Georges Bataille

Born

in Billon, Puy-de-Dôme, France

September 10, 1897

Died

July 09, 1962

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Philosophy

Influences

Friderich Nietzsche, Sade, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Alexandre Kojève, ...more

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French essayist, philosophical theorist, and novelist, often called the "metaphysician of evil." Bataille was interested in sex, death, degradation, and the power and potential of the obscene. He rejected traditional literature and considered that the ultimate aim of all intellectual, artistic, or religious activity should be the annihilation of the rational individual in a violent, transcendental act of communion. Roland Barthes, Julia Kristeva, and Philippe Sollers have all written enthusiastically about his work. ...more

Combine Editions
Georges Bataille’s books

Average rating: 3.83 · 38,424 ratings · 2,649 reviews · 194 distinct works • Similar authors

	Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille, Joachim Neugroschel (Translator), Dovid Bergelson (Translation) 3.65 avg rating — 17,054 ratings — published 1928 — 82 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Erotism: Death and Sensuality by Georges Bataille, Mary Dalwood (Translator) 4.09 avg rating — 2,539 ratings — published 1957 — 67 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Accursed Share: An Essay on General Economy, Volume I: Consumption by Georges Bataille, Robert Hurley (Translator) 4.07 avg rating — 1,637 ratings — published 1949 — 27 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Blue of Noon by Georges Bataille, Harry Mathews (Translator), Ken Hollings (Introduction) 3.73 avg rating — 2,089 ratings — published 1935 — 48 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Visions of Excess: Selected Writings, 1927–1939 by Georges Bataille, Allan Stoekl (Editor, translator, introduction), Carl R. Lovitt (Translator) 4.30 avg rating — 942 ratings — published 1985 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Mother/Madame Edwarda/The Dead Man by Georges Bataille, Yukio Mishima, Ken Hollings 3.94 avg rating — 895 ratings — published 1972 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Literature and Evil by Georges Bataille, Alastair Hamilton (Translator) 4.03 avg rating — 1,051 ratings — published 1957 — 41 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Tears of Eros by Georges Bataille, Peter Connor (Translator) 3.97 avg rating — 828 ratings — published 1961 — 21 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Theory of Religion 3.99 avg rating — 568 ratings — published 1973 — 21 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Impossible: A Story of Rats followed by Dianus and by The Oresteia by Georges Bataille, Robert Hurley (Translator) 3.96 avg rating — 562 ratings — published 1947 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Georges Bataille…

Quotes by Georges Bataille

“I believe that truth has only one face: that of a violent contradiction.”
― Georges Bataille, Violent Silence: Celebrating Georges Bataille

tags: contradiction, truth

963 likes

“The need to go astray, to be destroyed, is an extremely private, distant, passionate, turbulent truth.”
― Georges Bataille

350 likes

“Nothing is more necessary or stronger in us than rebellion.”
― Georges Bataille, The Unfinished System of Nonknowledge

tags: rebellion

174 likes

See all Georges Bataille's quotes »

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