Mimesis and Desire

The main assumption in Per Bjørnar Grande’s book Mimesis and Desire. An Analysis of the Religious Nature of Mimesis and Desire in the Work of René Girard is that religion is motivated by mimesis. Mimesis is the foundation of religion. It is also primary to violence and scapegoating, and engenders both phenomena. Thus mimesis is the tool by which the religious and anthropological themes may be explained. According to Grande religion does not begin with sacrifice, but with mimesis or imitation. If sacrifice is seen to be the origin of religion, religion will be limited to violence only. For Grande the fundamental core in Girard’s religious views is found in a mimetically based christology. As Girard's anthropology requires a christology, Grande concludes that mimetic theory is founded on religious belief. Interpreting the theory as starting with mimesis and ending in a mimesis of Christ, reveals that it is fundamentally religious and fundamentally mimetic. The analysis of mimesis and desire should be especially relevant for students and scholars in religion, theology and philosophy