La lectura apocalíptica de René Girard: catástrofe y esperanza
This paper proposes to draw on René Girard’s “mimetic theory” to understand the phenomenon of violence and its escalation to extremes, from a non-instrumental perspective. This theory locates the origin of violence in the mimetic nature of acquisitive desires and it reveals, as its main historical antidote, the sacrifice of scapegoats. Accordingly, it suggests that violence and its various manifestations are a prime driving force in human history. Mainly, this paper addresses the possibility of dismantling this violence through Girard’s reading of the Apocalypse as the face of the current crisis and a call for hope. Both strands originate from the same episode: Christian Revelation, after dismantling the sacrificial apparatus and leaving men without sacred protection, presented the innocent victim par excellence —Christ— as the only role model able to stop the machinery of death.