Mimesis and Scapegoating…
Rene Girard
- Was born in France
- Phd in History
- Published influential esays on Albert Camus, and Marcel Proust
Scapegoating
- When one character wants something, the other character will want it
- Antagonis which creates similarities between 2 characters
- Blurrs the line between good and evil
- Throws off balanceof story
- Balance returns when protagonist is turned into a scapegoat
- human kind, not god, has a problem with violence
- Jesus was a scapegoat
Mimesis
- Girard developed a new wayof speakin about literary text
- There are psychological laws which are consequences of fundamentalities- reality grasps reality
- We borrow our desires from othres
- Our desire is provoked by the desire of another person
- “All desire is the desire to be”
* It is not the object that we want/desire – it is, for example, the social stutaus which is related to the object that we desire- For example, we might associate being successful with having a nice car…
* Drama queens – are “in love” with th idea of being in love, not in love with the person with which they claim to be…
* Bin Laden – the U-S’s scapegoat after 911
