Violence and the Sacred

René Girard

Bloomsbury Publishing, Oct 24, 2013 - Philosophy - 362 pages

Violence and the Sacred is René Girard's landmark study of human evil. Here Girard explores violence as it is represented and occurs throughout history, literature and myth. Girard's forceful and thought-provoking analyses of Biblical narrative, Greek tragedy and the lynchings and pogroms propagated by contemporary states illustrate his central argument that violence belongs to everyone and is at the heart of the sacred.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - PhilipJHunt - LibraryThing

Hard to read. Impossible to forget. Reality changing. A whole new way to understand humanity. Everyone should read it and the world may change for the better.

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - gmicksmith - LibraryThing

Girard's thesis is that violence is at the heart of the sacred, that violence belongs to all, and no one. Sacrifice restores order to society as the end of religious practice. This is an important and ...

About the author

René Girard (1923-) was Andrew B. Hammond Professor Emeritus of French Language, Literature, and Civilization at Stanford University, USA, from 1981 to his retirement in 1995. A historian, literary critic and philosopher, he is the author of over 30 books including Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Violence and the Sacred; Bloomsbury Revelations
• Author: René Girard
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013
• ISBN: 1472530020, 9781472530028
• Length: 362 pages
• Subjects: Literary Criticism / Semiotics & Theory; Philosophy / General; Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural & Social