Among the Outsiders: Studies in Scapegoat Figure Typologies

Following in the footsteps of Frazer, Freud, and Burke, René Girard proposes a novel hermeneutic theory of the of scapegoating which not only gives voice to the victims in the face of unjust persecution, but likewise unmasks the generative function that belies its frequently lethal dénouement depicted in texts of persecution. Sacrificial violence undergoes a process of mythic crystallization, often reenacted in the hopes of achieving stabilization. Thus, scapegoats cannot be perceived as mere literary motifs or narrative inventions. The present work examines and interprets the role of these victims on the basis of the four categories of literary scapegoats as an analytical exercise in textual archaeology and sociological criticism, paying particular notice to the socio-cultural circumstances which necessitate collective violence. Each chapter essay addresses one type of scapegoat figure found in the works of Gross, Du Maurier, Genet, Steinbeck, Hinton, and Golding.