Mimetic Theory Research Articles

Mimesis in Emily Dickinson’s Select Poems: A Mirror Through Realities

This paper aims to reveal the acceptance of life’s realities as expressed by the poet in her select poems through the lens of the mimetic theory of Rene Girard. Specifically, the mimetic significations are analyzed through each poem’s poetic vision. The literary study is a qualitative descriptive, it employs closed reading and content analysis methods to determine the poetic visions of the select poems: “Hope” is the thing with feathers,” “Because I could not stop for Death,” “If I can stop one heart from breaking,” and “I’m Nobody! Who Are You?” The analysis of poetic visions reveals that hope remains despite life’s struggles and difficulties; the acceptance of death is an eternity of living; compassion is a language of love, and fame brings complexity to life.

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

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...

Metamimesis in Harold Pinter’s Old Times

ABSTRACT This article examines Pinter’s Old Times (1971) to show how Pinter’s theatre, like his political thought, reveals the mimetic spell working on the audience of a play even when they are fully under its influence. A distinction between theatre as a strictly mimetic practice and theatre as a means to clarify the role mimesis plays in social life more generally—what I call metamimetic theatre—becomes crucial to understanding not just the political stance Pinter lays out in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, but the treatment of power in his artistic work as well. In fleshing out the concept of metamimesis as it operates within Old Times, I draw on the mimetic theory of René Girard and on recent Pinter scholarship to identify a set of attributes exemplifying Pinter’s metamimetic technique, including radical uncertainty with respect to character motivation, triangular power dynamics, and the use of characters embodying connective difference. The metamimetic aspect of Pinter’s work underscores its ongoing relevance to a contemporary world made dangerous by the intensifying mimetic competition of social media.

Consistency between black hole and mimetic gravity – Case of (2 + 1)-dimensional gravity

We show that the mimetic theory with the constraint gρσ∂ρϕ∂σϕ=1 cannot realize the black hole geometry with the horizon(s). To overcome such issue, we may change the mimetic constraint a little bit by ω(ϕ)gρσ∂ρϕ∂σϕ=−1, where ω(ϕ) is a function of the scalar field ϕ. As an example, we consider (2+1)-dimensional mimetic gravity with the mimetic potential and construct black hole (BH) solutions by using this modified constraint. We study three different classes: In the first class, we assume the Lagrange multiplier and mimetic potential are vanishing and obtain a BH solution that fully matches the BH of GR despite the non-triviality of the mimetic field which ensures the study presented in Nashed et al. (2019) [42]. In the second class, we obtain a BH having constant mimetic potential and a non-trivial form of the Lagrange multiplier. In the third class, we obtain a new BH solution with non-vanishing values of the mimetic field, the Lagrange multiplier, and the mimetic potential. In any case, the solutions correspond to the space-time with only one horizon but we show that the formalism for the constraint works.

Black holes with Lagrange multiplier and potentialin mimetic-like gravitational theory: multi-horizon black holes

In this paper, we consider the mimetic-like field equations coupled with the Lagrange multiplier and the potential to derive non-trivial spherically symmetric black hole (BH) solutions. We divided this study into three cases: in the first one, we choose the Lagrange multiplier and the potential to vanish and derive a BH solution that coincides with the BH of the Einstein general relativity despite the non-vanishing value of the mimetic-like scalar field. The first case is consistent with the previous studies in the literature where the mimetic theory coincides with GR [1]. In the second case, we derive a solution with a constant value of the potential and a dynamical value of the Lagrange multiplier. This solution has no horizon, and therefore, the obtained space-time does not correspond to the BH. In this solution, there appears a region of the Euclidian signature where the signature of the diagonal components of the metric is (+,+,+,+) or the region with two times where the signature is (+,+,-,-). Finally, we derive a BH solution with non-vanishing values of the Lagrange multiplier, potential, and mimetic-like scalar field. This BH shows a soft singularity compared with the Einstein BH solution. The relevant physics of the third case is discussed by showing their behavior of the metric potential at infinity, calculating their energy conditions, and studying their thermodynamical quantities. We give a brief discussion on how our third case can generate a BH with three horizons as in the de Sitter-Reissner-Nordström black hole space-time, where the largest horizon is the cosmological one and two correspond to the outer and inner horizons of the BH. Even in the third case, the region of the Euclidian signature or the region with two times appears. We give a condition that such unphysical region(s) is hidden inside the black hole horizon and the existence of the region(s) becomes less unphysical. We also study the thermodynamics of the multi-horizon BH and consider the extremal case, where the radii of two horizons coincide with each other. We observe that the Hawking temperature and the heat capacity vanish in the extremal limit. Finally, we would like to stress the fact that in spite that the field equations we use have no cosmological constant, our BH solutions of the second and third case behave asymptotically as AdS/dS.

Consideration of Typical Features of Mimetic Theory Based on Aristotle’s Poetica

본 논문의 목표는 아리스토텔레스의 시학 에 근거한 모방론의 전형을 검토해보기 위한 것이다. 시학 에서의모방 개념은 모방체와 모방 대상 간의 관계를 표현하는 구조적 원리를 설명하고 있음은 이미 알고 있는 사실이다. 하지만 필자는 기존의 연구들에 논의되는 모방론을 좀 더 전형적 의미로 재검토하기 위해 플라톤과 아리스토텔레스가 주장하는 모방 개념의 해석을 빌어 이들의 주장이 어떻게 다른지 모색하였다. 모방의 적용 부분에서는 무대공간 위에서 삶의 형태와 인간 내면의 중요한 의미를 가장 잘 구현하고 있다는 소포클레스의 ‘테바이 3부작’을 살펴보았다. 그 결과, 시학 에서 제시하는 모방의 의미는 연극에서 지향하는 목표를 이루기에 가장 적합한 극적 성과의 구조 안에서 무대와 현실 사이의 복잡한 관계를 응축하고 체계화하는 연극 기술의 토대를 제공하고 있다. 아울러 연극에서의 모방은 개별적인 것을 재현하는 것이 아니라, 보편적인 진리를 새롭게 구현하는 것을 목표로삼는 창작의 중요성을 강조하고 있다. 아리스토텔레스가 시학 에서 제시한 모방론의 전형은 극 사건들의 행동이나 갈등을 단순하게 극화시키는 모방이 아니라, 인간 내면의 정신세계를 재현, 표현, 창작의 관점으로 이해시키고있음을 재확인하였다.

Sacred precincts in the Neolithic of the Near East?

The interpretations of unusual or special archaeological contexts in the Near Eastern Neolithic that might suggest the appearance of the first forms of religious belief in early sedentary communities have commonly been associated with magic practices or other concepts related to ritual performance or symbolism. The present work proposes alternative perspectives that focus on the term “sacred” as outlined by three renowned anthropologists: Girard, Durkheim and Eliade. This paper also discusses interpretative views on the development of symbolic and ritual forms in early Holocene societies in the Near East. It is argued that the sacred in the Neolithic is an externally manifested prosocial reality that is gradually adopted via mimetic practices. A number of Neolithic archaeological examples will be presented and analysed in light of mimetic theory and other key anthropological concepts. 

Birth ofHomo Mimeticus: Nietzsche, Genealogy, Communication

This article develops a genealogical account of the birth of homo mimeticus – out of mimetic communication. While genealogy tends to be suspicious of stable origins, a key advocate of the genealogical method such as Friedrich Nietzsche was deeply interested in diagnosing the evolution of non-verbal forms of ‘communication’ that, in his view, gave birth to language, consciousness, and culture. For the Nietzschean mimetic theory this article proposes, mimesis is thus not simply an image far removed from reality but an all too human, embodied, and relational form of communication that makes Homo sapiens an eminently social species. I argue that Nietzsche’s genealogy of the origins of language (out of mimetic reflexes) opens up a timely alternative to both the Scylla of (post)structuralist accounts of arbitrary linguistic signs and the Charybdis of speculative hypotheses on founding sacrificial murders. In the process, it may also pave the way for recent re-discoveries of the role mimesis played in the birth of that thoroughly original species we call, homo mimeticus.

What's in it for the observer? Mimetic aspects of learning through observation in simulation-based learning in teacher education

The aim of this exploratory case study was to gain insight into the overlooked learning experience of simulation “observers,” through the lens of the mimetic learning theory. Fifty-nine inservice teachers attended five, 4-h-long simulation workshops. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews (15), a focus group, and participants' reflections (59), and underwent content and linguistic analysis. Four themes denoting mimetic learning emerged: multimodal sensory observation; adopting multiple perspectives; balanced emotional involvement; and cognitive critical thinking. The study highlights the affordances of simulation-based observation experiences in teacher education. This is especially relevant considering the COVID-19 lockdown, when opportunities for peer observation are limited.

Co-occurrence patterns between false coral snake Atractus latifrons (Günther, 1868) (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) and venomous coral snakes from the Amazon.

Batesian mimicry may result in remarkable cases of phenotypic convergence that represent classic examples of evolution through natural selection. The existence of mimicry systems among coral snakes, however, remains controversial because of contradictions between the predictions of mimetic theory and the empirical patterns of co-occurrence and species abundance. Here, we analyze the geographic distribution of coral snake species of the genus Micrurus and populations of the false coral snake Atractus latifrons in Amazonia, and perform ecological niche modeling (ENM) analyzes to generate potential geographic distributions of species of Micrurus and A. latifrons, identify patterns of co-occurrence and assess whether the distribution of A. latifrons coincides with the distribution of Micrurus species, which could suggest the existence of a possible mimetic relationship between the species. We identified six Micrurus species that may represent mimetic models for A. latifrons. The results of the co-occurrence analysis corroborates the results from ENM, indicating that chromatic patterns of A. latifrons and their respective model species are aggregated. Our study suggests that all color patterns of A. latifrons - including the tricolor monads, and the more common tricolor dyads and tricolor tetrads - may benefit from the resemblance with other Micrurus species as perfect and imperfect mimics.

Morning Conferences: From Dialogue to the Sacrificial Rite and the Formation of Scapegoats

In order to achieve the objectives of transparency and accountability, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has offered a press conference every morning since he took office. This situation seemed to be a transcendental change in the field of democratic dynamics and political communication in Mexico; however, not merely a means of communication, these conferences have instead become a method of government. Using postulates of Mimetic Theory, this essay analyzes AMLO’s conferences, showing how this daily practice has become propaganda for the regime.

RETRACTED: A critical review on the mimetic theory of René Girard: Politics, religion, and violence

AbstractThis paper aims to introduce the mimetic theory of René Girard to explore the connection between culture and religious violence to deal with some critical problems in international affairs. It challenges the narrow conceptualization of the issue of religion and violence as an issue of religious violence. As often as the issue of religion and violence is structured in such a manner, allegedly to pick religion seriously without considering politics or culture seriously. The conception is limited because, as an idea, religion is always contested, negotiated, and developed socially, culturally, or politically. It is a biased interpretation of a world actuality, which under certain conditions grounds violence. Furthermore, this narrow definition of religion suits what critical scholars describe as a problem‐solving strategy to theory. This study demonstrates mimetic theory challenges and reconfigures the conventional interpretation of the issue of religious violence and critically analyse the causes of the hidden, exposed violence as well as the scapegoat mechanism that functions in both domestic cultures as well as in international affairs, maintaining political and cultural order of any society.

Towards liberating the Eucharist in the West: An experiment in chastened defamiliarization

ABSTRACT Contemporary Western Pentecostal conceptions of the Eucharist have all too often been ‘domesticated’ and stripped of the historical, social dimensions that are more commonly evident among Eastern European traditions. However, are contemporary Western Pentecostals justified in taking such approaches given the socioreligious dimensions of Greco-Roman banqueting traditions, which provide us with the historical-cultural context for understanding the Eucharist? While remaining sensitive to Pentecostal approaches to engaging with biblical and cultural hermeneutics, this paper draws on social-scientific approaches (particularly Wendy Griswold's ‘Cultural Diamond' sociology of culture model and René Girard’s mimetic theory as the defamiliarizing tool) to highlight and elucidate the nexus between the Eucharist’s religious and social domains. The aim is to signal the significance of such a comprehensive view to Western Pentecostal cultural engagement.

Gandhi’s Militant Nonviolence in the Light of Girard’s Mimetic Anthropology

Nuclear rivalry, as well as terrorism and the war against terror, exemplify the dangerous escalation of violence that is threatening our world. Gandhi’s militant nonviolence offers a possible alternative that avoids a complacent indifference toward injustice as well as the imitation of violence that leads to its escalation. The French-American cultural anthropologist René Girard discovered mimetic rivalries as one of the main roots of human conflicts, and also highlighted the contagious nature of violence. This article shows that Gandhi shares these basic insights of Girard’s anthropology, which increases the plausibility of his plea for nonviolence. Reading Gandhi with Girard also complements Girard’s mimetic theory by offering an active practice of nonviolence as a response to violent threats, and by broadening the scope of its religious outreach. Gandhi’s reading of the Sermon on Mount not only renounces violence and retaliation like Girard but also underlines the need to actively break with evil. Both Gandhi and Girard also address the religious preconditions of nonviolent action by underlining the need to prefer godly over worldly pursuits, and to overcome the fear of death by God’s grace. This congruence shows that Girard’s anthropology is valid beyond its usual affinity with Judaism and Christianity.

Dysfunctional american dream reflected in arthur miller’s death of a salesman

The research aims to find the dysfunctional American Dreams; the causes of dysfunctional American Dreams and the effects of dysfunctional American Dreams experienced by the main character, Willy Lowman, as a representation of American society.This paper is examined by applying descriptive qualitative research paradigm which is naturally interpretative. Thus, the key instrument is the researcher herself who has the authority in managing and analyzing the data, and certainly producing meaning in the process of discussion and interpretations. Moreover, to facilitate her in collecting and identifying the data, she used supporting instrument in the form of table. This study, theoretically, applied the mimetic theory as the research approach.The researcher found that Arthur Miller uses the character of Willy Loman to represent the failure of the American Dream. Willy’s quest for the American Dream leads to his failure because throughout his life he pursues the illusion of the American Dream and not the reality of it. The unachievable part of Willy’s view of the American Dream is perfection. He has subordinated by the capitalism in which Willy belongs to the proletariat where his dream is a utopia. 
 HIGHLIGHTS:
 
 The character of Willy Lowman represented the failure of American Dream because throughout his life he pursues the illusion of American Dream.
 Some misperceptions of American Dream have made Willy living in utopia and committing a suicide.
 The study represented that not all Americans or immigrants have the same perception of the American Dreams and not all of them can reach the dreams

The Geo-politics of Mimicry

The rise of global terrorism or nationalist populism in our world of today are worrying developments in our world of today and raise questions about how to live together in a global world or how identity and universalism should be related to each other. Pankaj Mishra’s book Age of Anger offers important insights into the deeper roots of the current crisis. He partly engages with René Girard’s mimetic theory to explain why envy and resentment increasingly are causing anger all over the world. Also, a new take on religious traditions is emphasized in his call for a new enlightenment.

How Friendship Works in Higher Education: Inclusive Friendship, Mimetic Theory, and the Liberal Arts

If, as the social sciences argue, knowledge is socially constructed, friendship is the traditional way of talking about relationships that construct knowledge well. An analysis of the value of friendship through mimetic theory, in dialogue with the social sciences and with literary examples drawn from Dante, Tolkien, and Rowling, argues that institutions of higher education should emphasize the development of capacities for friendship through the shared pursuit of the liberal arts.

Anisotropic Compact Stars in the Mimetic Gravitational Theory

Abstract In this paper, we consider the mimetic gravitational theory to derive a novel category of anisotropic star models. To end and to put the resulting differential equations into a closed system, the form of the metric potential g rr as used by Tolman is assumed, as well as a linear form of the equation of state. The resulting energy momentum components, energy density, and radial and tangential pressures contain five constants: three of these are determined through the junction condition, matching the interior with the exterior Schwarzschild solution; the fourth is constrained by the vanishing of the radial pressure on the boundary; and the fifth is constrained by a real compact star. The physical acceptability of our model is tested using the data of the pulsar 4U 1820–30. The stability of this model is evaluated using the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff equation and the adiabatic index, and it is shown to be stable. Finally, our model is challenged with other compact stars, demonstrating that it is consistent with those stars.

AMERICAN PREJUDICE IN JAMES DASHNER’S MAZE RUNNER; THE DEATH CURE

Abstract This research discusses American Prejudice portrayed in a novel entitled The Maze Runner; The Death Cure. The novel talks about the rebellion which destroys the power of an organization called “wicked”. The writer is interested in picking up the novel as the subject of the research because this novel shows a rebellion against a non-government organization. This research uses a sociological approach to analyze how prejudice occurs in society. The writer uses the concept of the nature of prejudice by Gordon W. Allport. In this study, the writer used the mimetic theory that related to the condition and reality that happened in literary works. In doing this research the writer applied qualitative and descriptive methods to explain and deliver the data of this research. The writer finally found that the effect of prejudice is a conflict and it ends in regret.

Compunction and Conversion in Henry James's "The Altar of the Dead"

In "The Altar of the Dead" (1895), the compunction of Henry James's hero, George Stransom, is a grace of conversion (in Girardian terms, of "novelistic conversion") with real-life consequences for James himself, a writer then still locked in an obsessive, mimetic relationship with Oscar Wilde (1854−1900), his chief authorial rival. The ever ambivalent relationship between James and Wilde has been noted and traced in many of their respective writings, but "The Altar of the Dead" has been neglected in this regard, due to the uncanny tale's putative memorial connection to James's friend, the writer Constance Fenimore Woolson (1840–1894). Taken alone, however, that connection cannot account for elements in the tale that surprised James himself, ranging outside of his narrative control. Composed in the autumn of 1894 and published in 1895, the year of James's public humiliation as a playwright and of Wilde's imprisonment, the tale marks a definite turning point both in James's authorial career and in his personal relationships. Interpreted within the biographical context of its composition, James's tale of fraternal strife, jealousy, and religious cult exemplifies key elements in René Girard's mimetic theory. Through its evocation of the ancient doctrine of compunction, "The Altar of the Dead" also helps to fill a lacuna in Girard's work, which under-theorizes the work of grace. Unlike James's other ghostly stories, "The Altar of the Dead" remembers a moral miracle and a saintly intervention from beyond the grave amid a mimetic crisis that was more than fictional for Henry James.