Evolution of desire: a life of René Girard

Intro; Contents; Chapter 1. Introduction; Chapter 2. Magnetic North; Chapter 3. Dark Times in the City of Light; Chapter 4. Everything Is Possible; Chapter 5. Mankind Is Not so Kind; Chapter 6. The Pleasure of His Company; Chapter 7. Everything Came to Me at Once; Chapter 8. The French Invasion; Chapter 9. Le SystÃm̈e-Girard; Chapter 10. The Zero Hour of Culture; Chapter 11. Lotus Land; Chapter 12. The New Darwin of the Human Sciences; Chapter 13. Who Asks about the Souls of These Men?; Chapter 14. Terra Incognita; Postscript: Hand in Hand; Acknowledgments; Chronology; Notes; Index.

Magnetic north -- Dark times in the city of light -- Everything is possible -- Mankind is not so kind -- The pleasure of his company -- The road to Damascus twice -- La peste -- Le systeme Girard -- The zero hour of culture -- Lotus Land -- The Darwin of the human sciences -- Who asks about the souls of these men? -- Terra Incognita -- Hand in hand.

René Girard (1923–2015) was one of the leading thinkers of our era—a provocative sage who bypassed prevailing orthodoxies to offer a bold, sweeping vision of human nature, human history, and human destiny. His oeuvre, offering a "mimetic theory" of cultural origins and human behavior, inspired such writers as Milan Kundera and J. M. Coetzee, and earned him a place among the forty "immortals" of the Académie Française. Too often, however, his work is considered only within various academic specializations. This first-ever biographical study takes a wider view. Cynthia L. Haven traces the evolution of Girard's thought in parallel with his life and times. She recounts his formative years in France and his arrival in a country torn by racial division, and reveals his insights into the collective delusions of our technological world and the changing nature of warfare. Drawing on interviews with Girard and his colleagues, Evolution of Desire: A Life of René Girard provides an essential introduction to one of the twentieth century's most controversial and original minds.

Magnetic north -- Dark times in the city of light -- Everything is possible -- Mankind is not so kind -- The pleasure of his company -- The road to Damascus twice -- La peste -- Le système Girard -- The zero hour of culture -- Lotus Land -- The Darwin of the human sciences -- Who asks about the souls of these men? -- Terra Incognita -- Hand in hand