Michel Surya

Translated by Krzysztof Filjalkowski and Michael Richardson Winner of the 1987 Prix Goncourt for Biography Georges Bataille (1897–1962), philosopher, writer and founder of the influential literary review Critique, had an enormous impact on the thinking of Foucault, Derrida and Baudrillard, and his ideas have been the subjets of recent debates in a wide range of disciplines. In this acclaimed intellectual biography Michel Surya enters into a complicity with Bataille's oeuvre to provide a detailed exposition of its themes as they developed against the backdrop of his life. The essence of Bataille's life and work were defined by transience and effacement, reflecting a will both to contest the impermanence of things and to confront death. His troubled childhood, his relationships with surrealism and his paradoxical position at the heart of twentieth-century French thought are enriched here with testimonies from Bataille's closest acquaintances, making this a vivid and detailed study. Revealing the contexts in which he worked, and the ways in which his work and ideas took shape, Surya sheds essential light on a figure Foucault described as "one of the most important writers of the century."

An Intellectual Biography

Georges Bataille

"On le sait aujourd'hui : Bataille est l'un des écrivains les plus importants de ce siècle." Ainsi parlait Michel Foucault. Pourtant, plus souvent cité que réellement lu, cet auteur exigeant, peut-être même intimidant, semble de nos jours encore confiné dans une marge dont certains craignent de ne pas avoir la clé, quand d'autres pensent lui être fidèles en le réduisant à des provocations puériles. Il est vrai que Bataille est l'auteur d'ouvrages aussi différents qu'Histoire de l'oeil et La Part maudite, Madame Edwarda et L'Expérience intérieure, L'Impossible et La Souveraineté, une oeuvre véritablement philosophique et littéraire, indissociablement, car si elle appartient à des genres très divers, elle relève pour finir du genre unique que Bataille lui a donné. L'ouvrage de Michel Surya permet de lire Bataille dans sa totalité. Biographie (la place faite à la vie de cet auteur y est en effet considérable), Georges Bataille, la mort à l'oeuvre est également un essai de référence pour qui veut comprendre Bataille.

Georges Bataille, la mort à l'oeuvre

Jean-Paul Curnier

Sur David Nebreda

Michael Richardson

Krzysztof Fijalkowsk

An authoritative account of the life and work of Bataille.

Georges Bataille was a philosopher, writer, librarian, pornographer and a founder of the influential journals Critique and Acéphale. He has had an enormous impact on contemporary thought, influencing such writers as Barthes, Baudrillard, Derrida, Foucault and Sontag. Many of his books, including the notorious Story of the Eye and the fascinating The Accursed Share, are modern classics. In this acclaimed intellectual biography, Michel Surya gives a detailed and insightful account of Bataille’s work against the backdrop of his life – his troubled childhood, his difficult relationship with André Breton and the surrealists and his curious position as a thinker of excess, ‘potlatch’, sexual extremes and religious sacrifice, one who nonetheless remains at the heart of twentieth century French thought—all of it drawn here in rich and allusive prose. While exploring the source of the violent eroticism that laces Bataille’s novels, the book is also an acute guide to the development of Bataille’s philosophical thought. Enriched by testimonies from Bataille’s closest acquaintances and revealing the context in which he worked, Surya sheds light on a figure Foucault described as ‘one of the most important writers of the century’.

Michel Surya

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