Mimesis and Theory

Mimesis and Theorybrings together twenty of Rene Girard's uncollected essays on literature and literary theory, which, along with his classic,Deceit, Desire, and the Novel, have left an indelible mark on the field of literary studies. Spanning over fifty years of critical production, this anthology offers unique insights into the origin, development, and expansion of Girard's mimetic theorya groundbreaking account of human interaction and the genesis of cultural forms. Arranged chronologically in order of publication, the essays run the gamut of Western literary culture, from Racine and Shakespeare to the existentialist writings of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. The authors that have most influenced GirardStendhal, Proust, and Dostoevskyreceive extended treatment. In addition, Girard's observations on the changing landscape of literary studies are chronicled in several essays devoted to psychoanalysis, formalism, structuralism, and post-structuralism. Though at times overshadowed by his work in religious and cultural anthropology, Girard's work in the area of literary studies has been the wellspring of his thought. All of the essays contained in this volume develop the idea that the greatest authors are also the greatest students of human nature, that their intuitions are often more penetrating than those of the philosophers or the social scientists. Thus Girard does not offer us a theory of literature but literature as theory.

René Girard is the Andrew B. Hammond Professor Emeritus of French Civilization at Stanford University and a member of the Académie française. He is the author of over fifteen books, including Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World (Stanford, 1987), and Oedipus Unbound: Selected Writings on Rivalry and Desire (Stanford, 2004). Robert Doran is Assistant Professor of French at Middlebury College.