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I think you mean René Girard (1923–2015), the French historian, literary critic, and social theorist.

The central idea: We imitate each other

Girard’s most famous claim is that human desire is mimetic—we learn what to want by seeing what other people want.

For example, you may think you want a particular job, partner, status symbol, or lifestyle because it appeals to you directly. Girard argues that often you want it because someone else values it. We unconsciously copy not only behavior but desire itself.

This creates a triangle:

• Subject (the person desiring)
• Model or mediator (the person being imitated)
• Object (the thing desired)

The object is often less important than the model.

Mimetic rivalry

When two people imitate each other’s desires, they become rivals.

Girard believed that many conflicts begin this way:

• Siblings competing for parental attention
• Neighbors competing for status
• Nations competing for prestige
• Political factions mirroring each other’s hostility

Ironically, rivals often become more alike as their conflict intensifies.

The scapegoat mechanism

Girard’s second major idea is that communities under stress often resolve internal conflict by blaming a single person or group.

As tensions rise, everyone unites against a scapegoat:

• A stranger
• A minority
• A heretic
• A suspected witch
• An outsider

The community experiences relief because violence that had been spreading internally is redirected toward one victim.

Girard argued that many myths and social institutions originated from this process.

Religion and myth

Girard believed that ancient myths often conceal the innocence of the victim. The crowd’s violence appears justified.

He argued that the Judeo-Christian scriptures are unusual because they increasingly reveal the victim’s perspective.

For Girard:

• The story of Abel highlights an innocent victim.
• The story of Joseph exposes unjust persecution.
• The crucifixion of Jesus Christ fully reveals the innocence of the scapegoat and the violence of the crowd.

This was one of his most controversial claims.

His major books

• Deceit, Desire and the Novel — introduces mimetic desire through literature.
• Violence and the Sacred — develops the scapegoat theory.
• The Scapegoat — analyzes victimization in culture and religion.
• Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World — his most comprehensive statement of the theory.

Influence

Girard’s ideas have influenced:

• Literary criticism
• Anthropology
• Theology
• Psychology
• Political theory

His admirers see him as offering a grand explanation of human conflict. His critics argue that he tries to explain too much with a single theory and sometimes stretches the evidence.

A one-sentence summary of Girard’s work would be:

Human beings learn what to desire by imitating one another; this imitation creates rivalry, rivalry produces social crisis, and societies often restore order by uniting against a scapegoat.