ABSTRACT
Triangles of desire are a metaphor for the non-linear geometry of desire that can be pathogenic and prone to rivalry when subject and model are in the same social space; but salutogenic during Serious Fun experiences as campers and counselors are in the different kingdoms of the sick and the well. The triangle can be a responsive metaphor for the geometry of desire, as the shape of the triangle reflects the type of relationship between the subject and the mediator. From Rene Girard’s perspective, mimetic desire has a triangular form composed by the subject and the object of desire at the base and the model as a mediator at the apex. The egalitarian ideal of modernity poses a problem for those advocating external mimesis as the way to reform identities. Modernity is hostile to traditional authority and is reticent about any kind of deference towards distinction.
