Mimesis, Movies, and Media

Scott Cowdell is Research Associate Professor in Public and Contextual Theology at Charles Sturt University, Canberra, Australia, and Canon Theologian of the Canberra-Goulburn Anglican Diocese. He is Founding President of the Australian Girard Seminar.Chris Fleming is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Anthropology, School of Humanities and Languages, the University of Western Sydney, Australia. His is the author of Violence and Mimesis (2004) and is Vice-President of the Australian Girard Seminar.Joel Hodge is Lecturer in Systematic Theology, School of Theology, Australian Catholic University, Australia. He is the author of Resisting Violence and Victimisation: Christian Faith and Solidarity in East Timor (2012) and is Treasurer and Secretary of the Australian Girard Seminar.

An engaging, illuminating exploration of how mimetic theory is reflected in popular media ... I would recommend Mimesis, Media, and Movies as an introduction to Girard’s thought, especially with undergraduate students who may find critical, academic analysis of popular media engaging and illuminating.

• ContributorsIntroductionPart 1: Media and Representation1. On the One MediumEric Gans (University of California, Los Angeles)2. The Scapegoat Mechanism and the Media: Beyond the Folk Devil ParadigmJohn O’Carroll (Charles Sturt University) 3. The Apocalypse Will Not Be TelevisedChris Fleming (University of Western Sydney)Part 2: Film4. Mirrors of Nature: Artificial Agents in real life and virtual worldsPaul Dumouchel (Graduate School of Core Ethics and Frontier Sciences, Ritsumeikan University, Japan)5. Superheroes, Scapegoats and Saviours: Mimesis, Sacred Violence, and the Redemptive Vision of The Dark KnightJoel Hodge (Australian Catholic University)6. Sanctified Victimage on Page and Screen: The Hunger Games as Prophetic MediaDebra E. MacDonald (University of Auckland)7. The Mimetic E-Motion: From The Matrix to AvatarNidesh Lawtoo (John Hopkins University)8. Apocalypse of the Therapeutic: The Cabin in the Woods and the Death of Mimetic DesirePeter Paik (University of Milwaukee)9. Eyes Wide Shut: Mimesis and Historical Memory in Stanley Kubrick’s The ShiningDavid Humbert (Thorneloe College, Laurentian University)10. Against Romantic Love: Mimeticism and Satire in Woody Allen’s Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, and To Rome with LoveScott Cowdell (Charles Sturt University)11. A Beautiful Crisis? Ang Lee’s Film Adaptation of The Ice StormCarly Osborn (University of Adelaide)12. Cowboy Metaphysics, the Virtuous-Enough Cowboy, and Mimetic Desire in Stephen Fears’ The Hi-Lo CountryThomas Ryba (Purdue University/University of Notre Dame)Section 3: Television13. The Self in Crisis: Watching Mad Men and Homeland with Girard and Hegel Paolo Diego Bubbio (University of Western Sydney)14. Media, Murder and Memoir: Girardian Baroque in Robert Drewe’s The Shark NetRosamund Dalziell (Charles Sturt University)15. Conversion in DexterMatthew John Paul Tan (De Paul University) and Joel Hodge (Australian Catholic University)Appendix: René Girard at a GlanceGlossary of Key Girardian TermsFurther ReadingIndex