Dear guest,
It all started with… dinosaurs. From an early age I was fascinated by those strange creatures that walked the earth millions of years ago. Not surprisingly, as a young boy I wanted to become a paleontologist.
This initial plan concerning my future took a slight turn from the moment I met Michaël Ghijs (1933-2008), a Catholic priest and teacher at the high school I was attending. He was also the founding conductor of the boys’ and men’s choir Schola Cantorum Cantate Domino. He enabled his singers, me being one of them, to broaden their horizon on many levels: on the geographical and cultural level by literally travelling the world with us, but also spiritually by living out the message of the Gospel. Inspired by his example and my experiences within his choir, I decided to commit myself to a further exploration of The Christian Story.
I hold a master’s degree in Religious Studies at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium). It was in Leuven I first encountered the work of René Girard (1923-2015), one of the great intellectuals of our time and immortel of the Académie française. A little book by a great theologian, Knowing Jesus by James Alison, set me on track to discover Girard’s further developed Mimetic Theory. For me, this became an anthropological and interdisciplinary starting point to challenge the richness of the Christian tradition. It affected me in a very profound way, and I’m convinced that the thought provoking power of Mimetic Theory can support our multi-layered human society on the road to ‘post-sacrificial’ peace.
Eventually, I published several books and articles on René Girard, Mimetic Theory, culture and religion. I also became a member of the Dutch Girard Society and of COV&R (the Colloquium on Violence & Religion). In 2019, I became an elected member of the board of COV&R for several years. In 2011, I started Mimetic Margins, a blog to explore the work of René Girard (and many others) further. Scapegoat Shadows, this website, is a reboot of my first online activity in that regard. It contains the Mimetic Margins Archives (with lots of instructive debates under certain posts), as well as new material.
I’m currently teaching at a Jesuit High School, Sint-Jozefscollege, in Aalst (Belgium). I am also a journalist and editor-at-large for Tertio, a weekly magazine. In my spare time I keep on singing, as an alto or countertenor, trained at Schola Cantorum Cantate Domino as I mentioned (I was a member from 1991-2010). I took part in several recordings, both as a choir member and as a soloist.
In het boek Vrouwen, Jezus en rock-‘n-roll – Met René Girard naar een dialoog tussen het christelijk verhaal en de populaire cultuur (cover – pdf) is de mimetische theorie van René Girard een dankbaar referentiekader om de relevantie van het christelijk verhaal voor de populaire cultuur te schetsen aan de hand van een aantal concrete voorbeelden (gaande van Stan, een wereldhit van rapper Eminem, over andere meer en minder bekende songs – bijvoorbeeld American Life van Madonna, The Unforgiven van Metallica en When you were young van The Killers -, tot films als American Beauty en Pleasantville).
BESTELLEN kan onder andere hier (klik) of rechtstreeks bij uitgeverij Averbode – klik hier.
Mijn speech bij de voorstelling kan gelezen worden op de site van de Nederlandse Girard Studiekring, door hier te klikken.
Een interview over het boek, met wat meer achtergrondinformatie is eveneens daar beschikbaar (dank aan Berry Vorstenbosch) – klik hier.
Klik hier voor nog een ander interview over het boek, met het tijdschrift overhoop.
De tekst van Piet Raes, die het boek introduceerde, is hier (klik) te vinden.

Enkele foto’s die genomen werden tijdens de voorstelling van het boek, in de pater Taeymanszaal van het Sint-Jozefscollege (Aalst, 9 oktober 2009):




