Bowled over by Mimetic Desire

Looking at an article on African theology last night, I found myself checking whether Girard was in the bibliography, as a condition of my reading further. When he was not there, I put the article down. 

French scholar (1923-2015) Girard puts triangular desire as foundation to his take on people. That is, we desire (not a thing but) what someone else has, or even, what they desire. In the course of his life, Girard transformed from a scholar of European literature to a powerful advocate for the Gospel. 

What's all that got to do with bible translation?  I found Girard's anthropology (as above) to be very true to Africans. Perhaps also to many majority world communities ... the kinds of communities for whom we are often translating bibles. Girard comes up with something akin to witchcraft, not only in African villages, but in the modern West also. He unveils what we could call 'social dynamics' that he finds throughout the Scriptures, essentially of crowds victimizing innocent suspects, and then of God standing with the victim. 

I say 'we could call social dynamics', because Girard's work (considered academically respectable, but mostly concealed from view as it is too threatening to the status quo) seems to undermine what we these days call 'social'. One immediate application to bible translation could be on the question of the prominence given, or otherwise, to 'witchcraft terminology'. I think translators tend, in the name of 'modernisation', to avoid using suspect terms related to killing witches in bible translations. But that way, are we missing the heart of living communities?

If someone is inspired to explore Girard as a result of this post, that's great. Even  more; there are probably people out there who are 'ahead of the game', and might be able to point me to Girardian materials of particular pertinence to African mission and bible-translation contexts? (Googling 'Rene Girard' is probably as good a way as any to begin exploring his work.)

PS Openings remain for people to present at our upcoming UK conference on vulnerable mission (December 2019), in which mission-linguistics is a major theme. Details: https://www.allnations.ac.uk/events/missionaries-aliens-providers-or-fellow-travellers