The Cycle of Violence and Feminist Constructions of Selfhood

Abstract

V is the heart and secret soul of the (Girard 1977, 31). Rene Girard reaches this shocking conclusion by tracing the dynamics of the generation of violence in history, and the ingenious ways in which humanity has learned to funnel violence into ritual sacrifice to avoid apocalypse. His argument pivots upon his understanding of humanity as inherently flawed, as fated to conflict in the struggle to survive. the sacred mechanism of ritual sacrifice is not deployed, violence takes on a power and personality all its own: If left unappeased, violence will accumulate until it overflows its confines and floods the surrounding area. The role of sacrifice is to stem this rising tide . . . and redirect violence into 'proper' channels (10). Girard's theory about the violent origins of the sacred institutions of ritual sacrifice, law, and myth highlights perhaps the chief paradox of religion: it has been used to promote as much as to oppose violence. Today, as feminists explore how women in particular have been the objects of such violence, they too have turned to Girard to understand this paradox, and yet most have ended up criticizing Girard for falsely universalizing typically Eurocentric and androcentric conceptions of humanity, violence, and religion (Shea, Kirk-Duggan, Nowak 24-6). While they may be right on certain points, it is also possible that the rush of feminist scholars to charge