Negative Ecstasies
Georges Bataille and the Study of Religion

Jeremy Biles (Edited by), Kent L. Brintnall (Edited by)

9780823265206

Paperback / softback, published 3 August 2015

336 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm, 0.496 kg

Despite Georges Bataille's acknowledged influence on major poststructuralist thinkers—including Foucault, Derrida, Kristeva, Lacan, Baudrillard, and Barthes—and his prominence in literary, cultural, and social theory, rarely has he been taken up by scholars of religion, even as issues of the sacred were central to his thinking. Bringing together established scholars and emerging voices, Negative Ecstasies engages Bataille from the perspective of religious studies and theology, forging links with feminist and queer theory, economics, secularism, psychoanalysis, fat studies, and ethics. As these essays demonstrate, Bataille's work bears significance to contemporary questions in the academy and vital issues in the world. We continue to ignore him at our peril.