Interpretation of violence through the practice of the sacred in the anthropological concept of Rene Girard

Abstract

The article is about the anthropological visibility of Rene Girard, according to which the sacred is inextricably taken together. The issue of violence is one of the fundamental questions of philosophy because it affects not only the individual but is fundamental to all social institutions. There is no unified interpretation for the phenomenon of violence in the humanities, and such discrepancy is manifested in the fact that some researchers still believe that aggression is part of the genetic structure, while others write off violence as a consequence of social factors.
Religion also appears to be a complex phenomenon not entirely understood, despite attempts at synthesized analysis by anthropologists. A natural question arises: is the relationship between religion and violence possible, and if so, how? How can two phenomena so dissimilar at first glance be compared? Meanwhile, the concept of Rene Girard offers such a universal scheme that explains the social purpose of the sacred in connection with the phenomenon of violence.
The article considers how violence affects society and the mechanisms by which society tries to protect itself from violence, such as sacrifice and the subsequent sacralization of the victim.
Also considered are aspects of Girard’s concept such as the role of revenge and judgment, profanity, the contagion of violence, and the language of the sacred.