COV&R-Bulletin No. 12 (March 1997)
A Note from the Editor
After six years and twelve issues of the Bulletin my time as the editor of this newsletter is over. It was a real challenge for me to edit this English newsletter dedicated to mimetic theory. Thanks for your patience as readers and all your support as contributors. Special thanks deserves my friend Jim Williams who did nearly all the proof-reading during those years. Without him it would not have been possible for me to do this work.
Let me raise also some administrative matters:
(1) We ask you to send us your contributions to the Bulletin on a floppy disk or by e-mail. It greatly simplifies the publication of the Bulletin.
(2) If you would like to write a book review for the Bulletin please contact the editorial office or James G. Williams, the executive secretary. The length of a review should be between 600 and 1000 words. Longer reviews (at most 2000 words) will only be published in special circumstances.
(3) The length of an abstract should be between 100 and 300 words.
(4) Please find out if you have paid your annual dues. You will find the date of your last payment at the top of your mailing label. The regular membership fee is $40.00. Matriculated students may enroll for $20. It is also possible to subscribe to the Bulletinwithout membership for $15. The Bulletin appears biannually. The terms of payment you will find on the front-page.
Wolfgang Palaver
Bibliography of Literature on the Mimetic Theory, vol. XII
1) Books concerning the entire work of Renéé Girard
Assmann, Hugo (ed.). Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. ÜÜbersetzt von Horst Goldstein. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 2. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Nardin, Christian (ed.). Les pouvoirs de l'image. Lycéée International des Pontonniers de Strasbourg, Sééminaire 1994-1995. Strasbourg: lycéée International de Strasbourg, 1996.
2) Articles concerning the entire work of Renéé Girard
Assmann, Hugo. "Zum inneren Ablauf des Dialogs zwischen Renéé Girard und den Befreiungstheologen." In Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. ÜÜbersetzt von Horst Goldstein, ed. Assmann, Hugo, 13-37. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 2. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Assmann, Hugo. "Das Denken Renéé Girards weckt differenzierte Interessen." In Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. ÜÜbersetzt von Horst Goldstein, ed. Assmann, Hugo, 41-63. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 2. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Charcosset, Jean P. "Des choses cachéées aux intelligents et aux sages: Renéé Girard et le sacrifice." In Foi et vie 95/4 (1996): 93-107.
De Santa Ana, Julio. "Sakralisierungen und Opfer im Tun der Menschen." In Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. ÜÜbersetzt von Horst Goldstein, ed. Assmann, Hugo, 65-93. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 2. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Dunnill, John. "Methodological Rivalries: Theology and Social Science in Girardian Interpretations of the New Testament." In Journal for the Study of the New Testament 62 (1996): 105-119.
Goorden, Constant. "Het Offer in de Religie en in de Joods-Christelijke Traditie volgens Renéé Girard." In Collationes 26/1 (1996): 79-108.
Hinkelhammert, Franz J. "Paradigmen und Metamorphosen des Opfers von Menschenleben." In Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. ÜÜbersetzt von Horst Goldstein, ed. Assmann, Hugo, 103-127. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 2. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Josgrillberg, Rui. "Opfermechanismus und der Tod Jesu." In Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. ÜÜbersetzt von Horst Goldstein, ed. Assmann, Hugo, 161-178. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 2. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Kearney, Richard. "Myths and Scapegoats: The Case of Renéé Girard." In Theory, Culture and Society 12/4 (1995): 1-12.
Nardin, Christian. "Resume des thèèses de Renéé Girard." In Les pouvoirs de l'image, ed. Nardin, Christian, 37-58. Lycéée International des Pontonniers de Strasbourg, Sééminaire 1994-1995. Strasbourg: Lycéée International de Strasbourg, 1996.
Nessan, Craig L. "Stilling the Violence Within and Without: Girard, Animal Aggression, and Atonement." In Glaube und Denken 9 (1996): 133-144.
Ong, Walter J. "Mimesis and the Following of Christ." In Religion and Literature 26 (Summer 1994): 73-77.
Sung, Jung Mo. "Die geschichtliche ""Verifizierbarkeit"" nicht sakrifizieller Theorien." In Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. ÜÜbersetzt von Horst Goldstein, ed. Assmann, Hugo, 221-228. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 2. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Vanheeswijck, Guido. "Zelfverruiming of loutering? Over de
betekenis van gefragmenteerde subjectiviteit in het vroege werk
van Renéé Girard." In Bijdragen 57/3 (1996): 242-263.
3) Interviews/debates with Renéé Girard
Girard, Renéé. "Image et vééritéé: Rencontre avec Renéé Girard." In Les pouvoirs de l'image, ed. Nardin, Christian, 161-175. Lycéée International des Pontonniers de Strasbourg, Sééminaire 1994-1995. Strasbourg: Lycéée International de Strasbourg, 1996.
Girard, Renéé. "Schlaglichter aus dem Dialog mit Befreiungstheologen." In Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. ÜÜbersetzt von Horst Goldstein, ed. Assmann, Hugo, 255-310. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 2. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Girard, Renéé. "The Anthropology of the Cross: A Conversation with Renéé Girard." Interview by James G. Williams. In The Girard Reader, ed. Williams, James G., 262-288. New York: A Crossroad Herder Book, 1996.
4) Books with references to Renéé Girard
Angehrn, Emil. Die ÜÜberwindung des Chaos: Zur Philosophie des Mythos. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1996.
Colpe, Carsten. Der ""Heilige Krieg"": Benennung und Wirklichkeit, Begrüündung und Widerstreit. Hanstein: Anton Hain, 1994.
Drexler, Josef. Die Illusion des Opfers: Eine wissenschaftlicher ÜÜberblick üüber die wichtigsten Opfertheorien ausgehend vom deleuzianischen Polyperspektivismusmodell.Müünchener ethnologische Abhandlungen 12. Müünchen: Akademischer Verlag, 1993.
Regensburger, Dietmar. Masse, Macht und Gewalt bei Hannah Arendt. Ph. D. Diss., University of Innsbruck, 1996.
Reuter, Hans-Richard. Rechtsethik in theologischer Perspektive: Studien zur Grundlegung und Konkretion. Güütersloh: Kaiser, 1996.
5) Articles with
references to Renéé Girard
Alves, Rubem. "Eine Handvoll Thesen zu Begehren und Opfer." In Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. ÜÜbersetzt von Horst Goldstein, ed. Assmann, Hugo, 229-236. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 2. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Capps, Donald. "Sex in the Parish: Social-Scientific Explanations for Why It Occurs." In Journal of Pastoral Care 47 (Winter 1993): 350-361.
Gans, Eric. "Plato and the Birth of Conceptual Thought." In Anthropoetics: The Electronic Journal of Generative Anthropology 2/2 (January 1997): http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/anthropoetics/
Krondorfer, Bjöörn. "Response to James G. Williams: Re-Mythologizing Scriptural Authority: On Reading 'Sacrifice and the Beginning of Kingship.'" In Semeia no. 67 (1994): 93-107.
Palaver, Wolfgang. "Das biblische Menschenbild und seine Konsequenzen füür die Politik." In: Ethica 4 (1996) 227-244.
Pixley, Jorge. "Fordert der wahre Gott blutige Opfer?" In Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. ÜÜbersetzt von Horst Goldstein, ed. Assmann, Hugo, 131-159. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 2. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Susin, Luiz Carlos. "Opferideologie und Christologie: Die Gewalt des Kreuzes." In Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. ÜÜbersetzt von Horst Goldstein, ed. Assmann, Hugo, 170-186. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 2. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Van Oort, Richard. "Performative-Constitative Revisited: The Genetics of Austin's Theory of Speech Acts." In Anthropoetics: The Electronic Journal of Generative Anthropology2/2 (January 1997): http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/anthropoetics/
Wolf, Jean-Claude: "Ethik aus christlichen Quellen?" In Fundamente der Theologischen Ethik, ed. Holderegger, Adrian, 126-153. Studien zur theologischen Ethik 72. Freiburg/Schweiz: Universitäätsverlag, 1996.
Wulf, Christoph. "Die Unhintergehbarkeit der Gewalt." In Das ""zivilisierte Tier"": Zur Historischen Anthropologie der Gewalt, ed. Wimmer, Michael, Wulf, Christoph and Dieckmann, Bernhard, 77-83. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 1996.
6) Books applying the mimetic theory
Girard, Renéé. The Girard Reader. Edited by James G. Williams. New York: A Crossroad Herder Book, 1996.
Girard, Renéé. Szekspir: Teatr zazdroci. Przeoya Barbara Mikoajewska (A Theater of Envy: William Shakespeare, Polish). Warszawa: Wydawnictwo KR, 1996.
Girard, Renéé. Resurrection from the Underground: Feodor Dostoevsky. Translated and Foreword by James G. Williams. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1997.
Girard, Renéé. ""Wenn all das beginnt ..."" Ein Gesprääch mit Michel Treguer. ÜÜbersetzt von Pascale Veldboer (""Quand ces choses commenceront ..."" Entretiens avec Michel Treguer, German). Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 5. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1997.
Kitzmüüller, Erich. Gewalteskalation oder neues Teilen. Edited by Herwig Büüchele and Severin Renoldner. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 3. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Koelbl, Herlinde. Opfer: Ein Zyklus. Mit einem Essay von Renéé Girard. Heidelberg: Edition Braus, 1996.
Schwager, Raymund. Erbsüünde und Heilsdrama: Im Kontext von Evolution, Gentechnologie und Apokalyptik. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 4. Müünster: LIT Verlag; Thaur: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur, 1997.
7) Articles applying the mimetic theory
Alison, James. "AIDS als Ort der Offenbarung: Girard und eine neue Pastoraltheologie." In Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. ÜÜbersetzt von Horst Goldstein, ed. Assmann, Hugo, 237-251. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 2. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Alison, James. "El retorno de Abel : La teologíía como elaboracion de historias de vida." In AnááMnesis 5/2 (1995): 5-19.
Céésar, Ely ÉÉser Barreto. "Barmherzigkeit und Opfer im Matthääus-Evangelium." In Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. ÜÜbersetzt von Horst Goldstein, ed. Assmann, Hugo, 201-211. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 2. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Chilton, Bruce. "The Hungry Knife: Towards a Sense of Sacrifice." In Bible in Human Society: Essays in Honour of John Rogerson, ed. Carrol, R. and Daniel, M., 122-138. Journal for the study of the Old Testament: Supplement series 200. Sheffield : JSOT-Press, 1995.
Girard, Renéé. "Sacrifice in Levenson's Work." In Dialog 34 (Winter 1995): 61-62.
Girard, Renéé. "Zu den Photographien von Herlinde Koelbl." In Opfer: Ein Zyklus von Herlinde Koelbl. Heidelberg: Edition Braus, 1996, n. p.
Gorgulho, Gilberto. "Weisheit und mimetische Begierde." In Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. ÜÜbersetzt von Horst Goldstein, ed. Assmann, Hugo, 187-199. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 2. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Hamerton-Kelly, Robert G. "Biblical Interpretation, Mythology, and a Theory of Ethnic Violence." Scriptura 50/1 (1994): 23-39.
Harms, Klaus. "Wenn alle Gewalt endet: Die Bedeutung der Opfertheorie Renéé Girards füür die Theologie der Passion Jesu." In Lutherische Monatshefte 35/8 (1996): 35-37.
McBride, James. "Capital Punishment as the Unconstitutional Establishment of Religion: A Girardian Reading of the Death Penalty." In Journal of Church and State37 (Spring 1995): 263-287.
Mishler, William. """The Virgin Spring"" and ""The Seventh Seal"": A Girardian Reading." In Comparative Drama 30/1 (Spring 1996): 106-134.
Palaver, Wolfgang. "Carl Schmitt on Nomos and Space." In Telosno. 106 (Winter 1996): 105-127.
Palaver, Wolfgang. "Die Christliche Erlöösungslehre und ihre Antwort auf Gewalt und Krieg." In actio catholica 40/3 (1996): 31-42.
Santa Ana, Julio de. "ÜÜberlegungen zur opferideologischen Mimesis bei Träägern der modernen Gesellschaft." In Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. ÜÜbersetzt von Horst Goldstein, ed. Assmann, Hugo, 95-101. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 2. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Schwager, Raymund. "Sakralitäät und Totalitäät: Zur Problematik der Freiheit in der modernen Gesellschaft. In Ordnung und Freiheit: Ein interdisziplinääres Gesprääch, ed. Preglau, Max, Niedenzu, Heinz-Jüürgen and Melegy, Tamáás, 85-105. Verööffentlichungen der Universitäät 219. Innsbruck: Außßeninstitut der Universitäät, 1996.
Siegele-Wenschkewitz, Leonore. "Renéé Girards Süündenbock-Theorie als Anstoßß zur Entschlüüsselung von Süündenbock-Theologie." In Gott an den Räändern: Sozialgeschichtliche Perspektiven auf die Bibel. Willy Schrottroff zum 65. Geburtstag, ed. Bail, Ulrike und Jost, Renate, 152-164. Güütersloh: Kaiser, 1996.
Soares, Sebastiãão Armando Gameleira. "Umgang mit der Bibel im Afroindiolateinischen Amerika und die Anregungen Renéé Girards." In Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. ÜÜbersetzt von Horst Goldstein, ed. Assmann, Hugo, 213-219. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 2. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Abstracts of the COV&R -Conference in New Orleans, November 22 -23, 1996
Paul B. Duff (The George Washington University), "Whoever Is Not With Me Is Against Me": Witchcraft Accusations and the Revelation of John
Although there can be little doubt that the narrative world which the Book of Revelationdepicts is one in which the fledgling Christian church is cruelly abused by the powerful and evil Roman Empire, nevertheless, historical evidence does not support such a scenario of persecution. Consequently, academic discussions of the last ten years or so have focused on the question of whether or not any real crisis underlies Revelation. It strikes me that such discussions are unproductive, at best. It is hard to imagine that the Book of Revelation arose in an atmosphere devoid of conflict. The text demands otherwise. We should not be asking if there was a crisis behind the Book of Revelationbut rather, what kindof crisis spawned this work? Most scholarship has paid too little attention to the complexities of the social situation evidenced by the text. The fact that there are witchcraft accusations within the text (9:21;18:23; 22:8; 22:9) suggests the possibility that a mimetic crisis lies behind the Apocalypse.
The current study focuses on the witchcraft accusations found within the work. It concludes that the seer, while upholding the traditional Jewish view that sorcerers exist outside he community, subtly suggests that one of the insiders, his rival "Jezebel," looks an awful lot like an outsider. It is this confusion between insider and outsider that John exploits to malign his rival.
Consequently, John's polemic against Greco-Roman culture should not be taken at face value. Certainly, John has no love of pagan culture. But his strategy throughout the Apocalypse is not primarily aimed at condemning pagan culture in general or Rome specifically. Rather, he uses the apocalyptic tradition of the "evil empire" to convince the uncommitted majority in the churches that his rival is in league with the forces of evil which control the dominant, external culture.
Diana Culbertson (Kent State University), Reply to Paul Duff
The textual significance of "Jezebel" lies primarily in her character as a signifier for a larger religious conflict, namely the prophet vs. the pseudo prophet--or God's word vs. the rejection of God's word. Mimetic theory is a way into this problematic narrative, but the mimetic rivalry in the text goes far beyond domestic factionalism. Sorcerers dis-simulate because they secretly desire the authority that belongs only to God. The wicked of the earth, including the great city Babylon, are rivals for the power, wealth, and authority of the One who sits on the throne, the One who does not imitate, but who "makes all things new." The rivals of the Lamb will ultimately be defeated, but the faithful are not to engage in expulsive violence. John urges his audience to endure and promises only eschatological victory: an inclusive differentiated gathering of all races, tribes, and nations. John is not caught in the rivalry he denounces. He is not the mimetic rival of Jezebel. He sees her mimetic desire, labels it, and warns of the human catastrophes consequent upon the claim to a sovereignty that belongs only to God.
James G. Williams (Syracuse University), Reply to Paul Duff
1. Social and historical context
Although I find Paul Duff's study to be an interesting and
strong thesis about factionalism and the attempt to turn a
group of insiders, "Jezebel" and her followers, into outsiders
through associating them with Greco-Roman paganism, I am
troubled by the attempt to sever the book from specific
persecutions and other particular problems of the social and
historical context.
2. Apocalyptic and violence according to the mimetic theory
The NT Gospels have furthered the apocalyptic process of intensification of crisis, which from the apocalyptic viewpoint seems to call for judgment by means of good violence suppressing bad violence; yet the Gospels also call this process into question.
A. Jesus' ministry, death, and resurrection are placed, at least in great part, within the context of apocalyptic language and share a sense of crisis.
B. The exposure of the scapegoat mechanism in the Passion of Christ calls all forms of sacrifice of victims into question. Its inner logic undermines apocalyptic, in effect, in that the Passion witnesses to a God of love whose will could not be imposed through violence.
C. Yet the subverting of cultural scapegoat mechanism means
that cultural order--rituals, rules, distinctions, etc.--are
threatened. Christianity's impact could be viewed as
undermining old sacrificial orders, while at the same time new
forms of order in keeping with the Gospel ethos have not
succeeded in emerging. (And must this ethos be radically
eschatological?) In this light, the Revelation of John could be
read as an expression of the Gospel vision of history which
sees the dissolution of all forms of cultural order and all
kingdoms and cultures due to the disclosure of the scapegoat
mechanism (Rev. 1:7).
3. Concluding questions
Does the seer understand that the God of the Lamb, of the one who is pierced, does not impose violence? Is the real secret of the Apocalypse that the human desire leading to violence is subverted? Does the seer not only discern the apocalypse, but that it is what humans do to themselves? Is the final repayment according to everyone's work (Rev. 22:12) a mythological pronouncement stemming from an intuition of our true situation which is already demythologized in the visions? Or does John misunderstand judgment, and see it as Christ's violent division of the good from the evil?
Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan (Graduate Theological Union), What's Violence Got to Do With It?: Inflamers, and the Lizzie Borden's of Ancient Israel: Women Who Slay and/or Cause Wrongful Deaths
The biblical text has few stories about women. None engage mothers and daughters in meaningful, relational dialogue. Most often, the critical functions of biblical women concern their male offspring and securing land, position, or promise fulfillment. Some women face humiliation or death. An eminent exception to this biblical violence is the erotic love story of Song of Songs, where the woman speaks for herself, is not the temptress; the man is not the scapegoat. In addition, some biblical stories portray women who epitomize female engineered violence amid texts that mix power, love, religion, land, sex, and greed.
My paper explores women who instigate and/or commit murder amid mimetic desire, from ethical, womanist, psycho-social, theological, and legal perspectives. After qualifying the biblical co-conspirators (Deborah-Jael, Jezebel-Athaliah; Judith-and her maid; Herodias-Salome) and setting out their socio-historical and theological locus, I dialogically explore: (1) their sources of strength and power, and the impact of their sexuality; (2) the dynamics between the glorification of sanctioned violence, the cost of violence inspired by idolatry, mimetic activity and forms of rejection; and (3) views recent murders by women [e.g., Lizzie Borden, Susan Smith], in comparison with biblical women in the perspective of contemporary criminal courts.
In the Deborah-Jael story, the generative mechanism favors Yahweh. The Jezebel-Athaliah story results in much violence and numerous scapegoats. Both Judith's mimetic crises and Herodias-Salome's desires result in beheadings, amid complex sexual issues. All these stories relate violence and religion, a quest, many desires, and at least one man's death. The biblical text praises those on Yahweh's side and jettisons those against Yahweh. Sometimes the sacrifice interrupts the cycle of violence, but often, it protects the status quo and rechannels the violence.
Society tends to be surprised that women do violence, given the way we have merged certain personal qualities disproportionately into gender role identity. Women do kill: in the name of God, desire, passion, revenge, in self defense. Violence is no respecter of gender, class, race, time, or beauty. How dangerous it is to take lightly biblical texts dubbed the Word of God that requires humans to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.
Julie Shinnick (Texas University), Reply to Kirk-Duggan
Cheryl has surveyed stories of nine violent women, seven from Biblical texts and two from modern times, raising interesting questions concerning mimesis and gender.
Where women (traditional objects of mimetic desire) are protagonists, sexuality is emphasized. Recalling Girard's mention of the accusation during her trial that Marie Antoinette had committed incest with her son, I find it interesting that two of these women bear the taint of incest as victims, yet become perpetrators of violence. Is mimetic vengeance at work here?
Girard's concept of the progressive revelation of the scapegoat mechanism is evidenced in these narratives, particularly in the way that the Israelites do not seem to be enormously different from their neighbors with whom they contend for the possession of the land. Were these particular Old Testament texts written from the sole perspective of the winners of a conflict? And if not, where in these texts do we hear the spirit of truth?
Two particular passages stand out. Jezebel's last words--"Had Zimri peace who murdered his master?"--give us a momentary glimpse of Jezebel and her murderer, Jehu as doubles. And at the close of the Deborah narrative, Sisera's mother, looking out of a window, cries in anguish, "Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?" In these lines we can see her as a double of Deborah, the "mother" of the Israelites, and we can glimpse the truth about the scapegoat mechanism in the commonality of human mourning for the consequences of its effects.
William Mishler (University of Minnesota), The Tragic Instability of the Akedah (Binding of Isaac) in Ibsen's Brand
Of all his works, Henrik Ibsen's verse drama Brand (1865) is the one most directly concerned with the interplay among the Bible, Christianity, and secular culture; that is, it is the work in which he places the mechanism of mimetic violence most immediately in dialog with Biblical Christianity. Provoked by Germany's 1864 attack on Denmark and Norway's failure to come to Denmark's defense, Ibsen explores in Brand the inherent violence of human culture in terms similar to Renéé Girard's. He constructs his drama with an eye to revealing that violence on both the interpersonal and social level is inevitably generated by mimetic rivalry. The protagonist Brand is a Christian minister who sees it as his mission to spur everyone he encounters to feats of heroic self-sacrifice. These debates, with Hegelian prestige as their prize, unfold with frequent reference to both the Old and New Testament. More specifically, Brand makes reference interchangeably both to Jesus' substitutionary death and to the Akedah, Abraham's binding of his son Isaac preparatory to sacrificing him.
Whereas Renéé Girard sees the Akedah and the Crucifixion as texts which progressively reveal the mechanism of mimetic violence at work in human culture, Ibsen, reading not as a theologian but as an analyst of his contemporary culture, suggests that to the popular mind, at least, the death of Jesus stands as a kind of reversal of the Abraham/Isaac example. In this reading, God the Father requires the death of Jesus as substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of humans. Viewed in this light, the Akedah and the Crucifixion form a kind of tragic loop in Western culture, forever drawing it back toward scapegoating and sacrifice in periods of social stress. "Was God humane to Jesus Christ?" Brand cries as he prepares to sacrifice his own son. It is also, of course, with variants of this kind of sacrificial logic that Christian countries inevitably send their sons off to war--as Ibsen well understood as he examined his own subjective reaction to Germany's attack.
In my reading, then, the work of Renéé Girard serves not only as the hermeneutic of choice for Brand, it also helps to focus its underlying question in the sharpest of terms.
Reviews
Assmann, Hugo (ed), Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996. Pp. 310 (tr. of Renéé Girard com teóólogos da libertaççao. Um diáálogo sobre íídolos e sacrifíícios, 1991).
This second volume in the German BMT series, "Contributions to the Mimetic Theory", is a translation from the Portuguese of the proceedings of a conference in Sao Paulo in June 1990, at which Renéé Girard conversed with a number of liberation theologians. Very much a prime mover here is Hugo Assmann, who more than any other Latin American thinker has been influenced by the mimetic theory. His enthusiasm is evident in his own contributions: a commentary on the proceedings of the four-day conference and one of the papers attempting to establish the parameters for the dialogue.
In one intervention Leonardo Boff thanks Renéé Girard for his "great intellectual holiness"; he is in fact recording his gratitude that Girard is not yet another European (especially French) intellectual who has come to offer his grand theory, and that the hoped-for dialogue and convergence of interests between Girard's mimetic theory and the theology of liberation was in fact being fulfilled. One can almost hear sighs of relief; after all, Girard has explicity and repeatedly set himself against 'liberation' as a helpful paradigm because of its tendency to project all our ills onto an external and oppressive "other" who serves nicely as a scapegoat (usually he has Freudian theory in mind, but Marx also fits the bill). In one sense it is a pity that the conference took place only months after the fall of communism in the Eastern bloc, too early to take in the implications of the new world order. Girard grasps this nettle early on by asking the participants how their political stance is affected by these events, to be reassured by them that their critique is flexible enough to recognise that emancipation from communism in Central and Eastern Europe is indeed in many aspects a genuine grace.
And so the conference unfolds, with an apparently genuine warmth and sense of collaboration, and with little trace of jargon or polemic. Part One is concerned with establishing a context for the discussion: as the title ("Idols and Sacrifice") suggests, a strong convergence is discovered between the biblical critique of idolatry (a persistent theme in liberation theology) and 'sacrifice-ideology', though the differences between the two in terms of their epistemological starting points is made clear. The presentations in Part Two deal with particular themes: the socio-political discussions centre on the notion of the market as an idol and as a 'self-regulating' sacrificial system, but there are anthropological and biblical perspectives also on Wisdom literature (Gilberto Gorgulho), Christology (Luis Carlos Susin), the gospel of Matthew (Ely Cesar), and others, as well as a pastoral reflection on AIDS/HIV ministry (James Alison).
Part Three consists of highlights from the discussions, though readers of this review will be most interested in the several longer contributions from Girard himself, especially the autobiographical fragments: his family background (Catholic mother, anti-clerical father), his distance from the Church until the age of thirty-eight, a religious conversion that went strictly hand in hand with his intellectual one, his development of the mimetic theory. Interesting also, in the context of discussions about victimisation, his experience of discrimination as a student in Paris on account of his Midi accent, an experience which was only clarified for him when he observed the struggle of blacks in the United States. He rejoices in his 'Latin sensibility' for cameraderie and seems to be very much at home in this 'return' to a Latin context.
Renéé Girard welcomes especially the fact that the concern of liberationists to engage with reality leaves them untempted by the excessive preoccupation with texts which leads to deconstructive nihilism. For him, a resounding 'no' to sacrificial ideology (upon which the conference partipants are united) and a rejection of this extreme methodological strategy must go hand in hand. Early on, he offers a summary of the mimetic theory; later, in a longer contribution, he helps to establish the kind of context in which the mimetic theory contributes to a liberationist project. He is fully in agreement with the convergence between the notions of sacrificial ideology and idolatry, but speaks more broadly of the mimetic theory as contributing to a theory of salvation (it is interesting that earlier Girard speaks of Raymund Schwager as one of the very few thinkers not to have distorted his theory). He spells out some of the pastoral implications; the 'transparency' of the theory, which is such a handicap in intellectual circles which value complexity, becomes an advantage when ordinary people without academic formation can easily grasp what is being talked about. Finally, it is an instrument of demystification, more radical than those of Marx or psychoanalysis, though he recognises the possibility of a mimetic rivalry between these systems!
Girard acknowledges the deeply Christian commitment of his interlocutors, and is even able to empathise, from his own experience, with the tension between liberation theology and the official Church, which he attributes partly to media sensationalism, though he suggests there are mimetic elements in this conflict also. Interestingly, in his one fairly explicit criticism of liberation theology, he urges its practitioners to grow in respect and understanding towards popular forms of religious expression, and expresses his concern that it may have lost an 'external sign' of its witness.
But this translation is welcome not simply for the comments of Renéé Girard himself. To my knowledge it is the first sustained examination of the mimetic theory outside a North American or European academic context. Is this the tentative beginning of a continued dialogue? Some of the hardest questions being asked were about basic anthropological presuppositions: original sin and original grace, about the possible grounds for optimism concerning human transformation, and these are surely perennial issues. What is also evident, even from this tentative beginning, are the mutual advantages of such a dialogue, insofar as the mimetic theory seeks to be established on a wider basis than its present, 'first-world' foundation, and as the theology of liberation needs to find its way around the theoretical and practical impasses caused not least by the emergence of a more complex political and social world order.
Michael Kirwan S.J.
Renéé Girard, The Girard Reader. Edited by James G. Williams. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1996. Pp. 310.
Some criticism of mimetic theory results from the fact that many readers have only read one book of Girard or even less. After reading Violence and the Sacred, for example, such critics were tempted to associate Girard with reactionary thinkers like Joseph de Maistre or Carl Schmitt. He seemed to be in favor of bloody sacrifices. Others came across a passage on mimetic desire in one of his books or articles and quickly guessed that Girard views mimetic desire as something essentially negative and destructive. Some did not recognize Girard's development of his own theory. For many years, for example, Girard insisted on a negative view of sacrifice, which he linked exclusively with the scapegoat mechanism. Due to that strong position Girard was seen as a modern representative of theological liberalism. It was only in recent years that he slightly changed his position in this question. He is now much closer to the view of Raymund Schwager, who has always distinguished between different concepts of sacrifice and used this term also in a positive sense to describe Jesus' willingness to give himself to others and to commit himself to God.
James G. Williams' edition of the Girard Reader makes most of these problems a thing of the past. The Girard Reader gives a complete overview of Girard's mimetic theory without omitting any of the essential aspects and including recent developments. It presents Girard's work in six parts. The first part provides an overview of the mimetic theory by focusing on the relationship between mimesis, violence, and the Bible. It is followed by a careful selection of excerpts form articles and books in the second part that fills out Girard's view of mimetic desire. Special emphasis is laid on Girard's view of the intrinsic goodness of mimetic desire. Part three of the reader focusses on sacrifice. Girard's notion of the scapegoat and his view of myths as persecution texts is the main content of part four. The fifth part gives an overview of Girard's position on the Bible, which he considers as essential to uncover the scapegoat mechanism. This part also deals with Girard's concern with Satan and the question of Anti-Semitism in the Gospels. The sixth part provides selections on Girard's engagement with Freud and Nietzsche.
In addition to these selections from Girard's writings The Girard Reader also includes a biographical sketch of Girard and an extensive interview with him by Jim Williams which provides an overview of the whole theory. This interview addresses some questions that are not mentioned in the main collection of the Reader (the origin of kings and gods, feminist critics of mimetic theory). It is Girard's first English text in which he talks openly about his experience of Christian conversion in 1959. A helpful glossary explaining some of the key aspects of mimetic theory (culture, Dionysus, faith, mimesis, model, religion, sacrifice, Satan, scapegoat), a bibliography of Girard's works, and recent books by Girardian scholars conclude the book. For all those who are interested in Girard's mimetic theory this anthology provides a perfect introduction. Despite its condensed character the volume does not shorten the broad scope of mimetic theory at all.
Wolfgang Palaver
New Books
Assmann, Hugo (ed.). Göötzenbilder und Opfer: Renéé Girard im Gesprääch mit der Befreiungstheologie. ÜÜbersetzt von Horst Goldstein. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 2. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Girard, Renéé. The Girard Reader. Edited by James G. Williams. New York: A Crossroad Herder Book, 1996.
Girard, Renéé. Szekspir: Teatr zazdroci. Przeoya Barbara Mikoajewska (A Theater of Envy: William Shakespeare, Polish). Warszawa: Wydawnictwo KR, 1996.
Girard, Renéé. Resurrection from the Underground: Feodor Dostoevsky. Translated and Foreword by James G. Williams. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1997.
Girard, Renéé. ""Wenn all das beginnt ..."" Ein Gesprääch mit Michel Treguer. ÜÜbersetzt von Pascale Veldboer (""Quand ces choses commenceront ..."" Entretiens avec Michel Treguer, German). Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 5. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1997.
Kitzmüüller, Erich. Gewalteskalation oder neues Teilen. Edited by Herwig Büüchele and Severin Renoldner. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 3. Thaur/Austria: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur; Müünster/Germany: LIT Verlag, 1996.
Schwager, Raymund. Erbsüünde und
Heilsdrama: Im Kontext von Evolution, Gentechnologie und
Apokalyptik. Beiträäge zur mimetischen Theorie 4.
Müünster: LIT Verlag; Thaur: Druck- und Verlagshaus Thaur,
1997.
Future Meetings
Before AAR/SBL in San Francisco, November 21 (or Nov. 21 and 22), 1997. For one session Renéé Girard has agreed to share the basic argument of his book on Christianity and myth for the Ce que je crois series. Send any proposals for a second session to the Executive Secretary.
Paris (St. Déénis) in June, 1998: The annual conference of COV&R. Specific dates and theme to be announced.
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Film and Modernity:Violence, Sacrifice and Religion. The Annual Summer Meeting of COV&R in Graz (June 24 -27, 1197)
1. Film as an aesthetic and cultural project of modernity; Film and the specific violent dynamics of modernity
2. Violence, sacrificial structures and religion in contemporary film
a.) reflecting historical, political and ethnic conflicts in Southeastern Europe
b.) reflecting socio-psychological and existential problems reflecting the juridical system of society; example: capital punishment;
3. Various films of all quality-levels (commercial as well as artfilms) dealing with the general issue of the assembly in different workshops
The program in detail
MONDAY, JUNE 23
Advisory board - session from 10.30 a.m. onward;
Arrival between 1.00 and 6.00 pm at the "Bildungshaus Mariatrost"
(a shuttle service from the airport or trainstation can be provided)
6.30 pm Dinner
8.00 pm Screening of "Le regard de l'Ulisse"(Th.
Angelopoulos) and "Underground" (E. Kusturica) at Mariatrost.
TUESDAY, JUNE 24
09.00 am Welcome and general introduction by G. Larcher
09.30 am Gerhard Larcher, In Search of Historical Identity and Reconciliation: Art (esp.film) and History
10.45 am N.N.
12.30 am Lunch
2.30 pm Screening of "Le regard de l'Ulisse" and "Underground" (Schubertkino, Halls 1 and 2 respectively; downtown)
5.30 pm Panel and plenary discussion
7.00 pm Dinner (downtown)
9.00 pm Schubertkino: Screening of "Bad Lieutenant";
parallel: "King of New York" (both by A. Ferrara)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25
09.15 am Statements on A. Ferraras Films (with plenary discussion):
M.M. Roßß, Good Violence - an Essay on King of N.Y.
B. Murauer, Violence and the Sacred in A.Ferraras Films
T. Pace, N.N.
P. Hasenberg, Images of Christ in Ferrara's Films
12.30 am Lunch
3.00 pm Schubertkino: Screening of "Benny's Video" or "Funny Games" (M. Haneke) (Hall 1)
5.00 pm M. Haneke (director), Film-aesthetics and violence
5.45 pm Panel and Plenary discussion (statements of H. Meindl, Ch. Suppan)
6.30 pm Dinner (in town)
8.00 pm Schubertkino: Screening of "Dead Man Walking" (T.
Robbins) and "Das Jüüngste Gericht/ The Last Judgement" (Herz
Frank)
THURSDAY, JUNE 26
09.15 am E. Arens, Dead Man Walking. On cinematic treatment of publicly licensed killing
10.00 am B. Neurathner, C. Ginther, Statements on Herz Frank's "The Last Judgement"
11.30 am M. Verbeek, Dead Man Walking
12.30 am Lunch
Afternoon for free disposition
6.00 pm R. Girard (tentative),Violence and Sacrificial Structures in Film and Media Today
8.00 pm Reception by the City of Graz (downtown)
FRIDAY, JUNE 27
09.00 am Screening of "Pulp Fiction" (Qu.Tarantino) and "Natural Born Killers" (O. Stone) at Mariatrost
10.30 am A. Bartlett, The Party's Over (Almost): Terminal Celebration in Contemporary Film
10.45 am Jon F. Pahl, Aesthetics of Violence - Cinema and Sacrifice
11.45 am A. Duque, Modern Film and the Crisis of Human Values
12.30 am Lunch
2.00 pm Workshops in three parallel sessions (Mariatrost) with papers by Ch. Kirk-Duggan, D. Culbertson, T. Graham, L. Burckhardt, M. Kratter, J-J. Lepine, A. Faber a.o. on films of W. Friedkin, L. Malle, S. Kubrick, F. Lang, A. Tarkowsky, P. Jackson a.o. (details in the definitive program!)
4.00 pm Concluding plenary session
4.30 pm End of the meeting