Description
Georges Bataille wrote On Nietzsche in the final months of the Nazi occupation of France in order to cleanse the German philosopher of the "stain of Nazism." More than merely a treatise on Nietzsche, the book is as much a work of ethics in which thought is put to the test of experience and experience pushed to its limits. At once personal and political, it was written as an act of war, its publication contingent upon the German retreat. The result is a poetic and philosophical-and occasionally harrowing-record of life during wartime.
Following Inner Experience and Guilty, On Nietzsche is the third volume of Bataille's Summa Atheologica. Haunted by the recognition that "existence cannot be at once autonomous and viable," herein the author yearns for community from the depths of personal isolation and transforms Nietzsche's will to power into his own will to chance.
This new translation includes Memorandum, a selection of 280 passages from Nietzsche's works edited and introduced by Bataille. Originally published separately, Bataille planned to include the text in future editions of On Nietzsche. This edition also features the full notes and annotations from the French edition of Bataille's Oeuvres Completes, as well as an incisive introductory essay by Stuart Kendall that situates the work historically, biographically, and philosophically.
About the Author
Georges Bataille (1897-1962), a medievalist librarian by training, founded the College of Sociology and the secret society Acephale. He was equally famous for his contributions to French literature, art criticism, anthropology, philosophy, and theology. Bane of theologians, existentialists, and surrealists during his lifetime, he became an essential reference for the poststructuralist generation of French intellectuals, including Roland Barthes, Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida. Stuart Kendall is a writer, editor, and translator working at the intersections of modern and contemporary art and design, critical theory, poetics, and theology. Author of the critical biography Georges Bataille, he has also edited and translated five other books by Bataille, including Guilty and Inner Experience, both also published by SUNY Press.
Reviews
"Stuart Kendall [is] the most prolific and arguably the most skillful translator Georges Bataille has in the English language ... In particular, Kendall impressively demonstrates how precisely Bataille's expressions and syntax can be rendered in English without sounding stilted." - French Studies
"...a remarkable book on Nietzsche ... There has been a huge amount written on Nietzsche since 1945, but Bataille's discussion remains indispensable ... Kendall's edition is comprehensive and includes a good introduction and much that would be of use to the scholar of Bataille ... Highly recommended." - CHOICE
Book Information
ISBN 9781438458588
Author Georges Bataille
Format Paperback
Page Count 380
Imprint State University of New York Press
Publisher State University of New York Press
Weight(grams) 227g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 25mm
Following Inner Experience and Guilty, On Nietzsche is the third volume of Bataille's Summa Atheologica. Haunted by the recognition that "existence cannot be at once autonomous and viable," herein the author yearns for community from the depths of personal isolation and transforms Nietzsche's will to power into his own will to chance.
This new translation includes Memorandum, a selection of 280 passages from Nietzsche's works edited and introduced by Bataille. Originally published separately, Bataille planned to include the text in future editions of On Nietzsche. This edition also features the full notes and annotations from the French edition of Bataille's Oeuvres Completes, as well as an incisive introductory essay by Stuart Kendall that situates the work historically, biographically, and philosophically.
About the Author
Georges Bataille (1897-1962), a medievalist librarian by training, founded the College of Sociology and the secret society Acephale. He was equally famous for his contributions to French literature, art criticism, anthropology, philosophy, and theology. Bane of theologians, existentialists, and surrealists during his lifetime, he became an essential reference for the poststructuralist generation of French intellectuals, including Roland Barthes, Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida. Stuart Kendall is a writer, editor, and translator working at the intersections of modern and contemporary art and design, critical theory, poetics, and theology. Author of the critical biography Georges Bataille, he has also edited and translated five other books by Bataille, including Guilty and Inner Experience, both also published by SUNY Press.
Reviews
"Stuart Kendall [is] the most prolific and arguably the most skillful translator Georges Bataille has in the English language ... In particular, Kendall impressively demonstrates how precisely Bataille's expressions and syntax can be rendered in English without sounding stilted." - French Studies
"...a remarkable book on Nietzsche ... There has been a huge amount written on Nietzsche since 1945, but Bataille's discussion remains indispensable ... Kendall's edition is comprehensive and includes a good introduction and much that would be of use to the scholar of Bataille ... Highly recommended." - CHOICE
Book Information
ISBN 9781438458588
Author Georges Bataille
Format Paperback
Page Count 380
Imprint State University of New York Press
Publisher State University of New York Press
Weight(grams) 227g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 25mm
