The Sunday of the Negative: Reading Bataille Reading Hegel PDF
Preview The Sunday of the Negative: Reading Bataille Reading Hegel
The Sunday of the Negative SUNY series in Hegelian Studies William Desmond,editor The Sunday of the Negative Reading Bataille Reading Hegel CHRISTOPHER M. GEMERCHAK STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS Cover art: Lorenzo Monaco,Cut-out Crucifix,circa 1410 (detail), Szèpmüvèszeti Muzeum,Budapest. Published by State University of New York Press,Albany © 2003 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission.No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic,electrostatic,magnetic tape,mechanical,photocopying,recording,or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information,contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu Production by Kelli Williams Marketing by Michael Campochiaro Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gemerchak,Chrostopher M. The Sunday of the negative :reading Bataille,reading Hegel / Christopher M.Gemerchak. p. cm.— (SUNY series in Hegelian studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-5631-5 (alk.paper) — ISBN 0-7914-5632-3 (pbk.:alk.paper) 1.Bataille,Georges,1897–1962.2.Hegel,Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 1770–1831—Influence.I.Title.II.Series. B2430.B33954 G46 2003 194—dc21 2002042647 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Acknowledgments vii List of Abbreviations ix Introduction 1 Behind the Mask 9 Hegel? 14 PART ONE 1 Beyond the Serious 25 1.1.The Inwardizing and the Calvary 28 1.2.The Sovereignty of Servility 41 1.3.Work,Death 52 1.4.Beyond the Serious 60 2 The End of Utility 75 2.1.No Free Gifts 78 2.2.Unholy Alliances 90 2.3.Taking Sacrifice into Account 97 PART TWO 3 Logomachy:Through Discourse To Poetic Silence 117 3.1.A Contradictory Project 120 3.2.Hegelian Discourse:A “Dog”Eat Dog World 127 3.3.The Hatred of Poetry 140 v vi Contents 4 Mysticism,Eroticism,and the Sacrificial Ruse 161 4.1.I Pray to GOD... 169 4.2.Eroticism and Sacrifice:The Body and the Fiction 186 4.3.Through the Mirror 196 Laughter—In Place of a Conclusion 209 Notes 223 Bibliography 277 Index 287 Acknowledgments Generous assistance has been offered at every stage of this journey, and I would like to acknowledge my primary debt of gratitude to Rudi Visker,my sole reader. Willing to lay aside what then was his relative indifference to Bataille,his assiduous reading and incisive commentary not only enabled the refinement of the text,but forced me to find answers to questions of which I was not even aware. I would also like to thank William Desmond, without whose encouragement it is unlikely that this work would have reached its penultimate stage. On a more practical level, the contributions from the Katholieke Uni- versiteit Leuven have been substantial.The final year of research was made possible by a grant from the Onderzoeksraad (Research Council) of the K.U.L.,for which Iam most grateful.I would also like to thank the Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek-Vlaanderen for providing me the oppor- tunity to continue my research through their generous awarding of a post- doctoral fellowship. A long-term project of this sort, while primarily a solitary endeavor, is nevertheless not to be undertaken without the support of those who are will- ing to offer their friendship,knowledge,and understanding.In the years that have passed from the point of conception to that of fruition,I have been for- tunate enough to find individuals rich enough in character to offer their share of each.I am as well privileged to extend my warmest thanks to my families, both here in Belgium and abroad in the United States,to whom this book is dedicated.Their patient enthusiasm has been a beacon through many a dark night.How many times they heard the words,“it’s almost finished,”and com- passionately let me think they believed it,is in itself no small feat of kindness. To each of them Iextend my deepest graditude,my warmest friendship. vii Abbreviations BATAILLE AM The Absence ofMyth:Writings on Surrealism AS 1 The Accursed Share,vol.1,Consumption AS 2 The Accursed Share,vol.2,The History ofEroticism AS 3 The Accursed Share,vol.3,Sovereignty E Eroticism:Death and Sensuality G Guilty IE Inner Experience LE Literature and Evil MM Méthode de Méditation N On Nietzsche OC I-OC XII Oeuvres Complètes,vol.1–12 TR Theory ofReligion VE Visions ofExcess:Selected Writings,1927–1939 OTHERS K1 Introduction to the Reading ofHegel: Lectures on the Phenomenology ofSpirit— Alexandre Kojève K2 Introduction à la lecture de Hegel,Appendix II, “L’idée de la mort dans la philosophie de Hegel”— Alexandre Kojève PS Phenomenology ofSpirit— Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel ix
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