I've always known there was some connection between Noir and Mythology, but the bridge between the two has always eluded me, until now. Tonight I heard an instalment of the Entitled Opinions podcast, which originates as a show on KZSU, the University of Stanford radio station. On the October 4th 2005 show there is a conversation between the show's host professor Robert Harrison and a retired Stanford professor, Rene Girard. Together they talked about Girard's theories of religious ritual and mythology, and in turn their connection with the scapegoats and sacrifice. Girard's initial studies of the literary texts of Cervantes, Proust, and Dostoyevsky in terms of "triangular" or "mimetic" desire lead to a subsequent study of primitive religions from the standpoint of the mimetic concept, and he saw that mimesis usually led to collective violence against a single victim, the scapegoat. In this podcast he never mentions Noir, though he touches on one of it's root concepts Nihilism, he also doesn't talk of fiction, but his analysis, made it clear, at least for me that the deep within the unreflective mind of the human animal is a need for a scapegoat. This conversation bridged the gap between Mythology and Noir, between and the myth of Oedipus and The Postman Always Rings Twice. Maybe it will blow your mind too.

You can download the MP3 of the show HERE.

posted by Jesse