Mimesis, Desire, and the Novel: Rene Girard and Literary Criticism (Studies in Violence, Mimesis & Culture)

Fifty Years After Its Publication In English, René Girard’s Deceit, Desire, And The Novel (1965) Has Never Ceased To Fascinate, Challenge, Inspire, And Sometimes Irritate, Literary Scholars. It Has Become One Of The Great Classics Of Literary Criticism, And The Notion Of Triangular Desire Is Now Part Of The Theoretical Parlance Among Critics And Students. It Also Represents The Genetic Starting Point For What Has Become One Of The Most Encompassing, Challenging, And Far-reaching Theories Conceived In The Humanities In The Last Century: Mimetic Theory. This Book Provides A Forum For New Generations Of Scholars And Critics To Reassess, Challenge, And Expand The Theoretical And Hermeneutical Reach Of Key Issues Brought Forward By Girard’s Book, Including Literary Knowledge, Realism And Representation, Imitation And The Anxiety Of Influence, Metaphysical Desire, Deviated Transcendence, Literature And Religious Experience, Individualism And Modernity, And Death And Resurrection. It Also Provides A More Extensive And Detailed Historical Understanding Of The Representation Of Desire, Imitation, And Rivalry Within European And World Literature, From Dante To Proust And From Dickens To Jonathan Littell. --publisher. Jealousy And Novelistic Knowledge / Maria Dibattista -- Desiring Proust: Girard Against Deleuze / Alessia Ricciardi -- Within And Beyond Mimetic Desire / Luca Di Blasi -- On Girard's Biblical Realism / Karen S. Feldman -- Creative Renunciation: The Spiritual Heart Of Deceit, Desire, And The Novel / Wolfgang Palaver -- The Desire To Be You: The Discourse Of Praise For The Roman Emperor / Marco Formisano -- René Girard (medieval) Sanctity: A Reappraisal / Bill Burgwinkle -- Dubbiosi Disiri: Mimetic Processing In Dante's Comedy / Manuele Gragnolati And Heather Webb -- For A Comparative Topography Of Desire: Mimetic Theory And The World Map / Rosa Mucignat -- Nobody's Fault: Dickens, René Girard, And The Novel / David Quint -- Let Us Carve Him As A Feast Fit For The Gods: Girard And Unjust Execution In Nineteenth-century Narrative / Jan-melissa Schramm -- Dostoyevsky's Metaphysical Theater: The Underground Man And The Masochist In Deceit, Desire, And The Novel And Resurrection From The Underground / Yue Zhuo -- Deceit, Desire, Violence, And Death In The Short Stories Of Georges Bernanos / Brian Studlow -- Mimetic Desire In The Otherworldly Narratives / Laura Wittman -- Desire, Deceit, And Defeat In The Works Of Roberto Arlt / Jobst Welge -- Recantation Without Conversation: Desire, Mimesis, And The Paradox Of Engagement In Pier Paolo Pasolini's Petrolio / Christoph F.e. Holzhey -- Jonathan Franzen's Novelistic Conversion / Trevor Cribben Merrill / Mimetic Desire And Monstrous Doubles In Jonathan Littell's The Kindly Ones / Robert Buch -- Appendix: Literature And Christianity: A Personal View / René Girard. Edited By Pierpaolo Antonello And Heather Webb. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Introduction 10 Part One. Theoretical Considerations 56 Jealousy and Novelistic Knowledge - Maria DiBattista 58 Desiring Proust: Girard against Deleuze - Alessia Ricciardi 72 Within and Beyond Mimetic Desire - Luca Di Blasi 94 On Girard’s Biblical Realism - Karen S. Feldman 110 Creative Renunciation: The Spiritual Heart of Deceit, Desire, and the Novel - Wolfgang Palaver 124 Part Two. Mimetic Hermeneutics in History 134 The Desire to Be You: The Discourse of Praise for the Roman Emperor - Marco Formisano 136 René Girard and (Medieval) Sanctity: A Reappraisal - Bill Burgwinkle 156 Dubbiosi Disiri: Mimetic Processes in Dante’s Comedy - Manuele Gragnolati and Heather Webb 168 For a Comparative Topography of Desire: Mimetic Theory and the World Map - Rosa Mucignat 188 Nobody’s Fault: Dickens, René Girard, and the Novel -David Quint 202 “Let Us Carve Him as a Feast Fit for the Gods”: Girard and Unjust Execution in Nineteenth-Century Narrative - Jan-Melissa Schramm 216 Dostoyevsky’s Metaphysical Theater: The Underground Man and the Masochist in Deceit, Desire, and the Novel and Resurrection from the Underground - Yue Zhuo 230 Deceit, Desire, Violence, and Death in the Short Stories of Georges Bernanos - Brian Sudlow 244 Mimetic Desire in Otherworldly Narratives - Laura Wittman 260 Desire, Deceit, and Defeat in the Work of Roberto Arlt - Jobst Welge 274 Recantation without Conversion: Desire, Mimesis, and the Paradox of Engagement in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Petrolio - Christoph F. E. Holzhey 288 Jonathan Franzen’s Novelistic Conversion - Trevor Cribben Merrill 308 Mimetic Desire and Monstrous Doubles in Jonathan Littell’s The Kindly Ones - Robert Buch 320 Appendix. Literature and Christianity: A Personal View - René Girard 334 Contributors 346 Index 352 Provides a forum to reassess the theoretical and hermeneutical reach of key issues brought forward by Girard’s book, Deceit, Desire, and the Novel, including literary knowledge, realism and representation, imitation and the anxiety of influence, metaphysical desire, deviated transcendence, literature and religious experience, individualism and modernity, and death and resurrection.