A deft reconstruction of what Georges Bataille envisioned as a
continuation of his work La Somme Athéologique, this volume brings
together the writings of one of the foremost French thinkers of the
twentieth century on the central topic of his oeuvre. Gathering
Bataille’s most intimate writings, these essays, aphorisms,
notes, and lectures on nonknowledge, sovereignty, and sacrifice
clarify and extend Bataille’s radical theology, his philosophy of
history, and his ecstatic method of meditation. Following
Bataille’s lead, as laid out in his notebooks, editor Stuart
Kendall assembles the fragments that Bataille anticipated
collecting for his summa. Kendall’s introduction offers a clear
picture of the author’s overall project, its historical and
biographical context, and the place of these works within it. The
"system" that emerges from these articles, notes, and lectures is
"atheology," understood as a study of the effects of nonknowledge.
At the other side of realism, Bataille’s writing in La Somme
pushes language to its silent end. And yet, writing toward the ruin
of language, in search of words that slip from their meanings,
Bataille uses language—and the discourses of theology,
philosophy, and literature—against itself to return us to
ourselves, endlessly. The system against systems is in fact
systematic, using systems and depending on discourses to achieve
its own ends—the end of systematic thought.A medievalist
librarian by training, Georges Bataille (1897–1962) was active in
the French intellectual scene from the 1920s through the 1950s. He
founded the journal Critique and was a member of the Acéphale
group and the Collège de Sociologie. Among his works available in
English are Visions of Excess (Minnesota, 1985), Tears of Eros
(1989), and Erotism (1990).
General
Imprint: |
University of Minnesota Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
November 2004 |
First published: |
November 2004 |
Authors: |
Georges Bataille
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 149 x 20mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
352 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8166-3505-4 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-8166-3505-6 |
Barcode: |
9780816635054 |
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