Theory
Georges
T r a n sla te d
bY
Ro b e r t
Religion
of
Bataille
Hu r leY
Z-ONE
NEW
T]OOK S
1989
Y OR K
...
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Theory
Georges
T r a n sla te d
bY
Ro b e r t
Religion
of
Bataille
Hu r leY
Z-ONE
NEW
T]OOK S
1989
Y OR K
reveoledto itscll b.v Desireis r''hot trctnsformt IJcin11J, ( t - lr 9 t l9 Ur zo n c, ln c'
into on "object" revectledto d itselt'in (true) know'leclge,
Z o N F BOOKS
"tubjcct" dit't'erentt'rom the objcct ttnd "opposecl"to it. It is in oncl b.r'- or betterstill, as - "his" Desirethat mtrn
6 r l R r o a ( l\\' a v Su itc 8 3 8 N c s Ytr r k, NY t o o t I A l l r i g h ts r cse r te r l b c r cp r o tlu cccl ' sttl rcd i n r' N o p ar t o t th is b o o k m a v il' r a n v lirrm or trv r c t r i t :r ' a l svstcn l, o r tr a n sn litte ltl m cch a ni cal ' photo. ' ' t r . "",r ., in clu d in g e le ctr o n ic' r tco r d in g ' o r o thtru i sc c r r y r 'in g , n licr o f iIm in g ' lr r .Stt ti ons, t't7 r n tittt' tl ct) l) \in g l) t 1 . t , . 1 ,t lilr lh ' ll \(( |t D \ I C"p r r ig llt ' tr r ' tttr l( J r l ( l r,' x,,1 r lr , tl' \' l ri ttt'n * ith o u t p u b lic ) th c llr e ss r c v i e u tr s lo r r' p c r t t' tissio n{ io n ' r th c f' u b lish e
i.sJormerlan(l is ret'cdled- to himself and to othert - dt an I, as the I that is csscntiall.vdifferent t'rom, antl raclito, the non-|.'lltc (hunton) I is the I of a call.r'opposed Desireor oJ Desire. beinyl,thereThe verv hcing oJ mon, thc selJ-conscious the t'orc, in'rpliesand presupposesDesire. Consequentl.v, humttn reolit.r.cdnbelormed and mdintdineclonlv within an animal hJe. Ilut, if animal Desire a biological re(1lit.t',
a s lfilo r ic de l a R tl i tl i ort O r i g ir r a llv p u b lish ccl in F r a r ice O r 9 7j b v F .d itio n s Ga llir la r cl'
lt is not the conditionof se\-consciousne.ts, is the neces.sctn'
o l i\m cr ica P r i n tctl in th e L ln ite r l Sta te r s
thc SentimentoJ sell.
ss' l ) i s tr ib tr tctl b r ' f h c N' ll f Pr e L o n tlo n' Lngl antl C a m b r id q c, N' la ssa ch u sctts' ' r n tl i c'rti on l )'rta [ - i b r a n o f Co n g r css Ca t' r lo u in g - in - Pr ' rbl
' li- .r n sla tio no { : T lr lo r ic d c la r clig i on' 1 3 ib lio g r a Ph r 'P' : - litle ' r . I{ e lisio n . I' 198() 2oo''l l s l lN o - 9 :1 22 9 9 - o lt- ir( a lk' p a p cr ) I s l lN o - 9 4 2 l9 t) - o 9 - 4( p b k' : ' r lk' p ' r p cr )
man in a posIn contrastto the knowledllethat kecp.s him ancl move.shim to sivc c1uietude,Desirecli.s-quiets oction. Ilorn ol Desire,oction tcnds to satist'v'it, antl can or ot \east rlo so onl' b.v'thc "negation," lhe cle.struction, hunthe tronst'ormotion,o;f the desiredobject: to .sotist'r' or, in (1n)' ger, t'or cxomple, the Jood must be cle.rtroved cose,tronsJormcd.Thus,oll oction is "negdtin[1."
R . r ta illc, Gco r g cs' r 8 9 7 - r 9 6 2 ' ' l- h co n o f r clig io r t'
I r l 48 .lr ]7 ll
suJt'icientcondition. By itself, this Desireconstitutesonlv
- Alcxanclr c Kojdve fl 8-utt5cl t
lntrocluctionto the Recttlingot' IIegel
Contents
ll'here'l'his BookIs Situated 11
Introtluction PAR I
ONE
I Il
e
I -TI E B A S I C
D . { TA
Anintalitv
rt
I Iu m o n i tv a n d th c D cvcl o p n cn t o f th e ProJane Workl
2r
Sacrit'ica,the Fcstival,ond the Principles
III
of thc Sacrec!World REI IGION.
TWO
I II
WI'I HIN
The tN[ilitar)' Order
43 I.HI
65 69
Dualism crnt! ,l'lorolit,v rs
lll
M cd i a ti o n
IV
The RiscoJ lndustr.v To Wh o m ...
I -I N , , I I ' I . S O F
8r
ro7
General Tablettnd ReJerences L 1'7
RLASON
Where
'l'hc
This
Book
Is Situated
fbuntlationof'one'sthought is the thought of anotlrcr;
thought is likc a l>rickccmcntcs,but r.rthcr a srlf-consciousncss. In a st'nst'thc unlimitccl asscmblagcis tlrc inrpossible. It takt-scc)uragcanclstutrbornncssnot to go slack.llli'rr'thing invitcs on(' to encrl clirl not apprehend u'hat the_vlookccl at, u,here indeetl, in our terms, the cycs did not see. And if', nou,, in mv mincl's crrnfusion,stupidlvcontemplatingthat absenceof'vision, I begin to sal': "-l-here\.\asno r,ision,therc uas nclthingnothing but an en.rptvintoxication limitcd br.tcrror, su[_ f-cri ng,anr l r lcat h, nhich gar t . it a kint l , , f t hickncss. . . ',
2l
v
to things. Somcthingternrlcr,se(.rct,anclpainful clrau.sout
vaquc I arn onlv abusinga poctic capacitl',substitutinga thc lulguration lor the nothing of ignorance' I knon': .ur-,,lut dispensc r'r'ith a fulguration of r'vorclsthat
the intin'racvrvhich keepsvigil in us, extcnclingits glimmer into that animal darkness.In the c.nd,all that I can
-ii,l its nrakt's a fascinatirrghalo for it: that is its richness' is onlv a glorv, and a sign of sovereigntY.Ilut this Poctrv ,uuv bv u'hich a mall gocs from a uorld full of mt'aning to
maintain is that such a r.icu, uhich plungesme into thc night ancl dazzlcs r.nc, brings me clcaking" (just as m(.n
tinuum. It bccclmcscontinuousu'ith respectto thc rlorlcl
rlo). In this rcduction to a rfiinq, thc uorld is gircn both thc fornr of isolat t 'cl int't'n fb llcr l, th is u o r l< l r t' m a in s in m e a s that ronti nui tr from i nsi tl t'to out-
In a scnsc, thc r.r'orlc,/ilineanfcontinuitl that u,c must attribute to
u'ith an opcrative po\\'(:r; all can spcak thc language of
animalsno longer irnprcsscditself on the mind une.cprir,ocallv (the positing of distinc'tobjccts u'as in fat't its nt'g;r-
thcv basicallvlinc up on man. Thus, in spitc of cr.'ervthing, a planc of cqualitv. I am obligcd to ernphasizcthis aspcctof trnintcntional impovcrishmcnt and limitation: nolr'atlavs('hristians rkr
tion). But it had c.lerivcda ne\\' significancefrom the (ontrast it (brrncd to thi' u'orltl of things. This continuitt', u'hich fbr the animal could r.rot bc. distinguisheri frorn
not ht'sitateto rcc'ognizcin tlrc various"suprt'mt:btings"
anvthing clse,w,hichuas in it ancllbr it thc onlv possible
of uhicl-r "primitivt's" hare kept somc mclnorv, a first
mode of being, olferecl man all the lascination of the
consciousness clf the God thcv be'licr.ein, but this nascent trarv, it u'as a kinrl of u't-akcningof an animal sctrsc'u'ith-
sacred u'clrlcl, as against the por.crtv of the pr trl eraterlisjunc.tio, of tlrc sat-rr.,l.rnclp*l[a.e *,orlcls that u.asat thc origin of capitalism.Pnrtcstantismintr