Literature and Evil

In this collection of Bataille's essays on various authors - Kafka, Sade, Brontë, Baudelaire, Blake, and others - we are not only served with interesting observations but also a good introduction to Bataille's own philosophy. It's a form of literary criticism that, like all of Bataille's writing, defies any schematic classification, yet it is a welcome diversion in the face of the reams of psychoanalytical studies of the mentioned writers.

Basically, Bataille brings the writings and lives of these authors into a pattern of good and evil. But here good and evil are formal identities that have different meanings for every other writer and not superficial metaphysical categories. And although Bataille views the authors and their works in relation to one another he mostly shies away from exploring troubled parental relationships, identifying neurotic tendencies or sexual deviation.

The underlying notion is that 'evil' belongs to the realm of counter-productivity, savagery, deliberate perversion, and the transgression of boundaries. In Bataille's other writings this realm is that of the 'sacred', or 'experience'. 'Good' is the realm of utility, reason, modesty, and adulthood. One could also apply the name 'profane' to this.

As mentioned, this basic pattern gets a different meaning with each other. For example, Baudelaire's evil is that he consciously posits the existence of God and subsequently rebels against this entity by taken the side of Satan. Also, his complete lethargy to work and loathing of society (i.e. the sphere of utility and reason) places him in the realm of evil.

Other examples are Kafka's rebellion against the world of adulthood by deliberately drenching himself in childishness, or Brontë's strange contrast of a meek young woman expressing herself in a novel ("Wuthering Heights") rich with violence and ob-scenity.

A welcome addition to literary criticism.