Research On Girard's Mimetic Desire Theory

René Girard was a contemporary famous French literary critic,anthropologist,and philosopher,known for his sagaciousness and knowledgeableness.His theories are reputed as “Girard System”,and his creative explanation for the origin of desire has gained wide attention from scholars both at home and abroad.This research is mainly based on Girard's mimetic desire theory and attempts to reveal the internal structure and influence of mimetic desire and how to find out a path suitable for the intrinsic desire of modern social development.Revolving around the above research questions,this paper discusses and analyzes in the following aspects.Chapter 1 points out the expression form of subjective desire and mimetic desire,and why Girard thought that subjective desire is not the essence of desire.With the origin of subjective desire by Freud as the main research object,this chapter expounds from three aspects,including libido,artists' unconscious art creation and dreamland.Girard denied the theory of linear desire,and put forward mimetic desire,namely triangular desire,which highlights the mediator that is erased from the universal object-subject desire model.However,both desire models will result in people's immersion in romantic illusions and the desire reality depicted by novels.Chapter 2 focuses on unique structural characteristics of the mimetic desire communication and development.First,the mediator displacement is mainly reflected as development from the vertical transcendence to the deflected transcendence.The holy radiance of the mediator makes the subject scramble for it.Literary works are analyzed to demonstrate unique changes of the mediator.Second,value loss of the desire object,namely when the realization of a desire object cannot satiate the subject.Therefore,Girard thought that devastation of the dire object will not flinch the desire subject but would make the subject believe that the object has never possessed the mystic value it should have had.Third,metaphysical desire communication.Through analysis of mimetic analysis,it can be seen that not all mimetic desires are the desires really wanted by the subject.Mimetic desire is influenced by the mediator,and the subject cannot control its eagerness to pursue the desire which is unlikely to come true.This part is mainly analyzed using the theory of double mediator and master-slave dialectic.Chapter 3 introduce two crazy models of the subject when mimetic desire develops to certain degree.One is to practice aberration for desire,and the other is to develop masochism and sadism.Under the first model,when a subject enters the mystic circle of mimetic desire,the subject will sacrifice himself by restraining himself so as to facilitate satisfaction of his desire.Masochism is reflected as the subject's enjoyment of his pursuit of the halo among obstacles in the desire mediator.On the contrary,sadism refers to the condition that the subject wants to become the mediator to reflect his own holy value.The last chapter summarizes the research findings of this paper in exploring Girard's mimetic desire theory,and provides an path to the origin of desire.Neither subjective desire nor mimetic desire is the rational desire coming along with the development of the contemporary society and humans.Therefore,to seek a path to the origin of desire is the ultimate objective of this paper.First,return to transcendence,that is,to return to belief and deity,and deal with the generation of inner desire with a universal mentality based on a thorough study of Girard's mimetic desire theory.Second,condemn the mediator.Because the existence of the mediator is holy to the subject,the mediator should be desecrated,which requires humans to give full play of their rational awareness in the face of desire,and to seek an answer from Maslow's human-oriented psychology.Third,construct ego.Humans' desire development relies on the ego to establish a normal interaction mechanism with others and society.The dialogue mode among “I”,“you” and “it”,which is emphasized by Martin Buber's dialogue theory,is inclusive and shared.