The scapegoat

The scapegoat

by Girard, René

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Widely regarded as one of the most profound critics of our time, René Girard has pursued a powerful line of inquiry across the fields of the humanities and the social sciences. His theories, which the French press has termed "l'hypothèse girardienne," have sparked interdisciplinary, even international, controversy. In The Scapegoat, Girard applies his approach to "texts of persecution," documents that recount phenomena of collective violence from the standpoint of the persecutor -- documents su…

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Title Statements

  • Full title :The scapegoat / René Girard ; translated by Yvonne Freccero.

Summary

Widely regarded as one of the most profound critics of our time, René Girard has pursued a powerful line of inquiry across the fields of the humanities and the social sciences. His theories, which the French press has termed "l'hypothèse girardienne," have sparked interdisciplinary, even international, controversy. In The Scapegoat, Girard applies his approach to "texts of persecution," documents that recount phenomena of collective violence from the standpoint of the persecutor -- documents such as the medieval poet Guillaume de Machaut's Judgement of the King of Navarre, which blames the Jews for the Black Death and describes their mass murder. Girard compares persecution texts with myths, most notably with the myth of Oedipus, and finds strikingly similar themes and structures. Could myths regularly conceal texts of persecution? Girard's answers lies in a study of the Christian Passion, which represents the same central event, the same collective violence, found in all mythology, but which is read from the point of view of the innocent victim. The Passion text provides the model interpretation that has enabled Western culture to demystify its own violence -- a demystification Girard now extends to mythology. Underlying Girard's daring textual hypothesis is a powerful theory of history and culture. Christ's rejection of all guilt breaks the mythic cycle of violence and the sacred. The scapegoat becomes the Lamb of God; "the foolish genesis of blood-stained idols and the false gods of superstition, politics, and ideologies" are revealed.

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Edition Statements

  • Publication Date:1989.

Publication Statements

Notes

Translation of: Le bouc émissaire.

The Physical Object

  • Description:216 pages ; : 23 cm

Edition Identifiers

  • ISBN:0801833159, 9780801833151, 0801839173, 9780801839177
  • oclc:ocn862149692
  • LC Classification:BT736.15
  • Dewey Decimal:261.8/3315

Table of Contents

Guillaume de Machaut and the Jews -- Stereotypes of persecution -- What is a myth? -- Violence and magic -- Teotihuacan -- Ases, Curetes, and Titans -- The crimes of the gods -- The science of myths -- The key words of the Gospel Passion -- That only one man should die -- The beheading of Saint John the Baptist -- Peter's denial -- The demons of Gerasa -- Satan divided against himself -- History and the Paraclete.

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Subjects

Bouc émissaire Jesus Christ Passion of Jesus Christ Persecution Persécutions Scapegoat Violence -- Aspect religieux Violence -- Religious aspects

Writers

Girard, René

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