Mimesis, Movies, and Media Violence, Desire, and the Sacred, Volume 3

by Cowdell, Scott; Fleming, Chris; Hodge, Joel

• ISBN13: 9781628924640
• ISBN10: 1628924640
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2015-01-29
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

Building on the growing recognition and critical acclaim of volumes 1 and 2 of Violence, Desire, and the Sacred, this third volume in the series showcases the most groundbreaking, interdisciplinary research in mimetic theory, with a focus on well-known films, television series, and other media. Mimesis, Movies, and Media reaches beyond the traditional boundaries of continental theory to demonstrate how scholars apply and develop René Girard's insights in light of contemporary media. It brings together major Australian and international scholars working at the intersection of popular culture and philosophy.

Author Biography

Scott Cowdell is Associate Professor in the School of Theology at Charles Sturt University, NSW, Australia, and an Anglican priest (Canon Theologian in the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn). He is Editor of the Australian journal St Mark's Review, a Founding Fellow of the Oxford University Centre for Animal Ethics, and current President of the Australian Girard Seminar.

Chris Fleming is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Anthropology, School of Humanities and Languages, the University of Western Sydney, Australia. His is the author of Violence and Mimesis (2004) and is Vice-President of the Australian Girard Seminar.

Joel Hodge is Lecturer in Systematic Theology, School of Theology, Australian Catholic University, Australia. He is the author of Resisting Violence and Victimisation: Christian Faith and Solidarity in East Timor (2012) and is Treasurer and Secretary of the Australian Girard Seminar.

Table of Contents

Contributors
Introduction

Section 1: Media and Representation
1. The Scapegoat Mechanism and the Media: Beyond the Folk Devil Paradigm
John O’Carroll (Charles Sturt University)
2. The Apocalypse Will Not Be Televised
Chris Fleming (University of Western Sydney) and John O’Carroll (Charles Sturt University)

Section 2: Film
3. Mirrors of Nature: Artificial Agents in real life and virtual worlds”
Paul Dumouchel (Graduate School of Core Ethics and Frontier Sciences, Ritsumeikan University, Japan)
4.Against Romantic Love: Mimeticism and Satire in Woody Allen’s Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona, To Rome with Love, and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Scott Cowdell (Charles Sturt University)
5. Superheroes, Scapegoats and Saviours: Mimesis, Sacred Violence, and the Redemptive Vision of The Dark Knight
Joel Hodge (Australian Catholic University)
6. The Dark Knight and My Community Gotham
Debra MacDonald (University of Auckland)
7. The Mimetic E-Motion: From The Matrix to Avatar
Nidesh Lawtoo (University of Lausanne)
8. Dreams Decaying: American Utopias and Tragic Violence
Carly Osborn (University of Adelaide)
9. Mimetic Desire, Self-Hatred, and Human Extermination: Trends in Recent Horror Cinema
Peter Paik (University of Milwaukee)
10. Ups and Downs in The Hi-Lo Country: Enactments of Positive and Negative Mimesis in the film by Stephen Frears
Thomas Ryba (Purdue University/University of Notre Dame)
11. Judgement Day at Bodega Bay
Dietmar Regensburger (University of Innsbruck)

Section 3: Television
12. The Self in Crisis: Girard, Hegel, Homeland and Mad Men
Paolo Diego Bubbio (University of Western Sydney)
13. Media, Murder and Memoir: Girardian Baroque in Robert Drewe’s The Shark Net
Rosamund Dalziell (Charles Sturt University)
14. Conversion in Dexter
Matthew Tan (De Paul University)
15. The Butler did it: A Girardian reading of the problem of class in Downton Abbey
Nigel Zimmermann (University of Notre Dame Australia)

Glossary
Index