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 Imitatio brings together researchers, students, and the wider public to learn from and to further Girard's insights.
Key projects:
PUBLICATIONS: Imitatio supports the publication of new work:
Evolution of Desire: A Life of René Girard, by Cynthia L. Haven (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2018).
Conversations with René Girard: Prophet of Envy, edited by Cynthia L. Haven (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020).
René Girard: All Desire is a Desire for Being, Essential Writings Selected by Cynthia L. Haven (Penguin Modern Classics, forthcoming in spring 2023)
RESEARCH: Imitatio supports research that aims to answer open questions in mimetic theory and connect findings to wider debates:
Can we better understand economic behavior by starting from imitative dynamics rather than isolated individuals like those supposed by classical theory? Research by André Orléan brilliantly applying a mimetic approach to economics was published in 2014 by MIT Press under the title The Empire of Value: A New Foundation for Economics.
How can Girard’s insights illuminate the discoveries of archaeologists? Over several years Stanford professor Ian Hodder teamed up with fellow archaeologists and scholars close to Girard to conduct research in the field at the Neolithic sites of Çatalhöyük and Göbekli Tepe in Turkey. In 2019 Cambridge University Press published their findings in a volume edited by Hodder and entitled Violence and the Sacred in the Ancient Near East.
TRANSLATIONS: Imitatio supports the translation of key works in mimetic theory so that more readers have access for themselves. Highlights include:
Battling to the End: Conversations with Benoît Chantre, by René Girard. Translated by Mary Baker. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2010.
Resurrection from the Underground: Feodor Dostoevsky, by René Girard. Tranlated by James G. Williams. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2012.
The One By Whom Scandal Comes, by René Girard. Translated by Malcolm B. DeBevoise. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2014.
Violence, the Sacred, and Things Hidden: A Discussion with René Girard at Esprit (1973). Translated by Andrew J. McKenna. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2021.
More than two dozen titles by René Girard and scholars of mimetic theory have been newly translated into Portuguese and published in Brazil in publisher É Realizações' Biblioteca René Girard.
Imitatio has also supported translations published by MIT Press, Editions Flammarion, and many others.
EDUCATION: Imitatio supports educational experiments to test out ways of teaching mimetic theory and to make it easier for young writers and researchers to get started in this rich field. We record and disseminate effective approaches, and we bring young scholars together to build relationships and compare ideas.
The Summer School in Mimetic Theory, an intensive program for undergraduate students, was most recently held in Los Angeles in 2021, in partnership with the Lumen Christi Institute.
ARCHIVES: Imitatio supports the preservation and organization of René Girard's writings in an archive at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
SUMMARY: In person at meetings, lectures, and discussions and in print via published articles, new books, and freshly translated works, Imitatio supports research to deepen mimetic theory and public discussion to spread its insights to wider audiences.