Georges Bataille
This website is under significant construction. Tread carefully!
Content warning: Bataille is notorious for his pornographic works, which contain copious amounts of violence and other unpleasant things that people often find disturbing. For example, Story of the Eye contains scenes of rape and necrophilia. Read at your own peril. Youv'e been warned.
Now that that's out of the way, here are the links!
Overview
Erotic Exuberance: Bataille's Notion of Eroticism (2017) - Thomas Minguy explains the relation of Bataille's Eros to (dis)continuity, death, transgression, sovereignty, and the sacred.
Georges Bataille - Oeuvres complètes and other French collections; English translations (last accessed 11/11/2022) - Stuart Elden has compiled a list of Bataille's writings and where to find their English translations.
Georges Bataille's Experience (2018, limited monthly access) - Michael Mocatta connects sovereignty, the sacred, the horizontal and vertical axes, and internal and external experiences to mental health and recovery.
Works
Story of the Eye (1928)
Documents (1929-1930)
Try to see it my way... (2006) - Mark Hudson's description of a 2006 art exhibition on Documents highlights Bataille's troubled relationship with Surrealism.
The Use Value of D. A. F. de Sade (1930)
The Solar Anus (1931)
The Notion of Expenditure (1933)
The Psychological Structure of Fascism (1933)
Bataille on Psychological Structure of Fascism (2020) - Shannon Bell explains the historical context of "The Psychological Structure of Facsism," focusing on the homogeneous, the heterogeneous, and sovereignty. (Warning: the audio is very loud and harsh, and only works on the left side)
Introduction to Georges Bataille (1979) - John Brenkman connects the essay to class struggle of the 1930s, gift economies, and Bataille's thinking on fascism.
Acéphale (1936-1939)
The Accursed Share (1949)
Sovereign Disregard: On Bataille's Accursed Share (2020) - Timothy Lavenz describes Bataille's account of sovereignty in volume 3 of The Accursed Share and contrasts it with today's worship of celebrities and finance.
The Cruel Practice of Art (1949)
Erotism: Death and Sensuality (1957)
This book's title is sometimes spelled Eroticism.
Literature and Evil (1957)
Georges Bataille: Literature and Evil (1958) - Bataille explains to interviewer Pierre Dumayet the significance of the book's title, the relationship of literature and evil, and its connections with Erotism.
Theory of Religion (1973, posthumous)
Georges Bataille: The Dark Soul of the Night (2018) - Andrew Kuiper argues that Bataille's insights on religion are relevant to Catholic thought.