Abstract
Rivalry and domination have perennially prompted conflict, on scales ranging from interpersonal to global. The field of mimetic theory identifies desire as a key factor in conflict, basing its conclusions on the work of Rene Girard, whose Deceit, Desire and the Novel: Self and Other in Literary Structure was also his first burst of theorizing about how desire and imitation shape human hearts and societies. He concludes that a renunciation of pride and reorientation of one’s search for the transcendent is a key to freedom from triangular desire. This paper surveys Girard’s analysis of desire in Deceit, Desire and the Novel, emphasizing desire’s mimetic and spiritual qualities. Second, it reviews Girard’s claims about the release from that desire, exploring his descriptions of “vertical transcendence” and novelistic conversions. It concludes by suggesting vulnerability as a necessary condition for liberation from mimetic entrapment, exegeting Jesus’s vulnerability in the Gospels and drawing on the field of vulnerability ethics for insight into the relational awareness needed for spiritual freedom.
Presenters
Margaret FeliceStudent, PhD in Theology and Education, Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, Massachusetts, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality
KEYWORDS
Mimesis, Girard, Desire, Vulnerability, Transcendence, Christianity
