Books written by René Girard

Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World

Presenting an original global theory of culture, Girard explores the social function of violence and the mechanism of the social scapegoat.
Mimesis and Theory: Essays on Literature and Criticism, 1953-2005

Mimesis and Theory brings together twenty previously uncollected essays on literature and literary theory by one of the most important thinkers of the past thirty years.
Violent Origins: Walter Burkert, René Girard, and Jonathan Z. Smith on Ritual Killing and Cultural Formation

Meuli's most original and permanent contribution was to draw attention to the Siberian hunters ' ritual . " The hunt itself is a pragmatic activity ; ritual stereotypes , rather , concern the framework , the beginning and the ending ...
A Theatre of Envy: William Shakespeare

In this groundbreaking work a foremost literary and cultural critic turns to the major figure in English literature William Shakespeare and proposes a dramatic new way of reading and performing his works.
Violence and the Sacred

"His fascinating and ambitious book provides a fully developed theory of violence as the 'heart and secret soul' of the sacred. Girard's fertile, combative mind links myth to prophetic writing, primitive religions to classical tragedy.
Resurrection from the Underground: Feodor Dostoevsky

Brilliantly translated, this book is a testament to Girard’s remarkable engagement with Dostoevsky’s work, through which he discusses numerous aspects of the human condition, including desire, which Girard argues is “triangular” or ...
Resurrection from the Underground: Feodor Dostoevsky

Brilliantly translated, this book is a testament to Girard’s remarkable engagement with Dostoevsky’s work, through which he discusses numerous aspects of the human condition, including desire, which Girard argues is “triangular” or ...
Battling to the End: Conversations with Benoit Chantre

In Battling to the End René Girard engages Carl von Clausewitz (1780–1831), the Prussian military theoretician who wrote On War.
Violence and the Sacred

René Girard (1923-) was Professor of French Language, Literature and Civilization at Stanford Unviersity from 1981 until his retirement in 1995. Violence and the Sacred is Girard's brilliant study of human evil.
The Scapegoat

"[Girard's] methods of extrapolating to find cultural history behind myths, and of reading hidden verification through silence, are worthy enrichments of the critic's arsenal." -- John Yoder, Religion and Literature.
Job, the Victim of His People

What do we know about the Book of Job?
The Girard Reader

Rene Girard, the author of groundbreaking scholarly books such as Violence and the Sacred and Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, has long been an intellectual cause celebre...
Conversations with René Girard: Prophet of Envy

This is the first collection of interviews with Girard, one that brings together discussions on Cervantes, Dostoevsky, and Proust alongside the causes of conflict and violence and the role of imitation in human behavior.
Sacrifice

In Sacrifice, René Girard interrogates the Brahmanas of Vedic India, exploring coincidences with mimetic theory that are too numerous and striking to be accidental. Even that which appears to be...
To Double Business Bound: Essays on Literature, Mimesis and Anthropology

They, in turn, serve as starting points for a breathtakingly daring and encompassing theory of the origins of human culture. In an era of interdisciplinary studies, this volume stands alone."--"Choice.
The One by Whom Scandal Comes

In this landmark text, Girard continues his study of violence in light of geopolitical competition, focusing on the roots and outcomes of violence across societies latent in the process of globalization.
The Scapegoat

The Passion text provides the model interpretation that has enabled Western culture to demystify its own violence—a demystification Girard now extends to mythology.
I See Satan Fall Like Lightning

" Girard persuades us that even as our world grows increasingly violent the power of the Christ-event is so great that the evils of scapegoating and sacrifice are being defeated even now.
Evolution and Conversion: Dialogues on the Origins of Culture

Presented as a series of conversations, Evolution and Conversion is a thorough discussion of the major tenets of Girard's thought. René Girard is one of the most brilliant and striking intellectuals of the 20th century.
When These Things Begin: Conversations with Michel Treguer

In this lively series of conversations with writer Michel Treguer, René Girard revisits the major concepts of mimetic theory and explores science, democracy, and the nature of God and freedom.