girardian approach to business ethics), is an adjunct professor of philosophy, a development officer, and a financial journalist. In this article, Jim introduces the thought of Rene Girard through the work of Britney Spears.
The Brothers Karamazov on the Page and the Stage
Dr. Andrew McKenna illuminates the power of Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov as a work of literature and theatre after viewing the 2008 Lookingglass Theatre production, which was adapted and directed by Lookingglass Ensemble Member Heidi Stillman.
When Good People Do Bad Things
Raven Founder Suzanne Ross uses the musical Wicked to explore how good people can end up doing very bad things without ever doubting their own goodness. It’s a must read for anyone who takes seriously the goal of being a truly good person.
Deceit, Desire and the Graphic Novel
Erik Buys holds a master's degree in religious studies from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), and teaches at a Jesuit High School, Sint-Jozefscollege, in Aalst (Belgium). A member of the Dutch Girard Society, Erik is also a singer, currently performing with El Grillo (Gent, www.elgrillo.be). In this essay, he examines the mimetic nature of man illustrated in the graphic novel, Watchmen.
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A Theory of Everything (That Just Might Work)
Teresa Pitts has worked as a professional cartographer and is currently completing a Master’s Degree in Political Science at Virginia Tech, as well as teaching as an adjunct at Radford University. She is interested in bring Girard’s ideas into Political Science, both in theoretical work as well as at the policy making level. Her essay explores the mimetic rivalries that led to the Rwanda genocide.