The Sacred Conspiracy: The Internal Papers of the Secret Society of Acéphale and Lectures to the College of Sociology
Having spent the early thirties in far-left groups opposing Fascism, in 1937 Georges Bataille abandoned this approach so as to transfer the struggle onto the mythological plane, founding two groups with this aim in mind. The College of Sociology gave lectures attended by major figures from the Parisian intelligentsia - intended to reveal the hidden undercurrents within a society that appeared to be bordering on collapse. The texts in this book comprise lectures given to the College; essays from the Acephale journal and a large cache of the internal papers of the secret society of Acephale.— Google Books
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CONTENTS Marina Galletti & Alastair Brotchie Preface ... 15 Marina Galletti The Secret Society of Acéphale: "A Community of the Heart" The Rediscovery of Acéphale ... 19 The Origins of Acéphale ... 24 Formation of the Secret Society ... 36 A Bicephalous Community, Religion and Politics ... 42 Joy in the Face of Death ... 46 Alastair Brotchie Marly, Montjovet and the Oak Tree Struck by Lightning ... 51 Alastair Brotchie The College of Sociology: a Paradoxical Institution Durkheim and His Vocabulary ... 63 Frazer and the Death of God ... 67 Sacrifice and Expenditure ... 70 Sacred Sociology ... 74 Formation of the College ... 77 Operation of the College ... 83 I (1924), 1929 - March 1936 Chronology ... 89 II April 1936 - January 1937 Chronology ... 109 Commentaries ... 115 ACÉPHALE 1 ●1. Georges Bataille The Sacred Conspiracy ... 123 ●2. Pierre Klossowski The Monster ... 127 ●3. Georges Bataille Acéphale ... 130 ACÉPHALE 2 ●4. Jean Rollin The Realisation of Man ... 131 ●5. Friedrich Nietzsche Heraclitus ... 133 THE SECRET SOCIETY OF ACÉPHALE ●6. Georges Bataille Programme ... 137 ●7. Georges Bataille To my eyes, my own personal existence ... 139 ●8. Pierre Andler Moriar, ergo sum ... 140 ●9. Anonymous Invitation to a Totemic Dinner ... 141 ●10. Georges Bataille Re: Totemic Dinner ... 142 ●11. Georges Ambrosino The Constitution of the Self is Highly Paradoxical ... 142 ●12. Jean Dautry Letter to Georges Bataille ... 143 III February 1937 - August 1937 Chronology ... 147 Commentaries ... 151 THE SECRET SOCIETY OF ACÉPHALE ●13. Georges Bataille What I have to say ... 161 ●14. Georges Bataille Creation of the 'Internal Journal' ... 167 [... INCOMPLETE] Translations: The texts by the Secret Society of Acéphale, all marked with a ●, and ○29, Georges Bataille, "Winter Solstice", a few months ago, ○, are translated by Natasha Lehrer. ○91, Roger Caillois, "Theory of the Festival", is translated by Meyer Barash. The remaining translations, including the texts by Marina Galletti, are by John Harman.
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