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 301–400 of 1,002
In The Shadow of Moloch: The Sacrifice of Children and its Impact on Western Religions
Meissner, W. W. (1996) · Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association · doi:10.1177/000306519604400112 · Cited by 13
Gair, S. (2008) · Advances in Mental Health · doi:10.5172/jamh.7.3.207 · Cited by 13
Sawa, R. J., Phelan, A. M., Myrick, F., Barlow, C., Hurlock, D., & Rogers, G. (2006) · Medical Teacher · doi:10.1080/01421590600969462 · Cited by 13
Critique as a technique of self: a Butlerian analysis of Judith Butler's prefaces
Boland, T. (2007) · History of the Human Sciences · doi:10.1177/0952695107079337 · Cited by 13
Introduction to New Materialist Genealogies
Bühlmann, V., Colman, F. J., & van der Tuin, I. (2017) · Minnesota Review · doi:10.1215/00265667-3787378 · Cited by 16
Buddhist extremism, anti-Muslim violence and civil war legacies in Sri Lanka
Morrison, C. (2019) · Asian Ethnicity · doi:10.1080/14631369.2019.1610937 · Cited by 13
The Millennial generation in the context of political power: A leadership gap?
Zachara, M. (2019) · Leadership · doi:10.1177/1742715019885704 · Cited by 17
Social Rituals of Pain: The Socio-Symbolic Meaning of Violence in Gang Initiations
Murer, J. S., & Schwarze, T. (2020) · International Journal of Politics Culture and Society · doi:10.1007/s10767-020-09392-2 · Cited by 13
Violence and catastrophe in the theology of Rabbi Meir Kahane: The ideologization of mimetic desire
Sprinzak, E. (1991) · Terrorism and Political Violence · doi:10.1080/09546559108427115 · Cited by 13
Marvin, C. (1994) · Communication Research · doi:10.1177/009365094021003002 · Cited by 13
Feddema, J. P. (1997) · Journal of Asian and African Studies · doi:10.1177/002190969703200303 · Cited by 12
Text and Terror: Monster Theory and the Hebrew Bible
Grafius, B. R. (2017) · Currents in Biblical Research · doi:10.1177/1476993x17699548 · Cited by 12
“Coal Keeps the Lights On”: Rhetorics of Nostalgia for and in Appalachia
Kurlinkus, W., & Kurlinkus, K. (2018) · College English · doi:10.58680/ce201829858 · Cited by 13
Rituals of Sacrifice in Early Post‐European Contact Tonga and Tahiti
Filihia, M. (1999) · Journal of Pacific History · doi:10.1080/00223349908572888 · Cited by 12
González, P. A., & Álvarez, D. G. (2015) · International Journal of Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/s10761-015-0317-2 · Cited by 12
DISMEMBERMENT AND COMMUNITY: SACRIFICE AND THE COMMUNAL BODY IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
Bryson, M. (2003) · Notre Dame English journal · Cited by 12
The Virtues of Violence: The Salafi-Jihadi Political Universe
Bhatt, C. (2013) · Theory Culture & Society · doi:10.1177/0263276413500079 · Cited by 12
Igreja, V. (2015) · Current Anthropology · doi:10.1086/683107 · Cited by 12
Oushakine, S. A. (2017) · Qui Parle · doi:10.1215/10418385-4208451 · Cited by 12
From Sacrifice to the Slaughterhouse
Reed, A. Y. (2013) · Method & Theory in the Study of Religion · doi:10.1163/15700682-12341269 · Cited by 12
Ingestion, Elimination, Sex, and Song: Trickster as Premodern Avatar of Postmodern Research Practice
Kamberelis, G. (2003) · Qualitative Inquiry · doi:10.1177/1077800403254731 · Cited by 12
Cosmovision and Metaphor: Monsters and Shamans in Gallo-British Cult-Expression
Green, M. J. A. (2001) · European Journal of Archaeology · doi:10.1177/146195710100400204 · Cited by 12
MORAL PANIC AND THE POLITICS OF POPULISM
Vincent, L. (2009) · Representation · doi:10.1080/00344890902945871 · Cited by 12
Mimetic desire in autism spectrum disorder
d’Arc, B. F., Vinckier, F., Lebreton, M. P., Soulières, I., Mottron, L., & Pessiglione, M. (2016) · Molecular Autism · doi:10.1186/s13229-016-0107-7 · Cited by 12
Verkaaik, O. (2001) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822381273-013 · Cited by 12
O’Neill, J. (2006) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822387718-012 · Cited by 17
The Riddle of Solomon's Judgment and the Riddle of Human Nature in the Hebrew Bible
Lasine, S. (1989) · Journal for the Study of the Old Testament · doi:10.1177/030908928901404506 · Cited by 12
Memory, Trauma and Genocidal Nationalism
Ray, L. (1999) · Sociological Research Online · doi:10.5153/sro.257 · Cited by 12
Seaford, R. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316761588.008 · Cited by 12
Caroline Foley and the Theory of Intersubjective Demand
Fullbrook, E. (1998) · Journal of Economic Issues · doi:10.1080/00213624.1998.11506076 · Cited by 12
Women’s Voice and Religious Utterances in Ancient Greece
Giordano, M. (2011) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel2040729 · Cited by 12
The monstruous and the miscount: a radical theory of accountability
Furtado, H. T. (2023) · Critical Military Studies · doi:10.1080/23337486.2023.2210407 · Cited by 11
Scapegoat racism and the sacrificial politics of “security”
Denike, M. A. (2015) · Journal of International Political Theory · doi:10.1177/1755088214555596 · Cited by 11
Continuity despite and through death: regicide and royal shrines among the shilluk of southern Sudan
Schnepel, B. (1991) · Africa · doi:10.2307/1160269 · Cited by 11
It’s Wrong, but that’s the Way it is. Youth, Violence and Justice in North-Eastern Brazil
Zoettl, P. A. (2020) · Social & Legal Studies · doi:10.1177/0964663920915967 · Cited by 11
Gabriel, R. H. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.757234 · Cited by 13
Rethinking religious violence: Towards a mimetic approach to violence in international relations
Thomas, S. M. (2015) · Journal of International Political Theory · doi:10.1177/1755088214555464 · Cited by 11
Evans, B. (2009) · Peace Review · doi:10.1080/10402650802690110 · Cited by 11
Sacrifice: Psychodynamic, Cultural and Clinical Aspects
Akhtar, S., & Varma, A. (2012) · The American Journal of Psychoanalysis · doi:10.1057/ajp.2012.7 · Cited by 11
Rowlands, M. (1998) · British Journal of Psychotherapy · doi:10.1111/j.1752-0118.1998.tb00423.x · Cited by 11
Making sacrifices: how ungenerous gifts constitute jobseekers as scapegoats
Boland, T., & Griffin, R. (2016) · Distinktion Journal of Social Theory · doi:10.1080/1600910x.2016.1198920 · Cited by 11
Bouchet, D. (2018) · Journal of Marketing Management · doi:10.1080/0267257x.2018.1521114 · Cited by 11
Earthquakes, Volcanoes and God: Comparative Perspectives from Christianity and Islam
Chester, D., DUNCAN, A. M., & Speake, J. (2019) · GeoHumanities · doi:10.1080/2373566x.2019.1631202 · Cited by 11
Durkheim and the Unthought: Some Dilemmas of Modernity
Ramp, W. (2001) · The Canadian Journal of Sociology · doi:10.2307/3341512 · Cited by 11
Style and the Design of a Perfume Jar from an Archaic Greek City State
Shanks, M. (1993) · Journal of European Archaeology · doi:10.1179/096576693800731190 · Cited by 11
YCC: a gendered carnival? Project work at Volvo Cars
Styhre, A., Backman, M., & Börjesson, S. (2005) · Women in Management Review · doi:10.1108/09649420510584436 · Cited by 11
Legitimizing Violence: Seditious Propaganda and Revolutionary Pamphlets in Bengal, 1908–1918
Sanyal, S. (2008) · The Journal of Asian Studies · doi:10.1017/s0021911808001150 · Cited by 11
The Geography of Violence: Historical Fiction and the National Question
Edwards, S. (2001) · NOVEL A Forum on Fiction · doi:10.2307/1346219 · Cited by 11
Aesthetics and politics of violence in Central Africa
MacGaffey, W. (2000) · Journal of African Cultural Studies · doi:10.1080/713674306 · Cited by 11
Szakolczai, Á. (2001) · International Sociology · doi:10.1177/026858001016003008 · Cited by 11
Peltonen, L. (2006) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822387718-007 · Cited by 12
Secular nationhood? The importance of language in the life of nations
Blattberg, C. (2006) · Nations and Nationalism · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8129.2006.00263.x · Cited by 11
Haila, Y., & Dyke, C. (2006) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822387718-001 · Cited by 11
The extremes of englishness: The ‘exceptional’ ideology of Anthony Mario Ludovici
Stone, D. (1999) · Journal of Political Ideologies · doi:10.1080/13569319908420795 · Cited by 10
Literature as a Meaningful Life Laboratory
Kurakin, D. (2010) · Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science · doi:10.1007/s12124-010-9138-3 · Cited by 10
Toward equality: Including non-human animals in studies of lived religion and nonreligion
Beaman, L. G., & Strumos, L. (2023) · Social Compass · doi:10.1177/00377686231170993 · Cited by 10
Surviving mechanisms of power in immigration strategies: embracing Otherness and pluralisms
Marino, S. (2015) · Journal of International Political Theory · doi:10.1177/1755088214550115 · Cited by 11
Affect, Provocation, and Far Right Rhetoric
Kølvraa, C. (2007) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/9781137483195_9 · Cited by 10
Reddie, A. G. (2017) · Practical Theology · doi:10.1080/1756073x.2017.1404341 · Cited by 10
Development of Methodology for Applying Non-Violent Conflict Resolution in Academic Environment
Терепищий, С. О., & Khomenko, H. (2019) · Future Human Image · doi:10.29202/fhi/12/8 · Cited by 10
A practical theology of liberation: Mimetic theory, liberation theology and practical theology
Ramirez, J., & Beer, S. F. D. (2020) · HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies · doi:10.4102/hts.v76i2.6165 · Cited by 10
‘Cinema, Glamour, Atrocity’: Narratives of Trauma
Marx, L. (2006) · Social Dynamics · doi:10.1080/02533950608628726 · Cited by 10
The Jew, the Blood and the Body in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe
Matteoni, F. (2008) · Folklore · doi:10.1080/00155870802056985 · Cited by 10
Vettel‐Becker, P. (2002) · Men and Masculinities · doi:10.1177/1097184x02005001004 · Cited by 10
Peabody, N. (2009) · Comparative Studies in Society and History · doi:10.1017/s0010417509000164 · Cited by 10
Fin-de-sièclefantasies:Elektra, degeneration and sexual science
Kramer, L. (1993) · Cambridge Opera Journal · doi:10.1017/s0954586700003967 · Cited by 10
Cord of Blood: Possession and the Making of Voodoo
Lovell, N. (2003) · Cited by 10
The construction and scapegoating of Muslims as the “other” in Hindu nationalist rhetoric
Roy, A. (2004) · Southern Communication Journal · doi:10.1080/10417940409373303 · Cited by 10
Violence and the Mimetic Unconscious (Part One): The Cathartic Hypothesis: Aristotle, Freud, Girard
Lawtoo, N. (2018) · Contagion Journal of Violence Mimesis and Culture · doi:10.14321/contagion.25.2018.0159 · Cited by 10
Mimetic Theories of Religion and Violence
Palaver, W. (2013) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199759996.013.0036 · Cited by 10
Religion, Violence and the Vitalistic Economy
Faubion, J. D. (2003) · Anthropological Quarterly · doi:10.1353/anq.2003.0008 · Cited by 10
Mathews, D. G. (1998) · Church History · doi:10.2307/3169763 · Cited by 10
Transforming Sacrifice: Irigaray and the Politics of Sexual Difference
Caldwell, A. (2002) · Hypatia · doi:10.1111/j.1527-2001.2002.tb01072.x · Cited by 9
Men and the Desert: Contested masculinitiesIn Ice Cold in Alex
Leyshon, M., & Brace, C. (2007) · Gender Place & Culture · doi:10.1080/09663690701213719 · Cited by 10
The International Criminal Court and Africa: Exemplary Justice
Bikundo, E. (2011) · Law and Critique · doi:10.1007/s10978-011-9094-1 · Cited by 9
NATURALIZING CHRISTIAN ETHICS: A Critique of Charles Taylor'sA Secular Age
Hart, W. D. (2012) · Journal of Religious Ethics · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9795.2011.00513.x · Cited by 9
Lykkegård, J., & Willerslev, R. (2016) · Sibirica · doi:10.3167/sib.2016.150201 · Cited by 9
Elements of Ritual and Violence
Kitts, M. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108692236 · Cited by 9
Adams, D. M., & Larkham, P. J. (2022) · International Journal of Heritage Studies · doi:10.1080/13527258.2022.2092764 · Cited by 9
Evolutionary Perspectives on Religion and Violence
Alcorta, C. S., & Sosis, R. H. (2022) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009238328 · Cited by 8
Crisis of the International System and International Politics
Sakwa, R. (2023) · Russia in Global Affairs · doi:10.31278/1810-6374-2023-21-1-70-91 · Cited by 9
Hanks, R. R. (2007) · Communist and Post-Communist Studies · doi:10.1016/j.postcomstud.2007.03.003 · Cited by 9
Temporality and the paradoxes of democracy
Barnett, C. (2005) · Political Geography · doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2005.01.011 · Cited by 9
Performing Transcendence in Politics: Sovereignty, Deviance, and the Void of Meaning
Giesen, B. (2005) · Sociological Theory · doi:10.1111/j.0735-2751.2005.00254.x · Cited by 9
Method: Theory and Ethnography in Peace and Conflict Studies
Milne, J. V. (2010) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/9780230282681_5 · Cited by 9
Mellema, G. (2000) · Criminal Justice Ethics · doi:10.1080/0731129x.2000.9992080 · Cited by 9
Peleg, S. (1997) · Studies in Conflict and Terrorism · doi:10.1080/10576109708436037 · Cited by 9
Symbolic Interpretation in Psychoanalysis and Anthropology
Paul, R. A. (1980) · Ethos · doi:10.1525/eth.1980.8.4.02a00020 · Cited by 9
Introduction: Interpreting the Violent State
Sarat, A. D., & Culbert, J. L. (2009) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511581069.001 · Cited by 8
Enfoques disciplinarios e interdisciplinarios para el análisis y definición de la violencia
Armenta, T. G. (2020) · Ánfora · doi:10.30854/anf.v28.n50.2021.656 · Cited by 8
Semantic Reduction of Spirits and Monsters
Engler, S. J. (2021) · The Journal of Gods and Monsters · doi:10.58997/jgm.v2i1.8 · Cited by 8
The Sacred in Current Social Sciences Research
Righetti, N. (2015) · Italian Sociological Review · doi:10.13136/isr.v4i1.77 · Cited by 9
Collectivity, evil and the dynamics of moral value
Backström, J., & Nykänen, H. (2015) · Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice · doi:10.1111/jep.12311 · Cited by 8
Progress in Psychological Biblical Criticism
Aarde, A. G. V. (2015) · Pastoral Psychology · doi:10.1007/s11089-014-0636-y · Cited by 8
Hersh, M. A. (2011) · IFAC Proceedings Volumes · doi:10.3182/20110828-6-it-1002.02475 · Cited by 8
Critical realism, mimetic theory and social work
Houston, S., & Swords, C. (2021) · Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1177/14680173211008806 · Cited by 8
Hopper, E. I. (2023) · Gruppenanalyse · doi:10.30820/0939-4273-2023-1-39 · Cited by 8
Hungry Women: Borderlands Mythos in Two Stories by Helena Maria Viramontes
Swyt, W. (1998) · MELUS Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States · doi:10.2307/468019 · Cited by 8
Codes of Finance. Engineering Derivatives in a Global Bank
Lépinay, V. (2011) · HAL · doi:10.7916/d80r9wkd · Cited by 8
‘In the spirit of men there is no blood’: Blood as Trope of Gender in Julius Caesar
Paster, G. K. (2002) · doi:10.1007/978-0-230-21330-2_8 · Cited by 8
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