A special double-size issue of the Bulletin has now been published and is available both online and in print. We are pleased to published this special memorial issue focused on a significant, if not controversial, theorist in the study of religion and violence. Last year René Girard passed away, leaving behind him a significant body of work on mimetic violence, scapegoat mechanisms, and the origin of society, myth, and ritual. In many ways, Girard was the last of the great myth-ritualist, a lineage going back into the 19th century to such founding figures as James Frazer. Reactions to Girard have fallen into either extreme criticism or high admiration and (perhaps) mimesis (e.g., the Colloquium on Violence & Religion [COV&R] and its journal Contagion). In order to mark the life and impact of this theorist, Michael Jerryson has guest-edited this issue of the Bulletin, bringing together a number of major scholars that exemplify a range of views on Girard’s work. This issue also includes a “Field Notes” summary of the NAASR annual meeting (Nov. 18-20, 2016) on the theme “Method Today” (see full program here) (and we encourage Bulletin blog readers to attend these exciting sessions in San Antonio!).
“Theorizing Mimesis, Violence, and Myth: René Girard (1923-2015)”
Table of Contents
Bulletin for the Study of Religion Volume 45, Issue 3-4 (September-December 2016)
“Introduction: René Girard’s Legacy” Michael Jerryson (Youngtown State University) – (pp. 3-5)
“Criticism, Critique, and Crisis in Assessing the World of René Girard” Sandor Goodhart (Purdue University) – (pp. 6-15)
“The Study of Evil and Violence without Girard” David Frankfurter (Boston University) – (pp. 17-21)
“Something Bigger than Girard” Jonathan Klawans (Boston University) – (pp. 23-27)
“Whither Girard and Islam? Reflections on Text and Context” Vanessa J. Avery (Sacred Heart University and Hartford Seminary) – (pp. 29-34)
“The Worm in the Pudding Cup: Violence, Disgust, and Mimetic Theory” Martha J. Reineke (University of Northern Iowa) – (pp. 34-46)
“Mimetic Theory, Sacrifice, and The Iliad?” Margo Kitts (Hawai’i Pacific University) – (pp. 46-57)
“On Girard: Mimesis and Cosmic War” Mark Juergensmeyer (University of California, Santa Barbara) – (pp. 59-65)
Field Notes: News and Announcements in the Discipline – (pp. 65-66)
