The DOI matches its Crossref record, with a small difference in title or year.
Violence and the Sacred
Open accessAbstract
Ren Girard (1923-) was Professor of French Language, Literature and Civilization at Stanford Unviersity from 1981 until his retirement in 1995. Violence and the Sacred is Girard's brilliant study of human evil. Girard explores violence as it is represented and occurs throughout history, literature and myth. Girard's forceful and thought-provoking analyses of Biblical narrative, Greek tragedy and the lynchings and pogroms propagated by contemporary states illustrate his central argument that violence belongs to everyone and is at the heart of the sacred. Translated by Patrick Gregory
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“He sees ritual as a means through which humans try to channel violence.”
From Buddhism and symbolic violence (2011) · cites this paper as Girard 1979
In the citing paper
“In his book Violence and the Sacred (1979) , Ren é Girard defi nes violence as the ' heart and soul of the sacred. '”
From Buddhism and symbolic violence (2011) · cites this paper as Girard 1979
Citations
Cites
Still being checked.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 101–200 of 1,002
Profaning the sacred in leadership studies: a reading of Murakami’s A Wild Sheep Chase
Śliwa, M., Spoelstra, S., Sørensen, B. M., & Land, C. (2012) · Organization · doi:10.1177/1350508412455837 · Cited by 47
Sørensen, B. M., Spoelstra, S., Höpfl, H. J., & Critchley, S. (2012) · Organization · doi:10.1177/1350508412437464 · Cited by 47
Governing Population: The Integrated Child Development Services Program in India
Gupta, A. (2001) · States of Imagination · doi:10.1215/9780822381273-003 · Cited by 28
Your Goal Is Mine: Unraveling Mimetic Desires in the Human Brain
Lebreton, M. P., Kawa, S., d’Arc, B. F., Jean Daunizeau, A., & Pessiglione, M. (2012) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.4821-11.2012 · Cited by 50
Fox, J. (2000) · Nationalism and Ethnic Politics · doi:10.1080/13537110008428593 · Cited by 45
Thresholds: Sovereignty and the Sacred
Hussain, N., & Ptacek, M. M. (2000) · Law & Society Review · doi:10.2307/3115091 · Cited by 45
Jantzen, G. M., & Jantzen, G. M. (2004) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203484722 · Cited by 45
Sieder, R. (2001) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822381273-008 · Cited by 44
Organisational rhetoric and the threat of ambivalence
Höpfl, H. J. (1995) · Studies in Cultures Organizations and Societies · doi:10.1080/10245289508523454 · Cited by 44
The Archaeological Study of Sacrifice
Schwartz, G. M. (2017) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev-anthro-102116-041434 · Cited by 43
Toward a structural analysis of the postwar samurai film
Desser, D. (1983) · Quarterly Review of Film Studies · doi:10.1080/10509208309361143 · Cited by 43
Wilson, F. (2001) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822381273-012 · Cited by 42
The Impact of Culture on the Transmission of Trauma
Rousseau, C., & Drapeau, A. (1998) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4757-5567-1_29 · Cited by 42
The importance of systems thinking in ethical and sustainable decision-making
Kunsch, P. L., Theys, M., & Brans, J. P. (2007) · Central European Journal of Operations Research · doi:10.1007/s10100-007-0029-8 · Cited by 42
Antigone's Mirrors: Reflections on Moral Madness
Pritchard, A. (1992) · Hypatia · doi:10.1111/j.1527-2001.1992.tb00905.x · Cited by 42
Humans as Ritual Victims in the Later Prehistory of Western Europe
Green, M. (1998) · Oxford Journal of Archaeology · doi:10.1111/1468-0092.00057 · Cited by 41
Dean, M. (2001) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822381273-002 · Cited by 41
Per Vvlnera Regnvm: Self-Destruction, Self-Sacrifice and Devotio in Punica 4-10
Marks, R. D. (2005) · Ramus · doi:10.1017/s0048671x00000989 · Cited by 40
Hogeveen, B. R. (2007) · Sociology Compass · doi:10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00016.x · Cited by 40
The divine kingship of the Shilluk
Graeber, D. (2011) · HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory · doi:10.14318/2fhau.v1i1.7 · Cited by 39
Muldoon, P. (2008) · European Journal of Social Theory · doi:10.1177/1368431008092564 · Cited by 40
The Images of Artemis Ephesia and Greco-Roman Worship: A Reconsideration
LiDonnici, L. R. (1992) · Harvard Theological Review · doi:10.1017/s0017816000008208 · Cited by 39
The Theodicy of Natural Disasters
Chester, D. (1998) · Scottish Journal of Theology · doi:10.1017/s0036930600056866 · Cited by 39
The Rebirth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Hip Hop: A Cultural Sociology of Gangsta Rap Music
Riley, A. (2005) · Journal of Youth Studies · doi:10.1080/13676260500261892 · Cited by 38
The Mind and its Stories: Narrative Universals and Human Emotion
Hogan, P. C. (2003) · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511499951 · Cited by 37
Chigo in the Medieval Japanese Imagination
Atkins, P. S. (2008) · The Journal of Asian Studies · doi:10.1017/s0021911808001216 · Cited by 38
Who Pays? Can We Pay Them Back?
Lee, N., & Stenner, P. H. D. (1999) · The Sociological Review · doi:10.1111/j.1467-954x.1999.tb03484.x · Cited by 37
The punitive consequences of consumer culture
Vaughan, B. (2002) · Punishment & Society · doi:10.1177/14624740222228545 · Cited by 37
Reconciling Nuers with Dinkas: A Girardian approach to conflict resolution
Redekop, V. N. (2007) · Religion · doi:10.1016/j.religion.2007.01.004 · Cited by 36
The Political Subject of Self-immolation
Michelsen, N. (2014) · Globalizations · doi:10.1080/14747731.2014.971540 · Cited by 37
The Magic of Animals: English Witch Trials in the Perspective of Folklore
Sax, B. (2009) · Anthrozoös · doi:10.2752/089279309x12538695316068 · Cited by 35
Violence and Nonviolence at the Heart of Hindu Ethics
Das, V. (2013) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199759996.013.0001 · Cited by 35
The Politics of Uncertainty and the Fate of Forecasters
Taddei, R. (2012) · Ethics Policy & Environment · doi:10.1080/21550085.2012.685603 · Cited by 35
The Political Theology of Violence in Contemporary India
Hansen, T. B. (2008) · South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal · doi:10.4000/samaj.1872 · Cited by 35
Juergensmeyer, M. (1991) · Terrorism and Political Violence · doi:10.1080/09546559108427118 · Cited by 35
Humphrey, M. (2003) · Journal of Human Rights · doi:10.1080/1475483032000137084 · Cited by 35
The Logic of Religious Violence: The Case of the Punjab
Juergensmeyer, M. (1988) · Contributions to Indian Sociology · doi:10.1177/006996688022001003 · Cited by 35
Taddei, R. (2005) · eVols (University of Hawaii) · Cited by 35
The Culture of Vengeance and the Fate of American Justice
Aladjem, T. K. (2008) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511817250 · Cited by 34
The Anthropology and Ethnography of Political Violence
Krohn‐Hansen, C. (1997) · Journal of Peace Research · doi:10.1177/0022343397034002008 · Cited by 34
Creative Violence: How Marginal People Make News in Bolivia
Goldstein, D. M., & Castro, F. W. (2006) · The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology · doi:10.1525/jlat.2006.11.2.380 · Cited by 34
Dishing the dirt: gossiping in organizations
Clegg, S. R., & van Iterson, A. (2009) · Culture and Organization · doi:10.1080/14759550903119293 · Cited by 34
Dupuy, J. (2010) · NanoEthics · doi:10.1007/s11569-010-0097-4 · Cited by 34
Organized Violence, Disorganized State
Bobea, L. (2010) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822392033-007 · Cited by 34
The choreography of sacrifice: Market environmentalism, biopolitics and environmental damage
Nel, A. (2015) · Geoforum · doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.08.011 · Cited by 33
Tyranny, Boundary and Might: Colonial Mimicry in Mark's Gospel
Liew, T. B. (1999) · Journal for the Study of the New Testament · doi:10.1177/0142064x9902107302 · Cited by 33
Fundamentalism and the masculine body: The case of Jewish Ultra-Orthodox men in Israel
Aran, G., Stadler, N., & Ben‐Ari, E. (2008) · Religion · doi:10.1016/j.religion.2007.09.002 · Cited by 33
Höpfl, H. J. (2000) · Studies in Cultures Organizations and Societies · doi:10.1080/10245280008523536 · Cited by 33
Women on top in the pamphlet literature of the English revolution
Achinstein, S. (1994) · Women s Studies · doi:10.1080/00497878.1994.9979045 · Cited by 33
The logic of religious violence
Juergensmeyer, M. (1987) · Journal of Strategic Studies · doi:10.1080/01402398708437320 · Cited by 32
Utility and excess: the radical sociology of Bataille and baudrillard
Pawlett, W. (1997) · Economy and Society · doi:10.1080/03085149700000006 · Cited by 32
The military and militarization in the United States
Ben‐Ari, E. (2004) · American Ethnologist · doi:10.1525/ae.2004.31.3.340 · Cited by 31
Seaford, R. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316761588.004 · Cited by 31
The photographer's body: Populism, polarization, and the uses of victimhood in Venezuela
Samet, R. (2013) · American Ethnologist · doi:10.1111/amet.12037 · Cited by 31
Borders on the Fantastic: Mimesis, Violence, and Landscape at the Temple of Preah Vihear
Cuasay, P. (1998) · Modern Asian Studies · doi:10.1017/s0026749x98002893 · Cited by 31
Order and disorder in anti‐abortion rhetoric: A logological view
Lake, R. A. (1984) · Quarterly Journal of Speech · doi:10.1080/00335638409383708 · Cited by 31
The Psychoanalysis of Race: An Introduction
Lane, C. (1997) · Human Biology · Cited by 31
Abstracts and Reviews : 1. General and Theoretical Issues
Favazza, A. R. (1989) · Transcultural Psychiatric Research Review · doi:10.1177/136346158902600202 · Cited by 31
The Ends of Tragedy: Schelling, Hegel, and Oedipus
Goldhill, S. D. (2014) · PMLA/Publications of the Modern Language Association of America · doi:10.1632/pmla.2014.129.4.634 · Cited by 30
Horváth, Á. (1998) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/0162-895x.00107 · Cited by 30
Fozooni, B. (2007) · Cultural Studies · doi:10.1080/09502380701480634 · Cited by 30
Catch me if you can: Monkey capture in Delhi
Gandhi, A. (2012) · Ethnography · doi:10.1177/1466138111431512 · Cited by 29
Slavoj žižek's critique of western buddhism
Møllgaard, E. J. (2008) · Contemporary Buddhism · doi:10.1080/14639940802556545 · Cited by 29
Initiation Rites and Rituals in African Cosmology
Kyalo, P., & Kenya, T. (2013) · Cited by 29
Consuming Cannibals: Psychopathic Killers as Archetypes and Cultural Icons
Grixti, J. (1995) · The Journal of American Culture · doi:10.1111/j.1542-734x.1995.1801_87.x · Cited by 29
“Ritual” in Recent Criticism: The Elusive Sense of Community
Hardin, R. F. (1983) · PMLA/Publications of the Modern Language Association of America · doi:10.2307/462263 · Cited by 29
Animal sacrifice in Greek tragedy
Henrichs, A. (2012) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511894602.014 · Cited by 28
Violence and the Crisis of Conciliation: Suri, Dizi and the State in South-West Ethiopia
Abbink, J. G. (2000) · Africa · doi:10.2307/1161471 · Cited by 28
Mellor, P. A., & Shilling, C. (2010) · doi:10.1002/9781444320787.ch9 · Cited by 28
Only your eyes tell me what you like: Exploring the liking effect induced by other's gaze
Ulloa, J. L., Marchetti, C., Taffou, M., & George, N. (2014) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699931.2014.919899 · Cited by 27
Butterworth, M. L. (2008) · Western Journal of Communication · doi:10.1080/10570310802038713 · Cited by 27
Solidarity and Subsidiarity: Complementary Principles of Community Development
Schweigert, F. J. (2002) · Journal of Social Philosophy · doi:10.1111/1467-9833.00122 · Cited by 29
Aspirations and the Development Treadmill
Debraj Ray, B. (2016) · Journal of Human Development and Capabilities · doi:10.1080/19452829.2016.1211597 · Cited by 27
Religion and violence: social processes in comparative perspective
Hall, J. R. (2003) · Cited by 27
GABRIEL TARDE AND BIG CITY MANAGEMENT
Czarniawska, B. (2004) · Distinktion Journal of Social Theory · doi:10.1080/1600910x.2004.9672895 · Cited by 27
Drone warfare and the limits of sacrifice
Baggiarini, B. (2015) · Journal of International Political Theory · doi:10.1177/1755088214555597 · Cited by 27
Why Salem Made Sense: Culture, Gender, and the Puritan Persecution of Witchcraft
Reed, I. A. (2007) · Cultural Sociology · doi:10.1177/1749975507078188 · Cited by 27
violence, sacrifice, and divination: giving and taking life in eastern Indonesia
Hoskins, J. A. (1993) · American Ethnologist · doi:10.1525/ae.1993.20.1.02a00080 · Cited by 27
Ritual Scenes in the Iliad : Rote, Hallowed, or Encrypted as Ancient Art?
Kitts, M. (2011) · Oral tradition · doi:10.1353/ort.2011.0007 · Cited by 27
The Ends of the Earth: Fathers, Ephebes and Wild Women in Nemean 4 and 5
Carnes, J. S. (1996) · Arethusa · doi:10.1353/are.1996.0005 · Cited by 26
Fox, J. (2016) · Cited by 25
Lundie, D. C. (2019) · Journal of Beliefs and Values · doi:10.1080/13617672.2019.1600283 · Cited by 25
The Pharmacotic War on Terrorism
George, L. N. (2002) · Theory Culture & Society · doi:10.1177/0263276402019004012 · Cited by 25
Stepputat, F. (2001) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822381273-011 · Cited by 25
Images in opposition: polarity, ambivalence and liminality in cult representation
Green, M. J. (1997) · Antiquity · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00085811 · Cited by 25
Psychoanalytic theory in times of terror
Connolly, A. M. (2003) · Journal of Analytical Psychology · doi:10.1111/1465-5922.00405 · Cited by 25
Contested Identities / Essentially Contested Powers
Nordstrom, C. R. (1995) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-349-23823-1_5 · Cited by 25
The effects of religion on domestic conflicts
Fox, J. (1998) · Terrorism and Political Violence · doi:10.1080/09546559808427481 · Cited by 24
The Erotics of Absolutism: Rubens and the Mystification of Sexual Violence
Carroll, M. D. (1989) · Representations · doi:10.1525/rep.1989.25.1.99p0254p · Cited by 24
Cassia, P. S. (2006) · South European Society & Politics · doi:10.1080/13608740500470372 · Cited by 24
THE BATTLEFIELD AND THE PRIZE:
Jensen, S. (2001) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822381273-004 · Cited by 24
Imperial Idols: French and UNITED STATES Revenants in Haitian Vodou
Derby, L. (2015) · History of Religions · doi:10.1086/680175 · Cited by 23
Butler, J. (2022) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9781478023272-002 · Cited by 23
We Need to Talk About Mohammad
Cottee, S. (2014) · The British Journal of Criminology · doi:10.1093/bjc/azu037 · Cited by 23
Kennedy, B., Golazizian, P., Trager, J. P., Atari, M., Hoover, J., Davani, A. M., & Dehghani, M. (2023) · PNAS Nexus · doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad210 · Cited by 29
Branding in the sacrificial mode – A study of the consumptive side of brand value production
Rennstam, J. (2013) · Scandinavian Journal of Management · doi:10.1016/j.scaman.2013.03.002 · Cited by 23
Perpetual trauma and its organizations: Mothers Against Drunk Driving and drunk driving revisited
Schmidt, I. B. (2013) · Memory Studies · doi:10.1177/1750698012470836 · Cited by 23
THE SOUTH AFRICAN TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION:
Buur, L. (2001) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822381273-006 · Cited by 23
Lawtoo, N. (2017) · MLN · doi:10.1353/mln.2017.0092 · Cited by 22
Archetype and Attribution in Early Arabic Poetry: Al-Shanfarā and the Lāmiyyat 'Al-Arab
Stetkevych, S. P. (1986) · International Journal Middle East Studies · doi:10.1017/s0020743800030518 · Cited by 22
Metadata
- Authors
- GIRARD, R.
- Corresponding author
- GIRARD, RENÉ
- Venue
- On Violence
- Publisher
- Duke University Press
- Published
- 2007-12-06
- Pages
- 334-350
- OpenAlex
- W1985306786
- Cited by
- 2,049
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 35 · 2025: 75 · 2024: 58 · 2023: 51 · 2022: 58 · 2021: 51 · 2020: 103 · 2019: 160 · 2018: 69 · 2017: 48 · 2016: 58 · 2015: 57 · 2014: 56 · 2013: 101 · 2012: 67
- FWCI
- 51.69
- Type
- book chapter
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.gbv.de
- Locations
- Duke University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Johns Hopkins University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Violence, Religion, and Philosophy
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Biblical Studies and Interpretation
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › General Arts and Humanities › Cultural and Mythological Studies
- Keywords
- René Girard, violence, sacred, human evil, scapegoat theory, biblical narrative, Greek tragedy, lynching, pogroms, myth, religion and violence
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review