The False Binary of Imitation <> Innovation

Competition, Economic Cycles, and Transcendent Models

So steeped are we all in the Innovation Game that it’s easy to forget that innovation used to be an extremely dirty word.

One of René Girard’s most important essays is his “Innovation and Repetition,” found in this must-read collection of his writings on literature and criticism from 1953-2005. He explains the evolution in our understanding of imitation and innovation—and just how radical a view of innovation we hold in today’s world.

I encourage you to buy the book if you’re interested in this topic because the other essays found in it are stellar, too (particularly “Mimetic Desire in the Underground”). However, you can download a digital copy of the essay if you have access to JSTOR. Or you may find what is most likely a copyright-infringed ‘transcription’ of the full text if you Google the title of the essay and Girard’s name, which I won’t dignify with a link.