IMITATIO Imitatio is committed to the ongoing development of Girard's thought On this website you will find information about Girard and his ideas, links to articles and videos about mimetic theory, and instructions on how to apply for a grant
A Very Brief Introduction — IMITATIO Imitatio is a non-profit program devoted to aiding in this ongoing development and critique of René Girard's mimetic theory Here at the Imitatio web site, you can read Girard's writings, peruse scholars' work, and learn about grant application procedures
René Girards Legacy — IMITATIO Sometimes the greatest ideas appear to be simple ones The famed critic and cultural theorist René Girard, who passed away at his Stanford home on November 4, 2015, gave the world a set of deceptively simple ideas that have changed the way we think about desire, violence, religion, and human nature itself What do people really want? Why do they fight? What is religion all about? And how did
Georges Bernanos — IMITATIO [Journal d’un Curé de Campagne: The young priest of this novel has come from a background of poverty through seminary into this, his first parish experience, to which he is utterly dedicated Aside from his daily ministrations and struggles, Bernanos offers us his view of French church and society through the the priest’s conversations with avariety of people, including the more relaxed
What We Do — IMITATIO What We Do About Imitatio Imitatio was launched in 2008 as a force to press forward the consequences of René Girard’s remarkable insights into human behavior and culture Our GOALS ARE TO: Pursue research and application of Girard’s mimetic theory across the social sciences and critical areas of human behavior Support the education and development of the next generation of scholars
Girards Works — IMITATIO Girard’s Works A comprehensive, but not exhaustive, chronological annotated list of Girard’s publications, with both original and English references: Mensonge romantique et vérité romanesque Paris: Grasset, 1961; Deceit, Desire, and the Novel Translated by Yvonne Freccero, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1965 Girard’s groundbreaking analysis of five major European
Projects — IMITATIO Projects Imitatio Projects Imitatio, a project of the Thiel Foundation, supports the development and discussion of René Girard's "mimetic theory" of human behavior and culture Mimetic theory is a way to think about how profoundly imitative people are -- from their deepest desires to superficial fashions Mimetic theory brings together insights from across disciplinary boundaries, and
Marcel Proust — IMITATIO [A la Recherche du Temps Perdu: The first volume of the novel purports to relate Marcel's memories of his childhood as they were brought to life for him by the taste of a madeleine dipped in tea The madeleine reminds him of the ones he used to eat at his aunt’s house in Combray, the country town where he once spent his summers His childhood at Combray is unhappy; his sole comfort is Mamma
Grant Application Procedure — IMITATIO GRANT APPLICATION PROCEDURE We intend to keep our application process lean and efficient In many of our projects Imitatio is an active participant and involved from the beginning in scoping and planning For those interested in applying for a grant, we request they submit the following information: A short statement of purpose and project summary that includes, the project description, list
Resources — IMITATIO ARTICLES The Evangelical Subversion of Myth, by René Girard Simon de Keukelaere's 2006 Contagion article on Virginia Woolf's The Waves Mark Anspach's 2006 comparison of primitive and modern economies "The Deepening Impasse of Modernity," Stephen Gardner's review of Battling to the End A paper by Scott Garrels on Girard's mimetic theory and empirical imitation research