René Girard and Secular Modernity

Scott Cowdell

Description

In René Girard and Secular Modernity: Christ, Culture, and Crisis, Scott Cowdell provides the first systematic interpretation of René Girard’s controversial approach to secular modernity. Cowdell identifies the scope, development, and implications of Girard’s thought, the centrality of Christ in Girard's thinking, and, in particular, Girard's distinctive take on the uniqueness and finality of Christ in terms of his impact on Western culture. In Girard’s singular vision, according to Cowdell, secular modernity has emerged thanks to the Bible’s exposure of the cathartic violence that is at the root of religious prohibitions, myths, and rituals. In the literature, the psychology, and most recently the military history of modernity, Girard discerns a consistent slide into an apocalypse that challenges modern ideas of romanticism, individualism, and progressivism.

In the first three chapters, Cowdell examines the three elements of Girard’s basic intellectual vision (mimesis, sacrifice, biblical hermeneutics) and brings this vision to a constructive interpretation of “secularization” and “modernity,” as these terms are understood in the broadest sense today. Chapter 4 focuses on modern institutions, chiefly the nation state and the market, that function to restrain the outbreak of violence. And finally, Cowdell discusses the apocalyptic dimension of Girard's theory in relation to modern warfare and terrorism. Here, Cowdell engages with the most recent writings of Girard (particularly his Battling to the End) and applies them to further conversations in cultural theology, political science, and philosophy. Cowdell takes up and extends Girard’s own warning concerning an alternative to a future apocalypse: “What sort of conversion must humans undergo, before it is too late?”

In this study the elaboration of mimetic theory is set out in three phases. From the early stages, in Girard’s literary scholarship, his characteristic themes of deviated transcendence and its Christian alternative are already evident, along with the apocalyptic note that he first identifies in the novels of Proust and Dostoyevsky. The three key refrains are broadly these. First, Girard learns from great literature that desire is borrowed and derivative, that it makes us structurally prone to envy and rivalry, and that pursuing the being of our model or mediator of desire leads to the full range of modern pathologies as addressed for instance by Freud and by existentialist philosophy. This mimetic quality of desire has yielded a tragic state of affairs in which people are sacrificed to still the rivalrous escalation of violence—a cultural theme that Girard identifies initially in Greek tragedies, which began to call in question the more familiar mythical dissimulation of this mechanism. In the second stage of his project, moving from literature to anthropology, Girard delineates the universal shape of this phenomenon through a close reading of world mythology and ritual. His simple account of humanity emerging and growing to maturity on the back of this serendipitous discovery for keeping violence under control became the central theme of mimetic theory. The third key refrain is his contemporaneous discovery of a way beyond this state of affairs, which was disclosed in the Hebrew Scriptures and then decisively in the Gospels’ passion narratives.

As Aquinas takes up Aristotle to create a larger Christian vision, so Girard takes up Cervantes, Shakespeare, Proust, Dostoyevsky, Durkheim, Nietzsche, Freud, and Clausewitz. The mimetic theory is variously illuminated by each of these (and some others) in its dimensions of borrowed desire, escalation in rivalry, cathartic violence, and the threat of apocalypse, with psychological healing and a capacity to negotiate mimetic currents found to be most fully present in Jesus Christ. For Girard, Christ is present not only in person but also incognito as the form of conversion, standing behind every advance that humanity makes in mastering violence. Nietzsche is an especially interesting case for Girard. He was the first to understand that Christianity was incompatible with the mythical and the sacrifice of innocents, while rejecting Christ in favor of Dionysus.

Having set all this out, I then try to imagine the theological implications of mimetic theory. Revelation is central, but it is inseparable from the process of being caught up in God’s healing and liberating project that has slowly but surely come to light in history, centered on its world-transforming breakout in Jesus Christ. In light of which, mimetic theory requires a comprehensive, dynamic, spiritual theology to do it justice. The work of Bernard Lonergan has been associated with Girard, along with that of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the unofficial theology of Simone Weil—the latter two sharing Girard’s critique of what religion as solely a human creation can descend into. I suggest that the théologie totale of Sarah Coakley is ripe for a Girardian appropriation or, alternatively, that mimetic theory is ripe for appropriation by théologie totale—and this despite Coakley’s persistent unease that Girard unduly problematizes the religio-cultural category of sacrifice.

Girard’s real theological marriage has to be with theological dramatic theory, as it devolves from Hans Urs von Balthasar into the hands of Raymund Schwager. Here is a comprehensive, self-involving, transformative model that links revelation and salvation. Theological dramatic theory can uphold providence against the problem of evil on the basis of its earthy realism coupled with its eschatological confidence. I seek to show that Girard is compatible with this approach, notwithstanding von Balthasar’s own doubts to that effect. I then venture a five-act Girardian Theo-drama that seeks to honor the evolutionary nature and scope of mimetic theory. A further theological tradition, that of double agency, is applied to fill out this Theo-dramatic account, in which divine providence is seen to work kenotically, incarnationally—sacramentally—through the within of natural processes. God is no stranger to God’s world, working through its natural and historical processes out of love for the world and respect for creatures who live according to their own natures (including humanity’s mimetic nature).

The subsequent challenge is to show how the shadow side of a Darwinian and Girardian world can be squared with theological orthodoxy. Having already affirmed Girard’s grip on the important theological theme of human freedom, I go on in a related discussion to answer John Milbank and other critics who think that Girard abandons theological orthodoxy by making violence ontologically fundamental to creation. Within the developing tradition of Irenaeus, there is scope for a more evolutionary sense of divine providence building stage by stage in light of an eschatological goal—not an onward historical march that sweeps victims aside, but a process that creates as it redeems, transforming the tragic evolutionary givens of life into gift as the Theo-drama plays out.

(excerpted from conclusion)

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1. Overture to Mimetic Theory

2. From Violence to Divinity

3. From Hominization to Apocalypse

4. Girard Among the Theologians

5. A Divine-Human Drama

6. The Shadow Side of Finitude

7. Divine Overaccepting

8. Christ, the Nonviolence of God

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Philosophie de la psychologie
• Philosophie de la religion
• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Theology
• Religious
• PHILOSOPHY
• Philosophie et théologie
• Anthropology
• Social

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 30 novembre 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268076979
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

René Girard and Secular Modernity
René Girard and Secular Modernity
Christ, Culture, and Crisis
Scott Cowdell
University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana
Copyright © 2013 University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 www.undpress.nd.edu -->
All Rights Reserved Manufactured in the United States of America --> Bible quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. -->
Used by permission. All rights reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data --> Cowdell, Scott. --> René Girard and secular modernity : Christ, culture, and crisis / Scott Cowdell. --> pages cm --> Includes bibliographical references and index. --> ISBN 978-0-268-02374-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-268-02374-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) --> 1. Girard, René, 1923– 2. Secularization. 3. Violence. 4. Civilization, Modern—20th century. 5. Philosophical theology. 6. Philosophy, French—20th century. 7. Philosophy, Modern—20th century. I. Title. --> B2430.G494C69 2013 --> 194—dc23 --> 2013000465 --> ∞ The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. -->
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In Memoriam
Joan Meyers
1923–2009

Many waters cannot quench love . . .
Song of Songs 8:7
Contents
Preface
Introduction
CHAPTER 1: Mimesis, Modernity, and Madness
CHAPTER 2: Violence, the Sacred Canopy
CHAPTER 3: Scripture and Secularization
CHAPTER 4: Modern Institutions and Violence
CHAPTER 5: War, Terror, Apocalypse
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Preface
I came late to René Girard, and after three false starts. In the early 1990s, when I was completing my PhD dissertation on the uniqueness and finality of Jesus, I discovered and was much influenced by Walter Wink on the New Testament “powers and principalities,” though without appreciating Girard’s influence on Wink’s trilogy. In the late 1990s I was asked to review Why Must There Be Scapegoats? by the Girardian Jesuit theologian Raymund Schwager, but I could make neither head nor tail of it. I attended a gathering of Australian Anglican theologians where Girard’s work was introduced, and again things failed to spark. What finally awakened me from my dogmatic slumbers was an invitation in 2004 to review James Alison’s book On Being Liked. The time was right, and I was hooked.
Here was an intellectual vision of great simplicity and power, combined with a level of spiritual and psychological insight that has helped me greatly both personally and professionally. Reading Alison and Girard followed, then other Girardians. I advanced some way toward my own Girardian synthesis in a 2009 book, Abiding Faith: Christianity Beyond Certainty, Anxiety, and Violence, but it became clear to me that I needed to learn a lot more about Girard before proceeding with my longer-term theological project. Hence this volume, which undertakes a Girardian account of secular modernity.
I am grateful for a relatively new and (in Australia) rare opportunity to be doing this type of work more or less uninterrupted, so I thank Charles Sturt University for a Research Fellowship in Public and Contextual Theology. Within the life of our Research Center, based in Australia’s national capital, I thank Rev. Prof. James Haire, AC, our director, for his support and encouragement, along with my colleague Wayne Hudson for valuable conversations. My thanks also to the always helpful Kaye Malins, at St. Mark’s National Memorial Library.
In early 2010 I spent four months in the reading phase of this project on sabbatical leave in Collegeville, Minnesota, which Andrew M. Greeley described as the last magical place in American Catholicism. Life together with fellow resident scholars at the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research was delightful, as was worship with the St. John’s Abbey monastic community in their iconic Marcel Bruer Abbey church. At the Institute I thank Donald Ottenhoff, Carla Durand, and Elisa Schneider, as well as Kilian McDonnell, OSB, and Wilfred Thiesen, OSB, who made me welcome at St. John’s University.
In Australia undergraduate and research degrees do not normally have a compulsory language requirement, so I had managed to get this far without learning French. Galvanized by this project, however, and in the company of my adventurous wife, I started from scratch during 2009, two nights a week at the Canberra Institute of Technology. To Jen Bateman, Christine Moore, and Jacqueline de Montmollin go my thanks for beginning my induction into this most beautiful and wonderful language and opening for me a deeper engagement with Girard. During the aforementioned sabbatical we also braved a one-month intensive course in French at the Université Catholique de Lyon, enjoying (patient) hospitality with the Communauté de Chemin Neuf. We have fond memories of our French teachers, Stéphanie Rabin and Christine Nodin, and our Chemin Neuf hosts at Rue Henri IV, Tim and Kate Watson.
I now want to mention those who helped me with preparation and publication. Special thanks to Charles Van Hof at the University of Notre Dame Press for commissioning this volume and seeing it on its way. Canberra is a long way from South Bend, but I hope to enjoy another boutique Indiana beer with Chuck at the Morris Inn on the UND campus before too long. I also thank Wendy McMillen and Sheila Berg, who have done me a great service with the editing and design of this book. I am especially grateful to the leading Australian painter, Jeffrey Smart, for once again allowing me to use his work on a cover, and to his archivist Stephen Rogers for invaluable assistance. Wolfgang Palaver of the University of Innsbruck, Jeremiah Alberg of the International Christian University, Tokyo, and Kevin Mongrain of the National Institute for Newman Studies, Pittsburgh, very kindly read the manuscript and made a number of helpful suggestions. Fr. James Alison graciously added his endorsement when I first proposed this project for publication. My friend and mentor Bishop Bruce Wilson offered his Girardian expertise and editorial eye in detailed comments on draft chapters one by one, then on the whole manuscript. Bruce’s “Girardian therapy” saved my bacon during a difficult parish appointment several years back. I hope this Girard book will serve as a tangible “thank you.”
Two last words of thanks, the first posthumous. Joan Meyers was my (adoptive) mother’s sister and our next-door neighbor during my boyhood in suburban Brisbane. Joan was a spinster who cared for her aged mother. She was well traveled, independent, and something of an exotic figure. She made me her project, and it wasn’t always smooth sailing. But, man and priest, my debt to her is deep, though I was not clear enough in expressing my gratitude before it was too late. Hence the dedication of this book to Joan’s memory. Finally, I thank Lisa Carley—my partner in faith, hope, and love—for sharing this Girardian journey with me, along with much wifely support and encouragement.
Canberra, Australia
Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi
4 October 2012
Introduction
In 2009 humanity marked the sesquicentenary of its arguably greatest intellectual achievement: the theory of evolution by natural selection. Darwinian molecular biology is now foundational for everything we know about life’s development, illuminating so much complexity by an essentially simple mechanism. Similar attempts to unify the human sciences have met with less success, from grand positivistic aspirations in nineteenth-century cultural anthropology—fictionalized by George Eliot in the character of her scholar-parson Edward Casaubon, who collapsed under the weight of his search for “the key to all mythologies”—through to today’s skeptical postmoderns, who question not only the likelihood but also the morality of encompassing cultural diversity within a single theory. And of course the possibility of a Christian intellectual synthesis holding faith and reason together has scarcely been conceivable since the late Middle Ages, when faith and reason went their separate ways in the West and the modern saeculum began to emerge.
But, wonder of wonders, an audacious claim to do just this has been in place for thirty-five years and is winning both intellectual and spiritual converts. In 2005 the French American thinker René Girard, in his ninth decade, was formally welcomed by Michel Serres on his election as an Immortel of l’Académie française as the “new Darwin of the human sciences.” 1 The postmodern intelligentsia, deeply wedded to the dogma of cultural relativism, remains largely unimpressed. They also despise any attempt to rehabilitate the Queen of the Sciences. Girard, with a dash of Gallic insouciance, shrugs off these detractors, referring to their small intellectual ambitions as “the comprehensive unionization of failure”; 2 and of course his mimetic theory gives a good account of such academic rivalry, along with the arrogant individualist’s refusal of personal conversion that appreciation of his theory demands. Besides, his agenda is bigger than the intellectual or indeed the theological: Girard believes that having uncovered the origin of culture and explicated the emergence of secular modernity, he has revealed the apocalyptic acceleration of history toward a tragic denouement. Hence, from his study at Stanford, this scholar’s scholar has become a planetary prophet.
I have decided to focus on the issues of secularization and modernity in this project because they provide both a privileged perspective for surveying the wh