Evolution and Conversion: Dialogues on the Origins of Culture

Rene Girard is one of the most provocative and striking intellectuals of the twentieth century. Over the past forty years, his work has continued to exert an influence across literary theory, philosophy and the social sciences. Echoing the format of his early works, Evolution and Conversion brings Girard into dialogue with two sympathetic interviewers and allows him to speak candidly about the major tenets of his life and thought.

Hailed by Michel Serres as the 'Charles Darwin' of human sciences, Girard is one of the few thinkers who has used the insights of sociobiology to explain the emergence of culture and institutions. Evolution and Conversion draws out not only this aspect of his thought but also emphasizes the centrality of religion to his work. Girard's reflection on the relationship between violence and religion is both original and persuasive and, given the urgency of this issue in our contemporary world, in need of reappraisal.

About the Author:
Rene Girard is the Andrew B. Hammond Professor Emeritus of French Language, Literature, and Civilization at Stanford University, USA

About the Author:
Pierpaolo Antonello is Senior Lecturer at the University of Cambridge, UK, and Fellow of St John's College

About the Author:
Joao Cezar de Castro Rocha is Professor of Comparative Transatlantic Studies at the University of Manchester and Humboldt Research Fellow, Germany