7 - On the uses and abuses of Rene Girard I: From Mimesis to the Fountainhead

On the uses and abuses of Rene Girard: From Mimesis to the Fountainhead

Before we go on, we need to clear some things up concerning an author we love here at KATP, Rene Girard. We love Girard here and many of the concepts we use are rooted in Girard’s writings especially I See Satan Fall Like Lightning. 

However it has become obvious that many prevailing interpretations of Girard are clearly out of line with the gospels and its new paradigm regarding power. Key are three concepts in Girard: mimesis, the scapegoat and unveiling. The goal here is to view Girard through the lens of power taught by Jesus in the Gospels without any ulterior motive.

Mimesis in Girard, is the imitation of others. The process creates desire, specifically mimetic desire. This mimetic desire is what drives much of human action, it is what shapes our societies. It is the child wanting another’s toy, it is keeping up with the Joneses, it is what creates consumerism. What is important here is to understand that there is a cycle of mimetic desire that all individuals are involved in. The whole mimetic system is cast in a negative light in Girard. The driving force behind it is even termed as Satan. Yet what of imitation of Christ…?

Rene Girard was not a philosopher or theologian. He was a sociologist. He did not directly address many of the issues that he has been subsequently used for. Despite expressing an admiration of Michel Foucault, Girard does not directly address power or even directly consider it in his writing. Yet power lurks in the background of all his writings. However, unfortunately his views are often being used in a manner in which they serve the powerful instead of protecting the powerless. 

Instead the focus is on the mimesis portion of Girard without buffering it with consideration of power relationships between subjects. The stated goal is to break out of the mimetic cycle and become a true innovator. 

However, who does this innovation benefit and what is the end goal? Is it directed inward for personal gain or is it directed outward for the benefit of others in need? If the innovative power serves to enrich an individual or increase their power then it does not align with the gospels. For at that point the power is turned inward and anything outside of that individual becomes an objective instrument for self. This innovator is so focused on innovation for the sake of breaking the mimetic cycle of the common masses, that it is transformed into the elevation of self over others. We now have a situation similar to Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead, where the innovative ubermensch is  suppressed by the powers that be who are demanding conformity.  Yet we must consider, is imitation of another an evil? Does all mimesis come from Satan?

Even before Thomas a Kempis, the christian life had been described as the imitation of Christ. If your mimetic desire is altruism, if your mimetic model is Jesus, is Satan driving your mimesis? A true imitation of Christ discards relationships based on power.  True imitation of Christ is extremely powerful, but equally altruistic. This does not seem to align with the anti-mimetic interpretation of Girard that deifies innovation. That interpretation of Girard instead stands over and against altruism, it stands against the imitation of Jesus. It is using Girard to arrive at Ayn Rand.  The truth is that arguing for innovation is actually a bad faith argument. These innovators in no way want the mimetic cycle discarded because they depend on it to sell goods and services. Instead, they want to be the origin of that mimetic desire so they can sell it to the hoi poloi who don't have the genius or resources to do the same. It weaponizes Girard into setting their own elite ‘innovative’ oligarchy into the beneficiary of imitation.