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espatricia's review
5.0
Gran ensayo antropológico sobre los fundamentos de las comunidades humanas y cómo desde la violencia se funda lo sagrado (y con ello el orden cultural). Me ha parecido muy acertada la critica a Freud.
gentle_garbage_baby's review
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
It was quite repetitive and in my opinion pretty boring. I thought there was going to be more biblical analysis as it stated in the blurb that there would be, but apart from a few quotes in the conclusion the book was mainly based around Greek myth (specifically Dionysus), Sigmund Freud, and the Oedipus Complex. There are a few sections on other communities/societies which was interesting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Incest, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Animal death
ralowe's review
2.0
on the question of competing structuralisms, your mileage may vary solely contingent upon whether you think his notions operate absent the colonial misogyny and racism. rene girard is very reassured of the uber-comprehensiveness of his system compared to freud, his rival oedipal brother dead meat. other than that this is something to help prop up the argument on the essential violence of the social. if the system of valuation is violent then certainly the sacred is also. this text works well with agamben, it's just super boring to read. I don' t know if it's the translation or the original prose. I wanted to climb out of my face.
windwhispers7's review
3.0
This is a fascinating combination of anthropology and literary theory. I'm skeptical of the broad claims of the analysis, but it at least provokes some interesting thought processes about atonement.
zoracious's review
4.0
In a highly innovative book that studies the mechanisms and structures behind violence, Girard's Violence and the Sacred presents his unique insights into violence in literature and society.
From the bible to Oedipus Rex to various indigenous tribes throughout the world, Girard attempts to cover all bases in his arguments. He finds interesting psychological sources for the various sacrifices of humankind, talks of the victim and the scapegoat, and analyzes the way humans fight, block, and stop violence. His ideas, while they may be quite offensive or at the least controversial to some, definitely present new perspectives on why humans give in to primal instincts.
Girard discusses, in complicated and yet fairly understandable terms, common literary elements of sacrifice, plagues, dealing with crisis, and generative and reciprocal violence. Another interesting topic Girard analyzes in his novel is that of desire. In presenting the idea that human desire is mimetic and external, he eventually comes to the conclusion that desire invariably becomes violent.
The tried and tried again theory behind the title character of Oedipus Rex gets a revamping in Girard's second chapter with the suggestion that Oedipus, rather than being led into fate, himself took the deliberate steps to end up where he was. Every aspect of Oedipus, as well as many other stories and novels, can be analyzed under Girard's theory with the result of a highly different perspective.
Other literary analyses are of great interest, including the idea of the "monstrous double" in literature, the literary elements of mirroring and repetition, and the historical significance of twins in society. Girard's novel gives a new and large perspective not only on literature, but on society.
From the bible to Oedipus Rex to various indigenous tribes throughout the world, Girard attempts to cover all bases in his arguments. He finds interesting psychological sources for the various sacrifices of humankind, talks of the victim and the scapegoat, and analyzes the way humans fight, block, and stop violence. His ideas, while they may be quite offensive or at the least controversial to some, definitely present new perspectives on why humans give in to primal instincts.
Girard discusses, in complicated and yet fairly understandable terms, common literary elements of sacrifice, plagues, dealing with crisis, and generative and reciprocal violence. Another interesting topic Girard analyzes in his novel is that of desire. In presenting the idea that human desire is mimetic and external, he eventually comes to the conclusion that desire invariably becomes violent.
The tried and tried again theory behind the title character of Oedipus Rex gets a revamping in Girard's second chapter with the suggestion that Oedipus, rather than being led into fate, himself took the deliberate steps to end up where he was. Every aspect of Oedipus, as well as many other stories and novels, can be analyzed under Girard's theory with the result of a highly different perspective.
Other literary analyses are of great interest, including the idea of the "monstrous double" in literature, the literary elements of mirroring and repetition, and the historical significance of twins in society. Girard's novel gives a new and large perspective not only on literature, but on society.