The Bataille Reader (Wiley Blackwell Readers)

Since the publication in France of his Oeuvres Completes in the mid-1970s, the breadth of Bataille's writing and influence has become increasingly apparent across a breadth of disciplines including literature, art, art history, philosophy, critical theory, sociology, economics, and anthropology. Bataille is now held by many to be one of the most profound thinkers of the century, the enormous ramifications of whose work have yet to be fully grasped. The Bataille Reader is the best single-volume collection of his work yet available. To present the most complete picture of his influence, The Bataille Reader includes key texts from the broad spectrum of Bataille's work, ranging from his early essays interrogating surrealism and cultural politics in the 1930s, to texts from The Accursed Share 1949, translated 1988, a major engagement in post-Marxist economic theory generally regarded as being his most important work. Generous coverage is given to Bataille's speculations from the 1930s on the limits of being, experience, and identity, as well as to his post-war engagements with existentialism, Marxism, and Hegelianism. The major texts are interspersed with some of the brilliantly punctual essays Bataille produced throughout his career as a prolific essayist, reviewer, and originator of highly-influential journals, such as Documents, Acephale, and Critique. This collection is clearly introduced and comprehensively annotated by the editors.

Since the publication in France of his Oeuvres Complètes in the mid-1970s, the breadth of Bataille's writing and influence has become increasingly apparent across the disciplines in, for example, the fields of literature, art, art history, philosophy, critical theory, sociology, economics, and anthropology. He is now held by many to be one of the most profound thinkers of the century, the enormous ramifications In response to this growing interest, The Bataille Reader includes key texts from the broad spectrum of Bataille's work, from the early essays interrogating surrealism and cultural politics in the 1930s, down to texts from The Accursed Share (1949, translated 1988), a major engagement in post-Marxist economic theory generally regarded as being his most important work. Generous coverage is given to Bataille's speculations, also of the 1930s, on the limits of being, experience and identity, as well as to his post-war engagements with existentialism, Marxism, and Hegelianism. The major texts are interspersed with some of the brilliantly punctual essays Bataille produced throughout his career as a prolific essayist, reviewer and originator of highly-influential journals, such as Documents, Acephale and Critique. Clearly introduced and comprehensively annotated by the editors, this book provides the best single-volume coverage of Bataille's work available.

Since the publication in France of his Oeuvres Completes in the mid-1970s, the breadth of Bataille's writing and influence has become increasingly apparent across the disciplines in, for example, the fields of literature, art, art history, philosophy, critical theory, sociology, economics, and anthropology.