Where do all these cycles of imitation begin? -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

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Date Posted: 07:38:21 01/21/08 Mon
Author: Kiernan
Subject: Where do all these cycles of imitation begin?

As we learned the overview of mimetic theory on Wednesday, I was confused as to where these circles of imitation began. These cycles made it obvious that humans are fundamentally imitative creatures - that we can only imitate, that we lack originality. Why then did our imitations of others cause such difficulties and problems? In the foreward to "I see Satan fall like lightening," the author notes that this imitative desire is not inherently bad. How then do we keep it rom going awry? The obvious answer then occured to me: we were made "imitatio Dei," as an imitation of God, and only by imitation of Him are we kept from descending into circles of violence. Then the gospels made much greater sense, with Christ gathering to him twelve disciples, and commanding them to be like him, to imitate him. Girard says in "'Triangular' Desire," "the disciple pursues objects which are determined for him, or at least seem to be determined for him, by the model," which sounds greatly like Christ's relationship with his disciples (2).

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Replies:

Re: Where do all these cycles of imitation begin? -- CS Holden, 10:26:23 01/25/08 Fri
Re: Where do all these cycles of imitation begin? -- Cara, 13:20:25 01/26/08 Sat