Mimetic Desire
Description
"Mimetic desire operates as a subconscious imitation of another’s desire. The same unconscious pull explains both friendship and rivalry. For example, let’s say that I am a graduate student in the field of psychology, and I am desperate to work with the highly esteemed professor in our department, Dr. Jones. Dr. Jones seems to have it all – respect, a thriving research lab, and many collaborations with the world-renowned psychologist, Dr. Smart. For a good year, I work hard to be just like Dr. Jones – I copy her research methods, attend similar conferences, and work at a pace that mirrors Dr. Jones’. As time goes on, my research practice takes off, and soon it is I and not Dr. Jones who is being asked to headline conferences with Dr. Smart. It’s not long before Dr. Jones, who had taken pride in my successes, comes to think of me as a rival for opportunities to work with Dr. Smart. Dr. Jones may even accuse me of a new desire – that of wanting to destroy her career and she may soon act to undermine my career rather than encourage it. Collaboration has turned to rivalry and friendship into enmity.
René Girard called this a “mimetic rivalry” to highlight the movement from a model-subject to a model-obstacle relationship. This shift occurs when desires converge on an object that cannot be shared (such as a job, a first place prize, or a lover) or that the rivals are unwilling to share (such as fame or working with Dr. Smart). It’s important to note that the two rivals are now models for one another, enflaming each other’s desire to work with Dr. Smart by desiring to possess it exclusively. Each is now a model-obstacle for the other, something both would vehemently deny. Each will claim that their desire is autonomous and the other has betrayed their friendship out of plain wickedness. Girard has pointed out that the problem is not that desires are mimetic, but that in clinging to the mirage of our own originality we become prone to blaming others rather than recognize our complicity in mimetic rivalries."