Georges Bataille: biography, creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Georges Bataille is a famous French philosopher and writer. Openly adhered to leftist beliefs. In his works he was engaged in the study of the irrational aspects of public life. Many of his works contain descriptions of erotic scenes, blasphemy and the temptation of evil, as many critics have written.

Biography of the philosopher

Georges Bataille was born in French Auvergne in 1897. It is a provincial town in the south of the country. In 1914, he officially became a Catholic, preparing himself for a spiritual career, but soon became completely disillusioned with religion.

Instead of becoming a priest, in 1918, Georges Bataille entered the National School of Charters, which is based in Paris. There he receives higher education.

Starts to work at the National Library as a curator. The hero of our article spent many years at this place.

An important stage in his life was the acquaintance and close contact with the Russian existentialist philosopher Lev Shestov, who emigrated to France after the October Revolution. In the 1920s, Georges Bataille was a member of the Democratic Communist Circle founded by the French communist and anti-Stalinist Boris Souvarine.

Find yourself

Bataille took part in varioussocieties and circles. For example, since 1931 he was a member of the group for the study of the history of religions, which was founded by the French native of Russia Alexander Koyret at the School of Higher Studies.

During the 1930s, the French philosopher and writer Georges Bataille participated in the seminars of Wassily Kandinsky's nephew, the neo-Hegelian philosopher Alexander Kojève.

In 1935, Bataille became interested in the research of a psychoanalytic group led by one of the founders of psychoanalysis, the philosopher and psychoanalyst Jean Lacan.

In the same years he took part in the "Counterattack" movement, even was one of its organizers. It brought together left-wing intellectuals of various creative orientations. Then the hero of our article was even accused of pro-fascist sentiments. "Counterattack" broke up in 1936.

Acephalus

In 1937, Bataille fell under the spell of ideas about human sacrifice. It was then that he founded a secret society called Acephalus. A headless man became his symbol.

According to the legend, the authenticity of which has not been established, Bataille, along with other members of society, voluntarily agreed to sacrifice himself as an inauguration. It was assumed that one of the members of the secret society would become the executioner. He was offered compensation, but none of the members of the "Acephal" society agreed to this. Before the outbreak of World War II, the society disintegrated.

In 1937, Bataille organized the College of Sociology. In this he was helped by a writer and an ethnologistMichel Leiris and the philosopher and sociologist Roger Caillois. They devoted their research to the development of a sociology of the sacred, mostly dealing with the irrational facts of social life.

Private life

Bataille has been married twice. His first chosen one is actress Sylvia Macles. They got married in 1928. After 6 years they broke up, Macles by that time was carried away by one of Bataille's associates, Lacan. Interestingly, they officially filed a divorce only 12 years after the breakup. All this time Maclès dated Lacan, and Bataille dated Colette Pegno, who died in 1938.

In 1946, the hero of our article finally received a divorce from his first wife in order to tie the knot with Princess Diana Kochubey. Two years later, their daughter Julie was born.

Georges Bataille died in Paris in 1962. He was 64 years old.

Creativity Bataille

In his work, Bataille touched on a variety of aspects. These are mysticism, poetry, philosophy, economics, problems of eros and art. Often he published works under pseudonyms, some of which were banned over the years.

It is worth noting that most of the eminent contemporaries did not pay attention to him, some even despised him. For example, Sartre was accused of defending mysticism. Later, his work had a significant influence on many contemporary philosophers: Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Philippe Sollers. His influence is especially felt in the works of the postmodernist philosopher JeanBaudrillard.

In his youth, Bataille was not fond of surrealism for long. He was greatly impressed by the works of Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Marquis de Sade. When writing his books, Georges Bataille used materials collected from various sources. Applied various methods of discourse in his work.

A striking example is the novel written by Georges Bataille in 1928. The History of the Eye was published under the pseudonym God Recalled. Initially, this work is perceived by many as pornographic. The researchers approached the true meaning and significance of this work gradually. Only after a while they managed to reveal the philosophical and emotional depth contained in the novel, which was written by Georges Bataille. "The Eye's Story" goes deeper than anyone could have imagined.

The imagery in this work is built on a whole list of metaphors that refer to philosophical constructs. These are the eye, the sun, the egg, the organs, the earth.

In 2004, American director Andrew McElhiney even filmed "The Story of the Eye". The film had little in common with the plot of the novel, critics called it an art house with elements of pornography.

My mother

Another famous novel by Bataille is "The Blue of Heaven". It notes political and necrophilic tendencies. As well as personal and autobiographical overtones.

The novel "My Mother" was published in 1966. In it, the author explores the gloomy, and often repulsive sides of the deep human psyche, when one of the means of religious questserves depravity. Bataille often refers to mystical experiences.

Theory of Religion.

Meet in his work and exclusively philosophical work. Although he himself often refused to consider himself a philosopher. His statements often bordered on atheistic mysticism.

During the Second World War, Bataille, under the influence of Hegel and Nietzsche, wrote "The Atheology Sum". This became an allusion to the "Sum of theology", written by Thomas Aquinas.

One of his most famous post-war works was the novel "The Cursed Share".