René Girard, Theology, and Pop Culture

Ryan G. Duns is a Jesuit priest and assistant professor of theology at Marquette University.T. Derrick Witherington is the director of liturgy for Gesu Parish and adjunct lecturer of theology at Marquette University.

What a class act! These established and emerging Girard scholars demonstrate how mimetic theory, which cut its teeth on nineteenth-century novels, also illuminates contemporary film, television, and graphic novels—now that viewing has supplanted reading, as Girard acknowledges. And if these new genres don’t interest you, there are chapters on the weaponizing of Twitter, hoarding, anorexia, and the Church. Fr Duns’ introduction, explicating mimetic theory via The Devil Wears Prada, is a master class. A must for Girardians, an upskilling for theologians, a resource for preachers, and an education for pop culture junkies.

• Chapter 1: Mimesis, Mean Girls, and the Culture Creating Them: Tina Fey’s Interrogation of Teen ComedyBrian BajekChapter 2: Star Wars: Between Myth and GospelErik BuysChapter 3: Desire, the Scapegoated Other, and J.J. Abrams’ The Force AwakensJohn C. McDowellChapter 4: Girard’s Lasso of Truth: Wonder Woman and the Overcoming of SatanStephanie PerdewChapter 5: Those Who Have Eyes to See: The Divine Origins of the Modern Plot TwistJordan AlmanzarChapter 6: Gazing into a Mirror: Watching Hoarders with GirardRyan G. DunsChapter 7: From the Hermeneutic of Violence to Redemption: The 100 and Mimetic TheoryPaolo Diego BubbioChapter 8: Mercy, Honor, and Girardian Conversion in The Karate Kid and Cobra KaiRyan SmockChapter 9: The Pleasures and Perils of Revenge: Sons of Anarchy and GirardGeorge A. DunnChapter 10: Exorcising Blame Through A Contract with God: A Girardian Analysis of Will Eisner’s Graphic NovelDaniel DeForest LondonChapter 11: Unmasking the Theological Shell: A Gi