What is imitative desire?

The mimetic theory of desire is an explanation of human behavior and culture which originated with the French historian and polymath René Girard. We desire what others desire because we imitate their desires.”

What is the Girardian theory?

René Girard (1923-2015) is recognized worldwide for his theory of human behavior and human culture. By reading the great writers against the grain of conventional wisdom, Girard realized that people don’t fight over their differences. They fight because they are the same, and they want the same things.

What is mimetic contagion?

In mimetic theory, mimetic contagion refers to the rapid and spontaneous spread of mimetic desires through a society. Mimetic desire leads to mimetic rivalry, which leads to scandal, increasing levels of violence, then scapegoating, and later rationalization.

What does Rene Girard mean by the scapegoat mechanism?

According to Girard, the primary means for avoiding total escalation came through what he calls the scapegoat mechanism, in which conflict is resolved by uniting against an arbitrary other who is excluded and blamed for all the chaos.

How is Girard’s concept of mimesis different from imitation?

More than any other animal, humans learn through imitation. Girard shows what happens when imitation extends to the realm of desire. Mimetic desire leads pell-mell to rivalry. “Two desires converging on the same object are bound to clash,” Girard writes.

Who founded scapegoat theory?

One of the most important theorists or scapegoating in recent times is the late René Girard, literary scholar, and anthropologist, and he identified what he called “stereotypes of persecution.” But to understand these, you kind of have to understand how he thought the scapegoat served a social function.

What is victim mechanism?

By virtue of the scapegoat mechanism, divisions in the community are reduced to but one division: the division of all against one common victim or minority group. People perform scapegoating, but are not aware of what they are doing, or why.

Why are scapegoats chosen?

How Scapegoats Are Chosen. There is no rhyme or reason for how parents or caregivers decide to scapegoat a child. Factors as arbitrary as birth order, gender, looks, or intellect may influence an adult to scapegoat a child.

What is a mimetic approach?

1. Mimetic Mimetic approach views the literary work as an imitation, or reflection, or representation of the world and human life, and the primary criterion applied to a work is the “truth” of its representation to the subject matter that it represents.

What does Girard mean?

The name Girard is derived from the Germanic personal name Gerhard, which means “brave spear”.

When is mediation said to be external to the subject?

Mediation is said to be external when the distance between subject and mediator is so great that never the twain shall meet. This is the case of Don Quixote and Amadis, or Emma Bovary and the fashionable Parisian circles she dreams of. Here, the derivative nature of desire is clearly acknowledged.

When does the mediator of Desire appear to his imitator?

In such cases, the model/mediator of desire first appears to his/her imitator as an obstacle/rival. (If the mimetic model doesn’t occupy the same “playing field” then there is no common object and thus no conflictual rivalry.

Is the mimetic theory of Desire based on observable?

The theory is based on the observable tendency of human beings to subconsciously imitate others and the extension of this mimesis to the realm of desire. The consequences are staggeringly profound. (My Plato interpretation draws heavily on Girard’s insight into the mimetic origins of desire.)

How is the masochist related to the mediator?

The masochist desires the obstacle which signals the divine presence of the mediator. In the same way, the Proustian snob puts up purely abstract barriers between himself and an object that is so ineffable it barely exists at all.