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Violence and the Sacred

by
René Girard (Author)
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René Girard (Author), Patrick Gregory (Translator)
4.6 out of 5 stars 11 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0801822186
ISBN-10: 0801822181
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The Underground Railroad
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"The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead is a magnificent tour de force chronicling a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. See more
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The latest book club pick from Oprah
"The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead is a magnificent novel chronicling a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. See more

Product Details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press (January 1, 1979)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0801822181
  • ISBN-13: 978-0801822186
  • Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 0.8 x 9.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #310,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsThis book will change your head!
By Daniel M. Hobbs on February 16, 2005
Format: Paperback
Violence and religion have gone hand in hand as far back as we have records, from Dionysian revels and ancient human sacrifice to contemporary fundamentalisms that would destroy entire nations or races to preserve some particular version of Truth. In "Violence and the Sacred," Rene Girard attempts nothing less than to expose the entire history of this alliance.

It is impossible to give an adequate summary of this comprehensive and closely reasoned book. But briefly, Girard argues that - pre-historically - it was precisely acts of communal violence and the resulting shock and collective repression that resulted from these acts that generated our very sense of the sacred. And our continuing violence, in all its forms, is a history of attempts to re-experience transcendence.

(A word of caution: Early on, those with religious convictions may be tempted to conclude that Girard is reducing religion to a form of collective guilt. **He is not.** Girard is a Christian, and has progressed from literary criticism to critical theory to active efforts to promote methods of constructive, peaceful conflict resolution.)

In fleshing out this theory, Girard leans heavily on his insights into the mimetic and violent nature of desire (see his earlier "Deceit, Desire, and the Novel"), and he links mimetic desire, our tendency to marginalize and scapegoat those who are "different," our tendency toward violence, and our experience of ultimate otherness (the sacred).Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsThe Foundational Text on Religion and Violence - General Overview
By Andrew Lumpkin on September 25, 2005
Format: Paperback
By focusing primarily on Greek tragedy, "primitive" religions, and psychoanalysis, Rene Girard attempts to show the inextricable link between violence and the sacred. Mimetic desire, the scapegoat mechanism, and sacrifice produce a system in which unrestrained violence can be controlled. Through the sacralization of these elements, religion becomes a way for the community to maintain internal peace and harmony and prevent the recurrence of reciprocal violence.

Because violence is self-propagating, if uncontrolled, it will overflow and flood the community. Against tradition, Girard holds that sacrifice is not meant to appease a deity. Rather, it is a means to restore harmony within a community, by protecting the community from its own violence. Without sacrifice, violence does not have an outlet and would devastate the whole community. The only way to rid the system of violence is to deflect it onto a sacrificial victim. The sacrificial victim must resemble, yet remain different from, the community, and the victim must lack a champion: the community can strike down the victim without fear of reprisal. Because violence is seen as impure and religion is concerned with ritual impurity, the sacrificial victim must be considered pure of the contagion of violence. The function of ritual then is to purify violence.

The first link to impure violence is the sacrificial crisis. The sacrificial crisis occurs when both cathartic rites and the difference between purity and impurity disappear. The sacrificial crisis can then be defined as the dissolution of natural differences or distinctions, which effects cultural disorder. Social values, order, and peace erode leaving fertile ground for reciprocal and unrestrained violence.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsA stunning defense of cultural order against violence.
By A Customer on August 4, 1999
Format: Paperback
Those who read contemporary French criticism will understand where Kristeva and others culled their best insights. Girard shows how violence both generates and destroys cultural order. Religious attempts to curtail violence, and modern secularists remain more ignorant than ever of the "virus" of violence, which they displace onto the secondary realm of sexuality. Girard is most brilliant when revealing how myths occlude persecution, scapegoating, and surrogate victimization. Essential reading for feminists as Girard indirectly reveals that women (via Freud) have become the surrogate victims du jour of man's power to evade confronation with his own violence.
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4.0 out of 5 starsGreat ideas, but not for the average reader
By Jeremy Myers - Writing at RedeemingGod on March 13, 2014
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Unless you are a sociologist or philosopher, you probably don’t want to read this book. Relying heavily on cultic myths and practices of various religions, Girard attempts to explain why violence is at the center of all societies and religions, and why, in fact, violence gave birth to religion.

He ultimately argues that there was an original act of violence which ultimately led to the possibility of the destruction of all people in the community, and so to avoid the ever-increasing cycles of violence, the community selected a ritual victim (a human or an animal) that would both carry the guilt of the community as well as the violent tendencies into death, thus satisfying the demands for revenge and the blood lust that comes with it.

He argues that much (all?) of our violence comes from a desire to imitate or have what belongs to another, and this desire leads to a violent action by which we seek to obtain the belongings or knowledge of the other being.

There is much more that Girard argues, but I do not recommend it for the average reader. His method of argumentation is laborious and while a discerning reader will benefit much from what Girard writes, the amount of work it takes to find these insights makes this book hardly worth the effort. Though I have not read them yet, I expect that “Things Hidden from the Foundation of the World” and “The Scapegoat” will prove to be more reader-friendly.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsTo be recommended

Really great book. Seminal work by an important thinker. Will probably write more about it later, after I've read more by Girard.

Published 20 months ago by JAN EDWARD GARRETT
5.0 out of 5 starsexceptional

as expected :-D
Written in the best french tradition - nothing is left out bud just written precisely as it should be

Published on May 18, 2014 by Mogens Ove Madsen
5.0 out of 5 starsRitual Sacrifice Condoned, Condemned, and Codified!

Author Rene Girard's groundbreaking text on ritual sacrifice and violence is nothing short of extraordinary. Read more

Published on January 16, 2007 by Guerrilla Reader
5.0 out of 5 starsA challenging theory of sacrifice

In this book, Rene Girard tries to propound a new theory of sacrifice, religion, myth, tragedy, incest, and taboo. Read more

Published on February 4, 2006 by Vinay Varma
3.0 out of 5 starsGirard is wrong about sacrifice

When I first read Girard's book, I was impressed with his analysis of violence in relation to religion. I admit that his concept of mimesis is fascinating. Read more

Published on October 6, 2005 by Jack D. Eller
5.0 out of 5 starsNo One but Girard

No one but Rene Girard could touch upon the deepest human drive and emotion as Girard does. This work is possibly his greatest thus far and is certainly destined to be a classic. Read more

Published on March 3, 2002 by John D. Cater
5.0 out of 5 starslucid and insightful -- an enlightening read

This book was an unexpected pleasure. Mythology and cultural anthropology have always been of interest to me, but Girard's scintillating and illuminating ideas, in my opinion,... Read more

Published on June 29, 1998 by Yousif-carlson@worldnet.att.net

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