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The 12th
International Conference of |
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ISSEI |
In cooperation With |
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International Society for the Study
of European Ideas |
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Section IV: Literature, Art, Music, Theatre, Culture
and
Section
V: Religion, Philosophy, Anthropology, Psychology, Language
Workshop: Mimesis
Chair:
Joachim Duyndam
Since
Aristotle mimesis has been a key concept in traditional theories of art and
literature. The meaning of mimesis covers both imitation and performance
aspects of art. Contemporary critical theories, however, interpreting art and
literature from re- and deconstructive aspects still rely heavily on mimesis.
Also life sciences such as evolutionary biology and neurosciences show mimetic
features at the heart of human – and not only human – nature. Mimesis seems to
be no less than the core of both human nature and human culture.
Over the
recent decades, the French-American thinker René Girard has taken
mimesis as the starting point of his theory on human nature and culture
(language, art, religion, literature, philosophy, science). Like Charles
Darwin, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, and others who have changed the way we
think in the humanities and in the human sciences, Girard has put forth a set
of ideas that have altered our perceptions and interpretations of the world we
live in. Behind our common sense self-understanding as autonomous and authentic
individuals, Girard has unveiled the mimetic character of desire on the one
hand and the scapegoat mechanism on the other as the hidden motives of our
thinking and our conduct. Moreover, in his explorations of the relations between
the sacred and violence, he has hit upon the origins of culture – the way
culture began, the way it continues to organize itself, the way communities of
human beings structure themselves in a manner that is different from that of
other species on the planet.
Girard is
most famous for his hermeneutical reading of classical myths, biblical stories,
and modern literature. Being a literary scholar in the first place, a theorist
of literature, he has developed literature itself as theory: a theory on culture,
on myth, on religion, especially sacrifice, rituals, and biblical themes.
Girard’s narrative thinking, however, has alienated him, in a way, from
mainstream philosophy and social sciences, which rather seem to prefer an
arguing style of rationality through general concepts and abstract schemes.
This remoteness is the more unfortunate as Girard’s ideas have a huge
philosophical and scientific relevance.
This
panel/workshop on mimesis will try to bridge the gap between narrative/literary
thinking such as Girard’s and traditional philosophical and scientific
argumentation, by connecting ideas on mimesis with a variety of philosophical
and scientific debates, e.g. debates in epistemology, phenomenology,
hermeneutics, empirical sciences, etc. As for some relevant philosophical
debates, one may think for example of shedding a largely clarifying mimetic
light on controversies between Heidegger, Hannah Arendt, and Levinas; Gadamer and Habermas; Ricoeur and Freud; Irigaray and Jessica Benjamin; etc.
Those interested
in participating in this panel/workshop are invited to submit papers and
presentations on any topic from one of these fields related to mimetic theory,
e.g. Girardian thought. Also papers and presentations
on other aspects of mimesis and its paradigmatic character are welcome.
Joachim Duyndam
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