The Scapegoat (Masterplots II: Nonfiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: René Girard
- First Published: 1982
- Type of Work: Cultural criticism
- Genres: Criticism, Nonfiction
- Subjects: Justice, History, Crime or criminals, Victims, Violence, Fratricide, parricide, or filicide, Truthfulness and falsehood, Persecution
Form and Content
The concept of “persecution texts,” central to the argument of The Scapegoat, is defined by René Girard as “accounts of real violence, often collective, told from the perspective of the persecutors, and therefore influenced by characteristic distortions.” In this book, Girard undertakes the task of showing how to identify such distortions and to reveal the arbitrary nature of the violence as a prelude to correction. The paradigm Girard chooses to start his discussion of the cultural significance of scapegoats is that presented by...
[The entire page is 2282 words long]
Navigate
- The Scapegoat (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
- The Scapegoat (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
- The Scapegoat (Masterplots II: Nonfiction Series)
See Also:
- Add The Scapegoat to your favorites