Mimesis, Desire, and the Novel: René Girard and Literary Criticism ed. by Pierpaolo Antonello and Heather Webb

Abstract

Reviewed by: Mimesis, Desire, and the Novel: René Girard and Literary Criticism ed. by Pierpaolo Antonello and Heather Webb Ben P. Robertson (bio) Pierpaolo Antonello and Heather Webb, eds. Mimesis, Desire, and the Novel: René Girard and Literary Criticism. Michigan State University Press, 2015. ISBN: 978-1-61-186165-5, 358 pages, $29.95 (cloth). A few years ago, Michigan State University Press published Mimesis, Desire, and the Novel: René Girard and Literary Criticism, edited by Pierpaolo Antonello and Heather Webb, as part of the Studies in Violence, Mimesis, and Culture Series by William A. Johnsen. The volume represents the culmination of a series of four conferences held in 2011 to mark the fiftieth publication anniversary of René Girard's 1961 book, Mensonge romantique et vérité romanesque, translated as Deceit, Desire, and the Novel: Self and Others in Literary Structures by Yvonne Freccero in 1965. Published in 2015, the present volume also celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of Freccero's English translation, which coincidentally corresponded with the year of Girard's death. The collection includes eighteen densely written essays in two parts. The first five compose a section titled Theoretical Considerations, while the remaining thirteen form a section called Mimetic Hermeneutics in History. Additionally, in an appendix, the book reprints "Literature and Christianity: A Personal View" by Girard himself, and the book begins with a lengthy introduction that opens the book's attempt at a reassessment of Girard's mimetic theory. Although the editors assert that their introduction is not meant to "provide a summary or overview of Girard's theory," the introduction does, nevertheless, focus on some of the theory's main points, particularly the concepts of triangular desire and scapegoating (x). As a result, even readers who are unfamiliar with Girard's theory should find the introduction enlightening, perhaps as a starting point for more in-depth study after first reading Deceit, Desire, and the Novel. The introduction expertly weaves together a complex narrative that places this volume's essays in conversation with other major critical pronouncements on [End Page 166] mimetic theory, openly acknowledging some of the theory's limitations and suggesting important avenues for further analysis. With the section called Theoretical Considerations, the editors provide readers with a series of five essays that examine the workings of Girard's mimetic theory more closely. Maria DiBattista's "Jealousy and Novelistic Knowledge" explores the ramifications of novelistic jealousy as having a "preeminent and ultimately fateful place" in Girard's thinking that is not always negative (3). Relying on Girard's concept of triangular desire, she asserts that "[j]ealous desire activates a quest whose goal is not complete possession, but total knowledge of the beloved" (7). Furthermore, she points out in her concluding paragraphs that "jealousy may actually, surprisingly, and actively assist in the birth of the social instincts, in which the life of others becomes increasingly entwined with our sense of our own existence" (14). Following DiBattista's insightful analysis, Alessia Ricciardi's contribution, "Desiring Proust: Girard against Deleuze," suggests that readings of triangular desire in the works of Proust can be interpreted along "a continuum in which Gilles Deleuze and René Girard can be said to occupy opposite poles" (17). From Ricciardi's point of view, both critics' ideas can offer useful insights into Proust's novels, although Proust himself becomes the "winner of their imaginary contest" (34). In "Within and Beyond Mimetic Desire," Luca Di Blasi explores the ramifications of authentic versus mimetic desire in Girard's terms. In so doing, Di Blasi detects a sense of elitism in Girard's theoretical approach that represents a significant limitation in Girardian thought. The next contribution, "On Girard's Biblical Realism," by Karen S. Feldman, suggests that "René Girard's studies of scapegoating, ritual, and sacrifice claim that Judeo-Christian Scripture demystifies, or reveals to us fully, the violent foundations of human institutions and the centrality of victimage in our history, psychology, and social organization" (55). Feldman argues that Girard's point of view in terms of biblical interpretation is not as fully nuanced as it needs to be. Finally, in "Creative Renunciation: The Spiritual Heart of Deceit, Desire, and the Novel," Wolfgang Palaver examines Girard's...