Mimesis and Imitation
by Paul Dumouchel Mimesis Girard in his works uses the word “mimesis”, “mimetic desire” and associated terms in two relatively different ways. On the one hand the terms are used in a causal way, as if mimesis and mimetic desire were some form of psychological force that brings people to copy each other, especially in their behaviour of appropriation. Mimesis in this case is understood as a kind of instinct or as a biologically determined propension to copy others. On the other hand, the terms are also used in a descriptive way. On such occasions, mimesis corresponds to or is present whenever we notice similarities in the behaviour of different individuals. This is particularly the case, but not exclusively, when Girard talks about violence. To take a recent, and uncontroversial example, Ismail Haniyeh, the senior political leader of Hamas declared after the atrocious attack on Israeli civilians: “We have only one thing to say to you: get out of our land. Get out of our sig