This course will investigate Rene Girard’s mimetic theory and its relevance to the internet age. Concrete examples of this relevance abound, with Peter Thiel having claimed that Girardian thought motivated his initial investment in Facebook. Through Girard’s mimetic theory, we will explore whether individuals know what they desire or if they obtain their desires through mimesis (imitation). For Girard, imitation is central to society's functioning and tends to escalate to sacrificial violence. The objective of this course is to apply Girardian theory to our current predicament and to assess whether it allows us the opportunity to reverse our algorithmic thought processes, and additionally to beg the ontological question of what distinguishes our material biological form from our digital avatars: collections of data that exist in the virtual (immaterial) plane.
Lecture 1: Mimetic Theory
Introductory lecture on Girard’s mimetic theory and what the theory draws from myths, religious practices and literature.
Readings:
- Girard, René. 1977. Violence and the Sacred. Translated by Patrick Gregory. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
- Girard, René, Jean-Michel Oughourlian, and Guy Lefort. 1987. Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World. Translated by Stephen Bann and Michael Metteer. London: Continuum.
Lecture 2: Mimetic Desire
This lecture will more deeply explore Girard’s notion of mimetic desire. Here the focus will be on his understanding of mimesis. We will look at how Girard asserts a triune composition of mimetic desire between subject, model and object.
Readings:
- Girard, René, Jean-Michel Oughourlian, and Guy Lefort. 1987. Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World. Translated by Stephen Bann and Michael Metteer. London: Continuum.
- Girard, René. 1977. Violence and the Sacred. Translated by Patrick Gregory. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Lecture 3: The Scape Goat Mechanism
This lecture will investigate Girard’s “scapegoat mechanism”, and ask whether it is central to the functioning of every group. For Girard, ritualistic violence of this mechanism is an inevitable end to the tension produced by Mimetic Desire.
Readings:
- Girard, René, and Yvonne Freccero. 1986. The Scapegoat. London: Athlone Press.
- Girard, René, Jean-Michel Oughourlian, and Guy Lefort. 1987. Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World. Translated by Stephen Bann and Michael Metteer. London: Continuum.
Lecture 4: Imatio Christi
This lecture will explore Girard’s theological solution and his critique of modernity concerning the Christian message through his proposition of a ‘contrasting’ culture.
Readings:
- Girard, René, Jean-Michel Oughourlian, and Guy Lefort. 1987. Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World. Translated by Stephen Bann and Michael Metteer. London: Continuum.
- Girard, René. 1977. Violence and the Sacred. Translated by Patrick Gregory. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Lecture 5: Girard’s eschatology
The final lecture will focus on Girard’s reading of our current time as apocalyptic, and to a Girardian understanding of apocalypse.
Readings:
- Girard, René, Jean-Michel Oughourlian, and Guy Lefort. 1987. Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World. Translated by Stephen Bann and Michael Metteer. London: Continuum.
- Girard, René. 2004. I See Satan Fall Like Lightning. Translated by James G. Williams. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books; Ottawa: Novalis.