Against Architecture: The Writings of Georges Bataille (October Books) [Paperback]

Denis Hollier (Author), Betsy Wing (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262581132 | ISBN-13: 978-0262581134 | Publication Date: February 25, 1992

Over the past 30 years the writings of Georges Bataille have had a profound influence on French intellectual thought, informing the work of Foucault, Derrida, and Barthes, among others. Against Architecture offers the first serious interpretation of this challenging thinker, spelling out the profoundly original and radical nature of Bataille's work.Denis Hollier is Professor of French at Yale University.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Hollier approaches Bataille through his criticism of architecture. Bataille stressed the authoritarian potential of monuments: their builders often sought to mold human beings according to a fixed plan. He did not, however, repudiate architecture altogether but felt its rigid character needed to be balanced by the unformed and often violent side of human personality. After giving a detailed account of Bataille's views, Hollier widens his analysis to cover other symbols in his work, e.g., the all-seeing "pineal eye." He also provides good treatments of Bataille's political articles, his "College of Sociology," and his quarrel with Andre Breton. Given its unusual organization, the book will not be to everyone's taste and is not for beginners. It is, however, a very valuable study of its subject.
- David Gordon, Bowling Green State Univ., Ohio
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A very valuable study of its subject." David Gordon , Library Journal

" Against Architecture is a superb, even supreme, critical work In some ways it is the only kind of book that can do a human justice, to the astonishing figure of George Bataille. Denis Hollier is the most gifted critical intelligence of his generation." Richard Howard , University of Houston

"Hollier has not only written a series of interlocking essays which manage to roam representatively over and under the six thousand pages of Bataille, a polygraphic author of the most bewildering complexity, but be has taken the master's method to heart and has written not a book about Bataille but a book through him: he has turned Bataille on and even against Bataille. The result is a superb, even a supreme critical work." Richard Howard, Professor of Creative Writing, University of Houston

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 227 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (February 25, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262581132
• ISBN-13: 978-0262581134
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #708,969 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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