Bataille: A Critical Reader

An elegant introduction to Bataille′s major concepts and concerns, Bataille: A Critical Reader underlines the powerful impact his work has had, in different ways, on an entire generation of thinkers. It reveals a fascinating genealogy, marking Bataille′s pivotal position for theorists whose own work has enabled the transformation of literary and cultural studies in the Anglo–American academy in the last twenty years. The Critical Reader thus redresses what has been a gaping oversight in the reception of French thought since the 1960s. Keying their selections to The Bataille Reader, the editors provide students and general readers of both volumes with an essential and consistently clear source of reference and elucidation. Chapters included are by: Jean Baudrillard, Maurice Blanchot, Mikkel Borch–Jacobsen, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Jean–Joseph Goux, Denis Hollier, Jurgen Habermas, Philippe Sollers, with an extensive introduction by the editors.

Acknowledgements. Introduction: Fred Botting and Scott Wilson. 1. Preface to Transgression: Michel Foucault. 2. Affirmation and the Passion of Negative Thought: Maurice Blanchot. 3. The Dualist Materialism of George Bataille: Denis Hollier. 4. The Roof: Essay in Systematic Reading: Philippe Sollers. 5. From Restricted to General Economy: A Hegelianism Without Reserve: Jacques Derrida. 6. Death in Bataille: Jean Baudrillard. 7. The Laughter of Being: Mikkel Borch–Jacobsen. 8. The French Path to Postmodernity: Bataille between Eroticism and General Economics: Jürgen Habermas. 9. When Bataille Attacked the Metaphysical Principle of Economy: Jean Baudrillard. 10. General Economics and Postmodern Capitalism: Jean–Joseph Goux. Bibliography. Index.

Fred Botting and Scott Wilson both teach in the Department of English at Lancaster University. They are co–editors of The Bataille Reader (1997), a companion also from Blackwell to the Critical Reader. Fred Bottings publications include Gothic (1996). Scott Wilson is the author of Cultural Materialism: Theory and Practice (Blackwell Publishers, 1995).

" Bataille: A Critical Reader is a careful selection of some of the best and most interesting critical work on this elusive and often obscure thinker." University of Sussex