Itemize Books During The Scapegoat
| Original Title: | Le bouc émissaire |
| ISBN: | 0801839173 (ISBN13: 9780801839177) |
| Edition Language: | English |
René Girard
Paperback | Pages: 216 pages Rating: 4.18 | 522 Users | 42 Reviews
Present Appertaining To Books The Scapegoat
| Title | : | The Scapegoat |
| Author | : | René Girard |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 216 pages |
| Published | : | August 1st 1989 by Johns Hopkins University Press (first published 1982) |
| Categories | : | Philosophy. Nonfiction. Religion. Theology. Psychology. Anthropology. Sociology |
Commentary Conducive To Books The Scapegoat
Widely regarded as one of the most profound critics of our time, René Girard has pursued a powerful line of inquiry across the fields of the humanities and the social sciences. His theories, which the French press has termed "l'hypothèse girardienne," have sparked interdisciplinary, even international, controversy. In The Scapegoat, Girard applies his approach to "texts of persecution," documents that recount phenomena of collective violence from the standpoint of the persecutor--documents such as the medieval poet Guillaume de Machaut's Judgement of the King of Navarre, which blames the Jews for the Black Death and describes their mass murder.Girard compares persecution texts with myths, most notably with the myth of Oedipus, and finds strikingly similar themes and structures. Could myths regularly conceal texts of persecution? Girard's answers lies in a study of the Christian Passion, which represents the same central event, the same collective violence, found in all mythology, but which is read from the point of view of the innocent victim. The Passion text provides the model interpretation that has enabled Western culture to demystify its own violence--a demystification Girard now extends to mythology.
Underlying Girard's daring textual hypothesis is a powerful theory of history and culture. Christ's rejection of all guilt breaks the mythic cycle of violence and the sacred. The scapegoat becomes the Lamb of God; "the foolish genesis of blood-stained idols and the false gods of superstition, politics, and ideologies" are revealed.
Rating Appertaining To Books The Scapegoat
Ratings: 4.18 From 522 Users | 42 ReviewsWrite-Up Appertaining To Books The Scapegoat
One for the 'just read a recap and/or explanation' bin.In "The Scapegoat" René Girard develops his theories around mimetic desire and the scapegoat mechanism: humans copy from each other their desires, this develops into violence and to cope with that there comes a scapegoat found by the group (thank you internet). In the book, he develops and connects those ideas to different myths and religious writings, relating ideas and human behavior to stories (or histories), in particular centeringI did most of my phd work on Kenneth Burke. When someone recommended I read Girard, I soon realized that he was a disciple of Burke, and perhaps especially of Burke's key dictum about humanity, summed in his famous (well, at least among Burke fans) poem, namely that Here are the steps In the Iron Law of History That welds Order and Sacrifice: Order leads to Guilt (for who can keep commandments!) Guilt needs Redemption (for who would not be cleansed!) Redemption needs Redeemer (which is to say, a
Book that has most changed my worldview in the past year.
Loved Rebecca and especially My Cousin Rachel, so I figured I would like The Scapegoat as well. If you can step away from the absolutely ridiculous premise of the story--a man's doppelganger takes his place within his dysfunctional family--then you will enjoy this tale as did I. My logical self kept saying " This could not happen; surely SOMEONE would have to figure out the ruse." But purely on an enjoyment level, it was a good read. DuMaurier knows how to write and that is what kept me going.
5 stars for his ideas, 3 for his writing style (Maybe some of the problem was due to difficulties in translation.) I recommend listening to this series of interviews with Girard first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8Y8d...
Stunning insight into the Gospels, but reading it is like trying to wade through glue with shackles on.
Girard has changed my thinking forever.
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