Mimesis, Desire, and the Novel by Pierpaolo Antonello and Heather Webb

These are my notes from Mimesis, Desire, and the Novel by Pierpaolo Antonello and Heather Webb. Each one contains a core idea from the book that stood out. The goal of writing my notes this way is that each could be it's own independent idea with the need for the specific context within the book.

Desire: The Path to Self-Discovery

Jacques Lacan observed something fascinating about human desire: we often hold onto our desires not just for pleasure, but because they shape our very identity. Like a medieval knight on a quest or a character in a coming-of-age novel, our desires put us on a journey of self-discovery. Pain and longing become our teachers, pushing us to understand ourselves better. As Rene Girard points out, even realizing the "inauthentic" nature of our desires – how they're often just mimicking others – becomes a form of profound knowledge. It's a paradox: our desires, even when deceptive, lead us to truth about ourselves.

Literature as a Mirror of Experience

At its heart, literature works through our ability to see ourselves in others. The power of a story lies not just in its plot, but in how it creates a bridge of compassion between reader and character. Like an emotional laboratory, books offer us "embodied simulations" - chances to live experiences through others' eyes. Through this process of mimesis (imitation), we don't just read stories; we recognize, relate, and ultimately transform. It's why a character's triumph can make our hearts soar, or their pain can bring tears to our eyes. Literature isn't just telling stories; it's creating mirrors where we see ourselves and pathways to understanding our own human experience.

Writing Twice: The Path to Truth

René Girard reveals a fascinating insight about the creation of great novels: they must be written twice. The first draft emerges from the author's ego and self-delusion. But the true masterpiece only comes after the writer recognizes their own pride and transfers it to their protagonist. The character then becomes the vessel for the author's original delusions, embarking on a journey toward truth that mirrors the writer's own awakening. As Girard notes, great literature isn't about perfecting technique like a musician practicing scales – it's about achieving "a victory over pride itself." The real art lies in the author's ability to recognize and transcend their own vanity.

When God is Absent, Others Become Divine

In a profound observation about modern spirituality, philosophers note how the absence of God doesn't eliminate our hunger for the divine – it simply redirects it. When traditional faith fades from society, people don't stop seeking transcendence, a phenomenon of imitative desire emerges. They transfer their search for divine fulfillment onto other people, desperately looking to find in others what they feel is missing in themselves. It's a spiritual sleight of hand: the divine doesn't disappear, it just changes address, moving from heaven to earth, from God to fellow humans. But this substitution, born of both pride and desperation, only offers an imitation of the genuine article they truly seek.

The Paradox of Authentic Desire

René Girard presents us with a paradox about human desire. While arguing that all desire is mimetic (copied from others), he cleverly maintains space for authentic desire to exist. It's like a person who must first admit they're lost before they can find their true path. By accepting that we're all caught in the web of mimetic desire, Girard suggests, we paradoxically gain the ability to transcend it. This creates an intriguing circular journey: we must embrace our tendency to imitate others before we can discover our authentic selves. In essence, real autonomy comes not from denying our mimetic nature, but from fully acknowledging it.

The Power of Creative Renunciation

French philosopher Simone Weil offers a paradoxical insight into the nature of creativity through her concept of "creative renunciation." She argues that the highest forms of art emerge not from self-expression, but self-denial. Just as God's greatest creative act was one of restraint—stepping back to allow other beings to exist—true artists must practice this same divine renunciation. When we empty ourselves of ego, Weil suggests, we create space for something greater to flow through us. It's a beautiful paradox: the less we assert ourselves, the more authentic our creation becomes. Like a vessel that must first be emptied to be filled, our creative potential reaches its peak when we learn to get out of our own way.

The Shadow Side of Admiration

Nietzsche warns us about a subtle trap that many ambitious people fall into. When you receive praise, he suggests, it might be a sign that you're walking someone else's path rather than forging your own. Even more dangerous is the tendency to excessively admire others' virtues – it's like watching someone else's garden grow while your own withers from neglect. Through this misplaced focus, we risk losing our unique qualities without successfully adopting those we admire. The message is clear: appreciate others, but never at the cost of abandoning your authentic self.

Structures Hide in Plain Sight

René Girard had a take on discovering patterns in texts. Rather than imposing structures like his famous "triangle of desire" onto literature, he insisted these models were already present, waiting to be uncovered. For Girard, a critic's role wasn't to construct systems but to reveal them – like an archaeologist carefully brushing away sand to expose ancient artifacts. Even in what appears to be a chaotic mass of literature, he believed systematic thinking simply illuminates the hidden order that already exists within human civilization's creative output. It's not about invention, but revelation.

Reading Suggestions

These books were mentioned in Mimesis, Desire, and the Novel:

1. Deceit, Desire, and the Novel by René Girard
2. Violence and the Sacred by René Girard‍
3. Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World by René Girard
4. Introduction to the Reading of Hegel by Alexandre Kojève
5. Zeno’s Conscience by Italo Svevo
6. The Passionless Individual by Gordon McLauchlan
7. A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov
8. A Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry‍
9. A Theater of Envy by René Girard
10. In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
11. To Double Business Bound by René Girard
12. A Future for Astyanax by Leo Bersani
13. Mimesis by Erich Auerbach
14. Anatomy of Criticism by Northrop Frye
15. The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier
16. Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
17. The Red and the Black by Stendhal
18. Battling to the End by René Girard
19. Evolution and Conversion by René Girard
20. Snow by Omar Pamuk
21. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
22. Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
23. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
24. Resurrection from the Underground by René Girard
25. Ulysses by James Joyce
26. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
27. The Phantom of the Ego by Nidesh Lawtoo
28. The Book of Imitation and Desire by Trevor Cribben
29. Strong Motion by Jonathan Franzen
30. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
31. The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell
32. The Great Code by Northrop Frye
33. A Lovers Discourse by Roland Barthes
34. The Logic of Sense by Gilles Deluze
35. Phenomenology of Mind by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
36. Proust and Signs by Gilles Deleuze
37. Essays Critial and Clinical by Gilles Deleuze
38. I See Satan Fall Like Lightning by René Girard
39. The Art of Biblical Narrative by Robert Alter
40. The Brother Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
41. Waiting for God by Simone Weil
42. Republic by Plato
43. Poetics by Aristotle
44. On the Sublime
45. Human, All Too Human II by Friedrich Nietzsche
46. Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert
47. The Way of the World by William Congreve
48. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens