Monkey See, Monkey War: René Girard on Imitation and Rivalry

In The Golden Bough, James Frazer traced the rituals of sacrifice and the myths of dying gods across the ancient world. To many, it was a curious museum of folklore. To René Girard (1923–2015), it was a map. Evidence a deeper machinery was humming beneath the surface of human culture.

Girard called it mimetic desire: our tendency to want what others want, to measure objects by the intensity of another’s gaze. Desire is never just me and the thing; it’s triangular—me, the thing, and the model whose desire makes it glow. But triangles collapse into rivalries. Admiration sharpens into envy. Rivals lock eyes, then weapons. Communities strain toward violence.

How did ancient societies survive this storm? Through scapegoats. One victim, be they a king, a stranger, a criminal, was cast out or killed, and suddenly order returned. Myths told the story in reverse, painting the victim as guilty or divine. Sacrificial rituals reenacted the purge. What Frazer called “fertility rites,” Girard called survival.

Then the Gospels cracked the pattern. In the crucifixion, the scapegoat is innocent. The veil is torn. Once exposed, the trick cannot be un-seen. Modern societies, stripped of their old release valves, are more sensitive to victims than ever and more combustible too. Rivalries ignite in politics, online mobs, and culture wars, with no ritual fire to burn them out.

At the heart of Girard’s work lies a perilous invitation: if desire is always borrowed, whom will we imitate? Rivals who drive us into conflict, or those who refuse rivalry altogether?

Join us November 22nd @3pm at the Bingham Davis House on UK's campus. Free Parking in the back of the building. Expect lively discussion, sharp critique, and a reminder that imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but also sits at the root of our fiercest fights. Hope to see you there!