Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis, and Culture, 2014
In his spiritual autobiography Orthodoxy (1908), the highly prolific post-Victorian journalist, p... more In his spiritual autobiography Orthodoxy (1908), the highly prolific post-Victorian journalist, philosopher and Anglo-Catholic theologian Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936), in a particularly strong argument against one brand of Socialism, notes the following: In the modern ideal conceptions of society there are some desires that are possibly not attainable: but there are some desires that are not desirable. That all men should live in equally beautiful houses is a dream that may or may not be attained. But that all men should live in the same beautiful house is not a dream at all; it is a nightmare. 1 This short excerpt does not in any way capture the full trajectory of Chesterton"s larger argument at this point in his book, but I quote it here to highlight one incarnation of his understanding both of the structure of mimetic desire and the violent consequences that may arise out of mimetic desire. To begin with, there is the notion that desires for attaining things involve the desire of another. This follows René Girard"s discovery, after Shakespeare, of the centrality of "borrowed desire" or "desire by another"s eye" to human interactions. 2 Moreover, there is Chesterton"s observation that when this mimetic desire is shared, "nightmare" is inevitable: when many hands covet the same object, the result is bitter rivalry. 3 The above excerpt"s demonstration of Chesterton"s own understanding of mimetic desire thus paves the way for the central aim of this article, which is to present an articulation of some of the ways in which Chesterton"s philosophy might counterbalance the Girardian accentuation of reciprocal violence. 4 This aim is achieved via an examination of how Chesterton articulates his understanding of mimetic desire, as well as an exploration of how this is performed in a few examples from his fictional work. I argue that the centrality of joy to Chesterton"s work is a helpful means for understanding positive reciprocity, and also introduce a brief discussion of the concept of the "Symbolism of Syntax" that acts as a unique expression of what both Chesterton and Girard are getting at with regard to their conceptions of mimetic desire. 5 There is a doubleillumination in what follows: By interpreting Chesterton through a Girardian lens, one is able to show both how Girard sheds light on Chesterton and how Chesterton sheds light on Girard. To begin with, it is clear that Chesterton regards mimesis in its simplest sense as being fundamental to human nature. It is a democratic phenomenon that is involved in issues ranging
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Papers by Duncan Reyburn