Fr. Richard Schenk on Mimetic Theory, World War 1, and “Battling to the End”

Fr. Richard Schenk on Mimetic Theory, World War 1, and “Battling to the End” July 15, 2014

The annual conference of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion begins next week! This conference will be especially interesting as it commemorates the 100th anniversary of World War 1 and relates that war to mimetic theory. The conference is titled, “Battling to the End 1914-2014: The Escalation of Violence and Victimization: Rene Girard and Jean-Luc Marion.” Suzanne and I had the opportunity to interview the organizer of the conference, Fr. Richard Schenk. Fr. Schenk is a priest of the Dominican Order and is President of the Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt, the only Catholic University in the German speaking world and the site of this year’s conference. As you will see in the video, Fr. Schenk has been a student of mimetic theory for many years and is an excellent teacher of the theory.

This year’s conference is particularly intriguing for me as it explores Girard’s latest and arguably his most controversial book among Girardians, Battling to the End, which leads me to three thoughts. First, if you are like me and you love all things related to mimetic theory, but can’t make it to Germany for the conference, you are so bummed. I feel you. We are connected in our shared desire to attend, a desire that is only escalating as I write this and as you read it. Ahh, mimesis.

Second, if you are not like me and you are going to the conference…CONGRATULATIONS!!! (Hope you didn’t catch any envy or resentment in that sarcasm…I am not at all envious or resentful that you have what I want…And no…my resentment and envy will not escalate as I see you post pictures of the conference on Facebook…Not. At. All.)

Third, if you can’t make it to the conference, Fr. Schenk provides excellent commentary on the theme of the conference in the interview above. If you are going to the conference, Fr. Schenk provides an excellent introduction for what you will be discussing next week. (AND I HOPE YOU HAVE FUN!)

Fourth, along with Fr. Schenk, we were also fortunate to interview Jeremiah Alberg. Dr. Alberg is Professor of Philosophy and Religion and Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at International Christian University in Tokyo. He is also Executive Secretary of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion. Dr. Alberg is the author of an important Girardian book, Beneath the Veil of Strange Verses: Reading Scandalous Texts. Fr. Schenk and Dr. Alberg provide wonderful commentary in the video on mimetic theory. We hope you enjoy it!


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