René Girard
René Girard was a member of the Académie Francaise, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was Andrew B. Hammond Professor Emeritus of French and Comparative Literature, Stanford University. Internationally renowned for his work on the nexus between violence and religion as well as his “mimetic theory,” René Girard’s publications have been translated into numerous languages, and the secondary literature on his thought numbers in the hundreds of articles and over fifty full-length books. His major works include: Deceit, Desire and the Novel (Hopkins, 1965); Violence and the Sacred (Hopkins, 1978); Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World (Stanford, 1987); The Scapegoat (Hopkins, 1986); I See Satan Fall like Lightning (Orbis, 2001). His latest book in French, Achever Clausewitz, was published in 2007. His most recent books in English include Mimesis and Theory: Essays on Literature and Criticism, 1965 – 2005 (edited by Robert Doran), published in May, 2008, on Stanford University Press, Battling to the End: Conversations with Benoit Chantre, 2010 (translated by Mary Baker) on Michigan State University Press, and Sacrifice (translated by Matthew Pattillo and David Dawson, edited by William A. Johnsen), published in 2011 by Michigan State University Press. René was a man of towering intellect, humility, and grace. Our ongoing work at the Raven Foundation is inspired by and dedicated to his memory.