The Collected Poems of Georges Bataille - Softcover

Bataille, Georges; Spitzer, Mark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802313256 ISBN 13: 9780802313256

Publisher: Dufour Editions, 1998

Synopsis

This is the first collected English translation of Bataille's poems. Bataille's poetry is definitely the poetry of a philosopher, but it is also a poetry with an obsessively erotic, often scatological edge, frequently pushing the boundary of what is or isn't obscene. Bataille believed that everything relates to the workings of desire and death in sexuality, but he also believed that poetry was the product of "hate" (and other extreme emotions), just as much as erotic pleasure accedes to self-annihilation. But Bataille was interested in actual action, not just disengaged hypothesis concerning the sexual act. Dufour Editions is pleased to bring Bataille's poetry to print in English.

"This is the audacious, frightful side of surrealism." - Library Journal

"Bataille produced some of the most transcendent, pointedly filthy literature of the century, and these poems, together in English for the first time, are no exception." - Publishers Weekly

About this title

From the Author

On Bataille's Poetry
Usually, the first comment people make about the book is that it looks great, and it does (judge this book by its cover). Then, people tend to comment on how filthy Bataille’s poems are—which they are. Others seem to be shocked by the smut. Others roll on the floor holding their sides, laughing like hyenas. It’s important stuff, highly imagistic, hyper-metaphoric, and striking—as it fills a missing chapter in the history of surrealism in that it is the first English translation of the virtually unknown poetry of Bataille. Dufour Editions did an excellent job of putting the book together, and the translations, of course, are (modesty aside) just as graphic, poetic, philosophical and controversial as the semi-scatological, partially profane pornographer intended. A fitting companion to Story of the Eye. --Mark Spitzer (the translator).

About the Author

Georges Bataille (1897-1962) was a French writer, essayist, and philosopher whose works include "The Story of the Eye", "The Blue of Noon", "The Accursed Share", and "Theory of Religion".

Edition details

• Publisher: Dufour Editions
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802313256
• ISBN 13: 9780802313256
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 140