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The Scapegoat Paperback – August 1, 1989
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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 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.
- Print length232 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherJohns Hopkins University Press
- Publication dateAugust 1, 1989
- Dimensions6 x 0.75 x 9.25 inches
- ISBN-109780801839177
- ISBN-13978-0801839177
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Product details
- ASIN : 0801839173
- Publisher : Johns Hopkins University Press (August 1, 1989)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 232 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780801839177
- ISBN-13 : 978-0801839177
- Item Weight : 12.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.75 x 9.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #130,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #64 in Christian Theological Anthropology
- #323 in Literary Criticism & Theory
- #2,560 in Sociology (Books)
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Customers find the book thought-provoking and insightful. They say it provides new meaning to familiar truths in literary studies, philosophy, anthropology, and religious studies. Readers describe it as an interesting read that is worth their time and attention. While some find it better than Girard's earlier works, others find it difficult to read.
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Customers find the book thought-provoking and insightful. It provides new meaning to familiar truths in literary studies, philosophy, anthropology, and religious studies. The blend of philosophical and anthropological inquiry is brilliant and leaves readers wiser. Readers mention it changes their theology and views on violence, religion, and mythology.
"This book is phenominal. I could not put it down. As someone who has read the Bible over each year for the past 25 years, I thought I knew it well...." Read more
"...Girard's mixture of philosophical and anthropological inquiry is brilliant!..." Read more
"...This is a must read for historians, anthropologist, theologians, and any lay person who wants to better understand Christianity's importance to the..." Read more
"Wonderful book. Please read and think deeply about what it conveys. It is worth your time and attention and will leave you more wise." Read more
Customers find the book interesting and worth their time. They say it's better than Girard's earlier books, though still difficult to read. The book is comprehensive and thorough.
"...go over and over each sentence to get what he meant, but it was worth the effort...." Read more
"This is a powerful book that gets at the core of violence in our society...." Read more
"...This is very interesting and his interpretation is worth the read; however, I resent his saying that the Gospel writers weren't smart enough to..." Read more
"Wonderful book. Please read and think deeply about what it conveys. It is worth your time and attention and will leave you more wise." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2018This book is phenominal. I could not put it down. As someone who has read the Bible over each year for the past 25 years, I thought I knew it well. Author 'Rene Girard dug deep into especially the Gospels and explained why they are unique. I had to go over and over each sentence to get what he meant, but it was worth the effort. By the end of the book I had a new appreciation for the Christian faith and the way the Gospels have influenced Western civilation even without prople realizing it. I liked best the way he brought new meaning to old familiar truths. I liked least having to keep a dictionary ready at hand to look up words I wasn't familiar with. I wish he had included a Definitions chapter. This is a book I will return to over again for many years to come.
Lois Petty
- Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2014This is a powerful book that gets at the core of violence in our society. There are many whacking at the branches of evil, but few chopping at the root. This book, The Scapegoat, penetrates the depths of systemic violence as it has existed for generations. Girard's mixture of philosophical and anthropological inquiry is brilliant! -Amos Smith (author of Healing The Divide: Recovering Christianity's Mystic Roots)
- Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2013This is an interesting work and the first Girard book I've read. I am more familiar with Kenneth Burke's scapegoating mechanism.
All the reviews thus far have been spot on but fail to mention the extremism Girard will go to prove his theory of scapegoating, as an answer to every, and I mean every, human interaction. Girard believes that all myths once taken to their original states show the murderous nature of man. This nature is because of mimesis. One person has an object and the other person wants to object; therefore, imitation is displayed which leads to rivalry and this leads to rallying a group against one individual hence making that person a scapegoat. I'm fine with this model but Girard states in "The Scapegoat" that his premise is obvious in all myths especially works where there is no mimesis or scapegoat explicitly present. The fact that these two things are missing proves that they are present. Sorry, I can't buy that. His premise when applied to all interactions leads to a complete lack of cooperation, and yet, we know that many people do cooperate and I would even suggest that during the most horrendous times, random acts violence and natural disasters, people cooperate even more than normal, but during natural disasters when one person has more than the other, these would be the model times for scapegoating. I don't see that happening. Girard does in my opinion hit the nail on the head with mob mentality and how one intention and lack of critical thinking can cause scapegoating.
Girard's theory of what the New Testament says is very interesting; Christ died to change myths. Christ shows that scapegoating is wrong and those that get into heaven are the Advocates for those who would be scapegoated. This is very interesting and his interpretation is worth the read; however, I resent his saying that the Gospel writers weren't smart enough to understand what they were writing. I resent people implying that the people who came before us were stupid. Sorry just my opinion but I think our ancestors were smarter than we give them credit for. I view it as a ploy to make ourselves feel smarter than we are.
Girard also just glances over the untold violence Christianity has caused in the world which isn't equitable.
I am very familiar with mythology and Latin American studies. Girard is wrong about the Aztec God, Nanauatzin. Nanauatzin volunteered, self-sacrifice. His hesitation was because he was and had been ignored because he was disabled. Making disabled people unsure of themselves and their place in the world is not new. Proof of Nanauatzin's greater Godhood is that the disabled were revered in Aztec societies because the disabled were God-like. Nanauatzin also becomes the sun which is The most important element in the sky and world.
I also don't believe he explains some things well enough. I'm wondering if his theory would collapse with too much discussion on some points. I also don't like his constant bashing of other points of view. Really? this isn't professional.
I would also suggest Kenneth Burke's scapegoating mechanism.
Overall this is a very interesting read and well worth the time. I wouldn't apply this to a "messy Muslim world" or "persecuted Jewish world". The conflicts of the world are much more complicated than that and it belittles the inhabitants who are occupied or who bomb others. But it does make simplistic scapegoats perhaps proving Girard's point that mob mentality doesn't think.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2012In the Scapegoat, Girard further expounds on his thesis developed in Violence and the Sacred that religion, culture, and violence are inextricably linked. In the Scapegoat Girard demonstrates how underlying all myths are stories of persecution and collective violence. We were not able to unlock these texts until recently because we have successfully learned to interpret historic persecution texts, deciphering truth from lie. When the same structural analysis is used to looks at myths, as is used to interpret historic persecutions texts, we come across a startling revelation. Taken further, Girard shows how collective persecution and what he called the mimetic theory of desire are related to Christianity and the ground shattering event - Jesus' death and resurrection. This is a must read for historians, anthropologist, theologians, and any lay person who wants to better understand Christianity's importance to the world.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2019Wonderful book. Please read and think deeply about what it conveys. It is worth your time and attention and will leave you more wise.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2020Excellent book. Really excellent book. I cannot get over how great it was. Really great. Really. A superior specimen. Indeed.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2014Great concept not will written
- Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2016Cerebral and provocative. One of those rare books that give shape and dimension to the human tendency to herd and become convinced of wrong but politically appealing answers to life's puzzles.
Top reviews from other countries
- MindhackReviewed in Canada on January 13, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars The viral infection of imitative violence and it’s cure
Let’s be honest as Heraclitus said, ‘War is father of all, and king of all. He renders some gods, others men; he makes some slaves, others free.’ One doesn’t have to peruse the history books too in-depth to see that our race is infected with violence and the spilling of blood to an almost insatiable degree. War and human sacrifice go deep into the mists of antiquity. Within the contingent substructure of society chaos threatens at every moment to disrupt the fragile harmony . Long have we projected hardships and disorder with the ‘guilty ‘ outsider whether they be racial, physical or malformation or simply one that doesn’t conform to societal norms and used them as a scapegoat for our collective unease . Even when criminal this person is often used as a buffer and expiation for the sins of the crowd as a means of comparison and self justification. As in the story of the women committing adultery in the Gospel of John where the Christ turns their accusations back towards them . The beauty of Rene Girard’s book the Scapegoat is in his concept of ancestorial and tribal violence perpetuated from parents to children down the centuries in an imitative concept called memesis . He looks at the Gospel stories as putting an end to this cycle with the story of the innocent victim of Jesus who puts an end to this by forgiving his enemies and imploring his followers to do the same . Stripping away the false excuses we make for the perpetuation of violence Jesus shows us the way to the Kingdom of Heaven spread out among us in the form of many seeds. Waiting to be nourished in love and truth . Great book .
- Client d'AmazonReviewed in the United Kingdom on July 10, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect, anything to say.
Hello,
The book is the item I purchased. No damage.
Best wish.
- QuadraticReviewed in Canada on April 8, 2019
4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting way of viewing the gospel.
I'm not a good enough theologian to assess whether there's heresy in this book (as limiting the gospel to an anthropological lesson would seem to be in that territory), but if nothing else it is a very interesting interpretation of the Bible, and the mechanism it investigates (the scapegoat mechanism) is an understanding that may be helpful to us even now, in understanding "mob rule" and what leads to the bad forms of collectivist thought.
- Ben WilkinsonReviewed in Canada on November 10, 2016
2.0 out of 5 stars Two Stars
Less interesting than expected