Sympathy for the Devil: Bataille and the Insubordination of Literature

Abstract

Setting literature in-between the mystic rapture andthe erotic ecstasy, Bataille thinks literature as an irreducible movement in relation to the goals of utilitarian society. The spirit of literature is always on the side of waste, of the absence of well-defined ends, of the passion that corrodes.Bataille's definition has immediately implications for literature. Trying to clear up the incompatibilities between the worlds of efficient action and writing, we aim to critically analyze the principles of the insubordination that –according to Bataille–defines literary experience.