Wolfgang Palaver is Professor of Catholic Social Thought and Chair of the Institute for Systematic Theology at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. He is a member of the advisory board of Imitatio, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to René Girard’s mimetic theory.
A real tour de force, Palaver succeeds in situating mimetic theory
in regard to major trends in contemporary thought, to document its
relevance and contributions to various disciplines while
simultaneously providing the most comprehensive and accessible
introduction in any language. --Paul Dumouchel, Ritsumeikan
University
First published in German in 2003, Wolfgang Palaver's René Girard's
Mimetic Theory is a crucially important addition to the growing
body of English-language studies of Girard's work. Clear,
comprehensive, analytically acute, this volume shows Palaver to be
a worthy successor to his Austrian colleague, Raymund Schwager, as
Girard's interpreter and collaborator. The rich fruit of annual
lectures over a period of ten years, René Girard's Mimetic Theory
not only describes that theory, placing it in comparison and
contrast with the theories of other major twentieth-century
intellectuals concerning religion, mimesis, desire, and violence,
it also shows why and how Girard's insights are increasingly
relevant today. Braiding together topically related discussions of
literary fiction, Biblical texts, philosophy, anthropology,
psychology, political science, and theology, Palaver reflects,
imitates, and extends Girard's own inter-disciplinarity in a
breathtaking, scholarly tour de force.--Ann W. Astell, University
of Notre Dame
Wolfgang Palaver's exploration of Rene Girard's mimetic theory is
comprehensive, thorough, and penetrating. He takes us into the
heart of Girard's anthropology of desire, while also tracing its
rich implications for the contemporary study of politics, culture,
gender, and religion. This English translation now makes available
to a wider audience the definitive "must-read" account of one of
the most important theoretical projects of our time.--Bruce K.
Ward, Laurentian University
Palaver's survey of Girard's mimetic theory is the most thorough
introduction to Girard's thought and its ramifications that has
been written, uniting profound insight, clear explication, and a
tremendous breadth of research.
--James Williams, author of The Bible, Violence, and the Sacred and
editor of The Girard Reader
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