Boreas Podcast

George Boreas

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Boreas Podcast

Mimetic theory takes on everything.

JAN 1

Dostoevsky Part 2: Resurrection from the Underground

Send us a textWe start where we left off in Part 1: Dostoevsky the romantic wakes up and realizes he lives in the underground, filled with resentment, frustrated ambition, and tormenting idols. The underground man struggles to break free in the character of Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment and the teacher in The Gambler.We then encounter formidable idols that attract and foment underground passions all around them: Prince Myshkin in The Idiot and Nikolai Stavrogin in The Possessed. Dosto...

1h 38m
12/29/2024

Dostoevsky Part 1: From Romanticism to the Underground

Send us a textA review of the life and works of the great Fyodor Dostoevsky following René Girard's book Dostoevsky: Resurrection from the Underground. A masterpiece of literary criticism in its own right, this book brings edifying and brilliant insights into Dostoevsky's own masterpieces, but only by connecting them to the novelist's lesser works and personal life.Girard traces a coherent arch in Dostoevsky's life and works, from a frustrated naive romantic trying to fit into the literary fa...

1h 14m
12/14/2024

Math and Masochism

Send us a textRené Girard's mysterious quote on masochist reasoning being a model of scientific induction. Connecting masochistic conclusions about the nature of the universe to that of the scientist. What logical genius may have in common with masochism – the idiot-savant stereotype. Why modern materialistic and atheistic ideologies tend to turn sadomasochistic.Support the show

58 min
12/08/2024

The Mimetic Status of the Devil

Send us a textThe Devil is trending. Talk of demons can be heard from Tucker Carlson, theorists on UFOs and AI, right-wing podcasters interviewing exorcists, and the Psychedelic Renaissance aficionados. So I go over what I recently wrote about the devil on my blog: Girard's anthropological interpretation of the Devil as the force behind seduction, conflict, and accusation; the victimary mechanism as the Satanic mechanism, depicted in the story of the Gerasene Demoniac and the parable of Satan...

1h 22m
11/04/2024

The Double Bind and Schizophrenia

Send us a textGregory Bateson's double bind as the cause of schizophreniaRené Girard on the double bind as a universal human experienceGirard's notion of the haunting double as the source of the double bind and central cause and symptom of schizophreniaSupport the show

1h 31m
07/11/2024

Shakespeare Part 2

Send us a textLast episode for the summer. Shakespeare snobbery. Two audiences of Shakespeare: the mob and the initiates. Two layers in Othello and Hamlet: romanticism and mimesis. Othello: thirst for the exotic and the death wish. Hamlet: disillusionment with the violent sacred. Shakespeare the man: relationship trauma and dramatic genius.Support the show

1h 27m
07/09/2024

Shakespeare Part 1

Send us a textRené Girard wrote a book of literary criticism of Shakespeare titled "Theatre of Envy: William Shakespeare." The book makes centuries of Shakespeare critics look like fools while confirming the bard himself as a monumental literary figure. This podcast summarises some of the big points of Girard's analysis of Shakespeare.Shakespeare dramatised and reflected on what Girard calls the mimetic nature of desire ("love through others' eyes"), using it as a key plot device in many of h...

1h 30m
07/01/2024

Turn the Other Cheek

Send us a textChrist's admonitions to turn the other cheek, love thy enemy, etc., from the Sermon on the Mount unsettle many brave Christians. We interpret these admonitions conclusively with the help of René Girard's mimetic exegesis. Take courage soldier! – Jesus does not advocate cowardice or resignation. We also reference C.S. Lewis, and discuss how "love thy enemy" links to Sun Tzu's precepts in The Art of War.Support the show

1h 24m

Mimetic theory takes on everything.

Creator

George Boreas
Years Active

2023 - 2025
Episodes

51
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© 2025 Boreas Podcast
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Boreas Podcast

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