scholarly journals The influence of J.-P. Sartre’s philosophy on the mimetic theory of R. Girard

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-13
Author(s):  
Maxim V. Gafurov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The Novel ◽  
Cartesian Dualism ◽  
Mimetic Theory ◽  
Mimetic Desire ◽  
Critical View ◽  
Philosophical Thought ◽  
Literary Structure ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Rene Girard ◽  
René Girard

Certainly Sartre had an enormous influence on the subsequent philosophical thought, primarily in France. Rene Girard did not ignore this thinker either. In this article we will look at the influence of Sartre’s philosophy on the formation of Rene Girard’s mimetic theory. Already in his early work, “Deceit, Desire and the Novel: Self and Other in Literary Structure”, Rene Girard repeatedly refers to the work of Sartre, explaining how his work can be considered in the context of mimetic theory. Further, in an interview with Michel Treger in 1992, Girard controversially proposes to examine the existential-phenomenological constructions of Sartre by means of mimetic theory, putting forward his vision and critical view on overcoming the Cartesian dualism that Girard finds in Sartre’s philosophy. The author of the article considers the convergence of the mimetic theory of R. Girard with some provisions of the work by J.-P. Sartre, turning to one of the main philosophical works of J.-P. Sartre “Being and Nothingness”, which also influenced the early work of R. Girard. It should be noted that J.-P. Sartre does not offer a system describing the mechanisms of mimetic desire. But through the prism of mimetic theory we can see certain philosophical intuitions that reveal to us the nature of mimetic desires in the works of Sartre.

scholarly journals ‘Menzogna romantica’ e ‘sortilegio romanzesco’

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piermario Vescovo
Keyword(s):  
War Literature ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Mimetic Desire ◽  
Rene Girard ◽  
René Girard ◽  
Post War

This contribution attempts to match the dimensions of the ‘menzogna and sortilegio’ of Elsa Morante’s novel, and above all its construction in relation to the novel of the bourgeois epic of the previous century, those of the ‘mensonge romantique’ and ‘verité romanesque’ of René Girard, and therefore of describe the geometries of mimetic desire that build the plot of this huge debut in European post-war literature.

Mimetic Desire in Dostoevsky’s The Idiot with Continual Reference to René Girard

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-95
Author(s):  
Denis Zhernokleyev
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Of Interest ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Mimetic Desire ◽  
Rene Girard ◽  
René Girard ◽  
Principal Character ◽  
Love Triangle

It is common to see Myshkin, the principal character of Dostoevsky’s The Idiot, as a failed lover and a compassionate saintly figure, who gets entangled in a love triangle but cannot embody it. This paper challenges such a view and argues that Myshkin fully incarnates the violent dynamic of desire that governs the novel. With the help of René Girard’s notion of mimetic desire, the paper explores Myshkin’s relationship with Rogozhin as erotic rivalry. Instead of seeing the two characters as autonomous entities, it is suggested that they should be viewed as doubles, as two poles of the same consciousness. On this view, Myshkin’s compassion and Rogozhin’s lust become two different manifestations of the same desire, united by a conflict of interest, which drives the love triangle towards a violent resolution.

scholarly journals FRATRICIDE OR PATRICIDE –THE CRISIS OF PATRIARCHY IN THE NOVELS ĐUKA BEGOVIĆBY IVAN KOZARAC AND ZEMJABY ELIN PELIN

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-111
Author(s):  
Marijana Bijelić ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Explanation ◽  
Capitalist Society ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Mimetic Theory ◽  
Rene Girard ◽  
René Girard ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Structural Positions

Sincethe plots of the novels Đuka Begovićand Zemja(Land) by Elin Pelin are constructed around the ancient mythical murder motifs of patricide and fratricide, this analysis relies on mimetic theory by Rene Girard that is also constructed as a theoretical explanation of the afore mentioned mythical murders. Although Girard denies libidinal and object-directed causation of desire, in his polemics with the Freudian model of the libidinal desire Girard implies that there is a privileged object of desire in the patriarchal order –i.e. women because the father is the natural model for the son, and men’s desire for women is interindividually directed and intensified. Money and some other types of property are the privileged objects in a capitalist society –since thedesires of all members of the society are concentrated around them. The crisis of patriarchal order in Đuka Begovićcauses the loss of degree and the elevation of the structural positions of the father and the son, which then becomes the motive for Đuka’spatricide. On the other hand, the idealization and the persevered authority of the older brother causes Enjo’s repentance and the semi-establishing of the patriarchal order in the novel Zemja. The idealized older brother in the Pelin’s novel preserves thefunction of the paternal authority, and the father in Kozarac’s novel loses his authority and degree so he functions as the rival brother within the framework of the Girardian mimetic theory.

scholarly journals Gandhi’s Militant Nonviolence in the Light of Girard’s Mimetic Anthropology

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 988
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Palaver
Keyword(s):  
Fear Of Death ◽  
Mimetic Theory ◽  
Rene Girard ◽  
Cultural Anthropologist ◽  
René Girard ◽  
Contagious Nature ◽  
Nonviolent Action ◽  
God's Grace

Nuclear rivalry, as well as terrorism and the war against terror, exemplify the dangerous escalation of violence that is threatening our world. Gandhi’s militant nonviolence offers a possible alternative that avoids a complacent indifference toward injustice as well as the imitation of violence that leads to its escalation. The French-American cultural anthropologist René Girard discovered mimetic rivalries as one of the main roots of human conflicts, and also highlighted the contagious nature of violence. This article shows that Gandhi shares these basic insights of Girard’s anthropology, which increases the plausibility of his plea for nonviolence. Reading Gandhi with Girard also complements Girard’s mimetic theory by offering an active practice of nonviolence as a response to violent threats, and by broadening the scope of its religious outreach. Gandhi’s reading of the Sermon on Mount not only renounces violence and retaliation like Girard but also underlines the need to actively break with evil. Both Gandhi and Girard also address the religious preconditions of nonviolent action by underlining the need to prefer godly over worldly pursuits, and to overcome the fear of death by God’s grace. This congruence shows that Girard’s anthropology is valid beyond its usual affinity with Judaism and Christianity.

Deceit, Desire and the Novel: Self and Other in Literary Structure

1969 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 359
Author(s):  
Walter A. Strauss ◽  
Rene Girard ◽  
Yvonne Freccero
Keyword(s):  
The Novel ◽  
Literary Structure ◽  
Self And Other

Deceit, Desire, and the Novel: Self and Other in Literary Structure

1967 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 487
Author(s):  
Robert L. Belknap ◽  
René Girard ◽  
Yvonne Freccero ◽  
Rene Girard
Keyword(s):  
The Novel ◽  
Literary Structure ◽  
Self And Other
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