[VIDEO] Live Chat with Dr. Andrew McKenna on Truth, Violence, and “A Refuge of Lies”

No topic is more important today than how to deal with violence, and Cesáreo Bandera’s book A Refuge of Lies: Reflections on Faith and Literature provides important insights about the truth of human violence.

Dr. Andrew McKenna, Professor of French Language and Literature at Loyola University, recently joined us for a chat about A Refuge of Lies. Andrew wrote a review of the book for the Colloquium on Violence and Religion Bulletin, which you can read on page 8 here. In the chat we discussed Bandera’s use of mimetic theory to contrast Homeric literature and biblical literature, modern science’s dependence upon the faith of Abraham, and Bandera’s critique of Girard’s theory of hominization and the founding murder.

Here’s what others are saying about A Refuge of Lies:

“Cesáreo Bandera’s writing is the best justification I know for the value of both a classical and a liberal education.  In A Refuge of Lies, he opens up for us, with dexterity and subtlety, the astonishing feat which it is for humans to be able to face, and to tell, the truth; and he does so by showing how we ride, often unaware, upon the unraveled inner logic of the archaic sacred.  A rich and fascinating guide to help us navigate our times.”

—James Alison, author of The Joy of Being Wrong

“Cesáreo Bandera is one of René Girard’s oldest friends and earliest collaborators.  No one is better qualified than he to enrich and extend Girard’s original contribution. He has done so with characteristic erudition and profound insight. This inspiring book is sure to be a joy for those more familiar with Girard’s work and a revelation to those discovering [him] for the first time.”

—Gil Bailie, author of Violence Unveiled

“Cesáreo Bandera’s clear and insightful study starts with Erich Auerbach’s distinction between Homeric poems and the Old Testament, leading to a profound understanding of the biblical legacy and its uncovering of sacred violence. Bandera’s book is at the same time an application of René Girard’s mimetic anthropology and a critical discussion of it.”

—Wolfgang Palaver, author of René Girard’s Mimetic Theory