Intimate domain : desire, trauma, and mimetic theory

417 Pages·2014·2.023 MB·English

by  Reineke, Martha J

Intimate
Domain
Studies in Violence, Mimesis, and Culture
SERIES EDITOR
William A. Johnsen
Th e Studies in Violence, Mimesis, and Culture Series examines issues related to the nexus of
violence and religion in the genesis and maintenance of culture. It furthers the agenda of the
Colloquium on Violence and Religion, an international association that draws inspiration
from René Girard’s mimetic hypothesis on the relationship between violence and religion,
elaborated in a stunning series of books he has written over the last forty years. Readers
interested in this area of research can also look to the association’s journal, Contagion: Journal
of Violence, Mimesis, and Culture.
ADVISORY BOARD
René Girard, Stanford University Raymund Schwager†, University of Innsbruck
Andrew McKenna, Loyola University of Chicago James Williams, Syracuse University
EDITORIAL BOARD
Rebecca Adams, Independent Scholar Sandor Goodhart, Purdue University
Mark Anspach, École Polytechnique, Paris Robert Hamerton-Kelly†, Stanford University
Pierpaolo Antonello, University of Cambridge Hans Jensen, Aarhus University, Denmark
Ann Astell, University of Notre Dame Mark Juergensmeyer, University of California,
Cesáreo Bandera, University of North Carolina Santa Barbara
Maria Stella Barberi, Università di Messina Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Shaw University
Alexei Bodrov, St. Andrew’s Biblical Th eological Michael Kirwan, SJ, Heythrop College, University
Institute, Moscow of London
João Cezar de Castro Rocha, Universidade do Paisley Livingston, Lingnan University, Hong Kong
Estado do Rio de Janeiro Charles Mabee, Ecumenical Th eological Seminary,
Benoît Chantre, L’association Recherches Detroit
Mimétiques Józef Niewiadomski, Universität Innsbruck
Diana Culbertson, Kent State University Wolfgang Palaver, Universität Innsbruck
Paul Dumouchel, Ritsumeikan University Martha Reineke, University of Northern Iowa
Jean-Pierre Dupuy, Stanford University, École Tobin Siebers, University of Michigan
Polytechnique Th ee Smith, Emory University
Giuseppe Fornari, Università degli studi di Bergamo Mark Wallace, Swarthmore College
Eric Gans, University of California, Los Angeles Eugene Webb, University of Washington
Intimate
Domain
DESIRE, TRAUMA, AND
MIMETIC THEORY
Martha J. Reineke
Michigan State University Press · East Lansing
Copyright © 2014 by Martha J. Reineke
i Th e paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso
z39.48-1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper).
pMichigan State University Press
East Lansing, Michigan 48823-5245
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
library of congress control number: 2014931994
isbn: 978-1-61186-128-0 (pbk.)
isbn: 978-1-60917-415-6 (ebook: PDF)
isbn: 978-1-62895-003-8 (ebook: ePub)
isbn: 978-1-62896-003-7 (ebook: Mobi/prc)
Book design and composition by Charlie Sharp, Sharp Des!gns, Lansing, Michigan
Cover design by David Drummond, Salamander Design, www.salamanderhill.com
Cover art is Oedipus and the Sphinx, 1864, by Gustave Moreau, from the collection of Th e
Metropolitan Museum of Art, a bequest of William H. Herriman, 1920.
G Michigan State University Press is a member of the Green Press Initiative
and is committed to developing and encouraging ecologically responsible
publishing practices. For more information about the Green Press Initiative and the use of
recycled paper in book publishing, please visit www.greenpressinitiative.org.
Visit Michigan State University Press at www.msupress.org
In Memoriam
Mary and Lester Reineke

Contents
ix Acknowledgments
xi preface. Th e Family, Feminist Scholarship, and Mimetic Th eory
xxv introduction. Family Matters
part 1. in search of lost time
3 prelude. Mothers
17 chapter 1. Th e Eyes of a Parricide
29 chapter 2. Of Madeleines, Mothers, and Montjouvain
57 chapter 3. Th e Journey Home Is through the World
part 2. antigone
81 prelude. Siblings
93 chapter 4. Th e House of Labdacus: On Kinship and Sacrifice
121 chapter 5. Trauma and the Th eban Cycle
141 chapter 6. Antigone and the Ethics of Intimacy
part 3. the old man and the wolves
179 prelude. Fathers
201 chapter 7. Not a Country for Old Men: Violence and Mimesis
in Santa Varvara
225 chapter 8. To Glimpse a World without Wolves: From Conflict
to Compassion
263 Notes
349 Bibliography
361 Index
Acknowledgments
T
he idea for this book emerged during a faculty seminar on Antigone
at the University of Northern Iowa and crystallized when Rosemary
Johnsen invited me to present a paper on Antigone at an annual
meeting of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion (COV&R). I realized
then that ideas I had explored in my book Sacrificed Lives merited further
attention. Previously, I had reflected on how René Girard’s mimetic theory
enhances Kristeva’s discussion of violence. In conversation with other femi-
nist scholars, I realized that I should develop further the dialogue I had initi-
ated between Kristeva and Girard. Just as I had found that Girard enhances
and augments Kristeva’s reflections on violence, I now saw that Kristeva
off ers key insights that helpfully extend the analytic powers of mimetic
theory. Intimate Domain was born of this insight.
In multiple venues over many years, my colleagues in COV&R have
been highly responsive to this project as I have shared draft s of chapters with
them, and I thank them for their support. I also have been sustained in my
eff orts by the University of Northern Iowa, which granted me a professional
development assignment and a summer fellowship to write several chapters
of this book. I thank my graduate assistant, Chelsea DeLucenay, for her help,
especially for the bibliographic support she provided for the chapters on
ix