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    4 views101 pages

    Bataille - Accursed Share II

    Uploaded by

    ckmortim
    Bataille

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    recat The Accursed Share An Essay on General Economy Georges Bataille Volume tt The History of Broticem Volume 11 Soveretgnty 0s nae, be 6 boda Ste Now Yak NY ses eigenen Noparofeibsk my beep trina ‘etal yor td aay Sma a ‘ean nln deri mechan botoeap Ing mierfiing ect or atric (np. Sort copying permed Seon oy ak ‘ets. Cheng awa tcp by ee or ‘hepa withoat nite peminon Few ‘Pata gn bit in Face edd rane Capes 8D py on Caled Prine inte United Seo Ane Dine The TF Pros Cnbege, Mahes ad Landon, Egnd Luba of ings CasagginPbenion Dts ele, aap 897962 “Tecra re. “Triton fpr aan alae igapheal fee ssoveaetnes tin oatnonars teh) Cott Campton The sory en od Sorel) 1 Bonomi. 2. Erwin. 1: Eeenomir= Meranda: Tle The atop copulation ond he members employe ar sop, ha Ife writ forthe Bey f foe ad the drt ofthe ctr ond we plementary to one nother and are stated on the sme plane ‘OF course the pce of sxc hfe s humanly delimited by 2 probiton: vex fe sever uneeservedly fre; Se most always ‘be confined within the bounds tha custom sts. Ie would be wse- les, certail, to oppose the prohibition by denouncing it 6 ot har say tat only tredom accords with notre. Ln acy ‘man sets himself esientlly apart from nature; be is even vehe rently opposed ti ad the absence of prohibition would have only one meaning: that anmuliy which men are conscious ob Ing lef behind, and to which we cannc aspire to return. But it ‘x another matter to deny tha abhorrence of nature, bull ato ‘ur exene, which sts our propeetes against animal simplic- fig anether matter 0 comply with the adgmens that ordinarily % sccompany the prohibitions. In pariculr, thou is compelled by the moray implied inthe prohibitions: further, ell be ‘med in the word devoid of saul, which the probibicions ‘marked off. Thought i afexual: one will ee ths limitation ~ antithetical to sovereigns, to every sovereign attirude ~make of "he inellectual world the fla apd subordinate word that we ‘nom this world of useful and isolated thing, in which labor ‘ous activity i the male, in which ii npted that each one of ss should keep his place in a mechanical order. If leans, rather, the totality which exceed on ll sides the reduced word ‘of thought, I know tht is mide up of distances and oppost tions. Bat I can never, wiehout turing away from it, let go of ‘one oft pres for another, For the popular voice, “it takes all Kinds to make 2 word,” prostates and stints, scoundvel and sen whose generosity is boundless, but that voice snot that of| ‘tablished thought, which reduces man to the neutral prt and ley of thecal and ies reflection in che mind. Ima be too that, finaly inthe fae of such a emote exigency, LéviSwaus will sic disclaimer and recall the modesty of his intention. But ‘there 29 season to think thatthe exgeney~ or the motemens = ‘conveyed in such a burning tep canbe limited, and by nature the decision to salve the riddle of ines inden with consequences ‘it claims to luminate what was proposed in darkness... More- ‘ove, Some step, long ago, accomplished "the transition frm ature to culture” how could the step that would define ie reining ite filo have some unexpected consequences? Indeed, unavodably we soon have to give oursswes grounds for modest. From the outset Lév-Stras i Ted to review for ‘our benefit, the misstep of those who went before, They ate not encoursging. “Ths goes us once again a general appreciation ofthe super= * cilities, che blunders, ith which the desir wo know a tle expense i atisfed. “The most pinfl ibute spl tothe finalist theory, which consac the profbon at eugenic mea: it would be amat- ter of shielding the species ftom the reuls of eomsanguincous ‘marriages. Tie point of view had Ulustious defenders (Les Mongen ang ther). difisin recente appears nowhere.” vi Straus sys, “before the sixteenth century"? buc its stil ‘widespread, there being nothing more common nowadays than the belie inthe degenerate character of ee children of nest. ‘But observation has confirmed whats bred on nothing more than ue erade feling chat everything in mature has a meaning. For some, “the pobibiton of incest no more than he sci projection o efletion of maturl Flings or tendencies, which an be entrelyexsned by human ature” An instintve rep ‘ance (2) eis tld, Lei Strsse han es me showing thatthe ‘Opposite is tre: poychonalyse hs ehown ths Tong fo nces- ‘uous relations i common. If his were ot so, why would che prohibition be such a serous matter? As seit, explanations of ‘his ype are Fandarenelly mistaken: what needs to be specified the meaning ofa reprobation that does not exist among an ral that amuse be given historically, that noe simply in che ‘order of things. [As Ithappens, this criticiam i addresed by hitorieal expla “McLennan and Spencer saw exogamous practices sth fx ing by custom of the habit of waror bes among whom eapsure ‘yas the normal means of obtaining wives Durkheim sav the laboo forthe members ofthe can, the blood ofthis lan ~ hence the menstrual Blod ofthe women ~ 3 the explanation forthe proibiton denying these women tothe men of thelr clan, nd » forthe absence ofa prohibition on men of another clin. Such interpretations may be logy satifictory, but "thls weakness lis in theft that the connections ro entablished ar agile and aybitrary....°-To the very sociological theory of Durkheim it ‘would be posible to join the paychosnajic hypothesis of Fea ‘sho places a supposed murder of the father by the brothers t ‘he origin of the transition from animal to man: according to Freud, che mural jelous brethers uphold ibis one another ‘he father’s prohibition agin vouching heir mathe rte is ters. Actually, Freud's “myth” introduces che most gratuitous st of eircumstnces, bu atleast i har the advantage ove the sot ‘logs explanation of being an expresion of ving obsessions ‘LevbStaut sys hi in llitous terms Fre ace cont, ot forthe eon fcietion bak forex present state... The dei for the mother rte site, the murder afte ther al he som’ epenence, undoubtedly donot oregon to any fet group of ets accuping gen place In ‘story Bat pte they boll expe am scint lating {try confinement, of menstrating women i clear that gen ral mature hace lke by al ran beings ofall ges and both exes andthe incessant character of inustal evacuations, could rot permit such wkovard measures, What i posible inthe ase ol periodic acidents cannot be ape tothe normal state. More ‘over children, with whom our contacts are unavoidable, would ‘estoy pot dhehope of elimuting the contamination entirely [Nothing ean be demanded ofthe young child, where a pes: cent girl wgulrly observes the prescriptons. It was neces co [get used to bearing with thi afanae waste, which expla the fnlldness ofthe digust i provokes nothing more extreme than the reaction to animal waste, Besides, what ae children if not animals becoming human ~ bt this snot on thelr own initia tive, and thei simple clumsiness invites lughter ori consdered harming. But the horror tha esse to prohibition (20 eel ‘ious behavior) mot consent with amore or les.” Familiar omtac with childrens exrement does not accord with an utter Thororconcering that of adults, simile tothe horor of men stra blood, A oro s sick des oe colerate any degree es tose on “ll nothing” and one may hin chat if women were not the only anes tobe tainted, men could not have conceived {ofthe tant inthe way they did initially. Un order to be een, the distance tits observed in teror demanded the possiblity 6 complete sees of cont et raf mai aver he hen isn conta tc cate marty es mae edn han ote mn 0 ‘Bip owe ren conc sng hig wth I detect eles eet) Th pert etn or hans te ne pte Ste be thing en become em th The yong in pink rhs a ing tsp hing mor wad holo eo rer foes may, are a defen Wht cous ihe inthe once chee seco IF tore pert ince ei he thing marl nei thy bar tc tou ey ele igh hr de tho pts on th eager of nana ee hero mt veh ae We ok So hen om tcrtay nto lege oles pen Sf pat, We ae qk o wesk a nee StS pte poe nd efor su, owe pur qk tore the gat th lg hon, which Tes he omc ith cron me at Wofeneen \ sameness eS SRD AT Two. Cleanliness Prohibitions and the Self-creati 2 of Man 1. The Conaecion of the Degre of Critzaton, Race and Wealth or Soci Sanding wit ihe Clemo Prehibiens Invi, he sno pr dierent the mcs pec to udimentary elation nd ths ened ce ‘ation. The be tintin ot nthe does of donner Satin the pul atl gps, classe ns Whee eae wis simply the ete alc ht mete the “unin peoples with te loner clases ~ or wih ag indi icra he resem mange and be sa ‘ace of pron lp ine centile erly opposes men tne shee, tclnenere net the mon fice ators opening scl let + corals exter, he obaerane of poise question of itil rears Ite slot of money to be ine dc 1 mp seco that tun the me he the Ion reste ar a thse we hve the mont ene tl omorl for earn the protons.) The cane ‘i thing ita a penta obaerance quis sch Pc Peton who poets hell the mos soul fo oe ne ou frm of hentia the peso who ene ges eg and who hs the aang ne gts Ia, 9 res is commensurate wih the means e posestes (et sup pose that he has ahe means to live ansiously ~ for example, in ‘epird co di), he nonetheles sands moray above dhe man who! fs carlos about sfequrding himself and who Ties ike an ai ‘al in filth. But f he richest man was not any more concerned about filth than a barefooe tramp, he could not be honored and hisstanding could notre Neclless to a, im he society in which we lie these aspects ‘of che mater are not clear, Things ae positively blueed. Traces remain: apa general rule, a purvenu eannot have a high stan Ing a poorer man often has 3 greater prestige: a parvenu will ‘never be nated into a small number of refinements, contrary ‘a notre, opposing, to vraclousnes conventional behavior, ad to phinness of vocabulary sgree-apon formals (obscure but all Il agredsapon) sutable for expressing afardamentalansious- etsy the anety that Bumans Is lwaysa matter of marking between oneself and Bratch nature a srange distance, unthink- able at fit and so all the preater he dance Between 3 man ating in a delicate way, according tothe aristocrat code, and ‘one ho mavely din the eofice that ha fllen int che saucer (it issgniiane, ase cht coffee intentonally spilled into a stucer is called 3 “foo bath”). The second way ssf human, ‘but nt when compared toa more anxious wy. Each way of at- Ing has different meanings according to the czcumstances and the characer of che eter, but I chote the “foot bath” example because in a particular ease at least, It mplies a certain indi ference, a complete lack of anslety ad little abhorrence ofthe imal condition of bods. Ie will be sid that my judgment bit ut I deliberately put forward the ee of man taking the liberty I speak offn a miles where he ssh only one to do so and for no other reason thn inference? Nothing ix more {ilferent om the ways of primitive, A Kana might seem to TO | | | | us to be mach oar thn the “oot bath hiker: Yer ts nt the Kana who is beat He nian the get ditanc be am between ama behavior and hi own 90 tht actualy the Kana sain to the artocrat nat othe boor that ave cho reno dpi rom wht hive red ko show, Becomes rather cleat thehoror of being animalistic operates unevenly amor Buna and ha pines are no lew abject to chan we ae I snot 2 gueston of more cizaton ot les, but ater finda “Toe and sci elfiation, Ie cern tht a moe seupa- lou tnenane of piston tend te data men om one another And while ite that wealth makes this observance caver, ot so much wealth ~ beyond phi strength the power to command =e ingest aie soci, sit the gress diane om analy Or double mistake tothin th difrenen of ceo dilerences of wealth, nse the qualilestion, Bu thi misake 0 decproted htt tends to modify the rea oder: a ele one strives onal sides to ‘mde the difrences etwnen beg to ental ference sca pu rom an ati ntenton to ups nd deta tual ature within ut. On al sides, one stresto deny Bama vale, bec ths aes etently diflrence ~ between a tals and man o Between men fo hi rekon, one re 0 ‘ehice every difeence othe signa of mater datum, acum, belng 00 intent o serving ha betrayed the cs of ciferece: he pivlge of race and wath ar indefensible, nd they are the only ones that Bind fenders ‘eels omy my intentions oto defend (0 argue forthe suri of thee diferences hat humanize ut, lacing kno tage ofthe nd Being able odicer thelr precise meaning, ‘we could not know anything abot eros could not een ow anything about human petty. 6 roicam cose book to us so long at we donot se man's ‘beginning inthe repugnance he fl fora nature that was Fy in is eyes. We generally do mote i for the reason that, Out iy nature ates men supersaturated witha civiieation that ature’ complete opposite. 2. Wasnt the First Object of Repugnance Sexual? “The formation of an artifical cvlized world, ied to an extreme horror of nate, became the leat understandable thing in the would for us, especialy slace we began to protest agains the “alleged” ilthiness of sexual life. Filhiness~ the domain of Sth fo less meaning forall that. No-one would sy that excrement (or decaying mater i aubstance like any ocr. Ie ‘such, however, for animals: chose animals that eat nicer exe ‘ment nor decaying matter do not show any more repugnance ‘oward i than thos that feed on fetid substances show for fsa tones Rtionaisn cannot alerts fit and there emis an area ‘of medi horror to which we ae well adapted. The progres sive ad very slow lifting of prohibitions concering things sexs tah if not things obscene, changes ahing in tis regard In ay ae, the continuity offanction lees sexy regenerative activ fy with a fulness that does nt app ei surmoumtae. Even ‘fin the end ordinary sexuality no longer had any shame as. ations (which would not each the poine where copulation would no longer be concealed), the shame connected with the ‘excrement orifices or finctons woud al testify to the divorce Ftween man and ature Further, quite eviden cst not Ing wil prevent this ndelible shame rom eubbing of its mark ‘nto the adjcent domain ofthe reproductive organs. should be unnecessary to tate such obvious fats, All hie went so well without tying, but de nae qutoning of wa wat ‘once beyond question now obliges one ta speak and, athe sae ~ 1 sceped time, provides an ocason to cy what wa ft cep Ina The ge ing en prc i tea. ecurert pect ofthe cased domain emerges na ne tdi te jug y rinks, ies the weet retons mre thn lating othe deer The peserinone CGncening hem i othe the ible and seca Sah prktbidon tha concerned ent lood. The Aus abn Sorgen essen inl when mes to abcng the psd secre nthe ection of vase Shean tee he a te i te sicher ing mage fh ale men (Only the ah the mae eale te accepted) Nothing xn Be coneuded From ths bart bu the racy athe sexi nthe odes of pli, epading he lower pr af haben ‘potable th eae nour day, mental od iso Tonge an jes of mei Ir nme the cerified Flings of aie humanity grew Ina nen: moreover tei extragat chat proce, Sony wth erry coeur are ‘ata wel sich etm ened to ape tenable Some thing of thr pit no dbs but dninihed ate Senay aetonslcened ad we send eon ‘bt wan impaiy ceed oer ly the rus human bis reached he se lol There longer anyon the hat pillaged ete oes Al of em conto (0 ‘it but he word hs cased tobe abr protected fom the defilements ie proceed no doubt, but mae ok thnanaproinate es) Foto eg pris iy mae repogancy we ave inks pr shat a erian of hi p> thc} could not be welded inthe decopment of td {Catogny on hs pol eal ot pet pylge) Indeed, cy of senusity in matters of n ‘we each ourehildren tobe shamed of filthy we never ell them ‘tobe ashamed of thelr emul funtion. Tt would be very hand, and if we chance to sy it, we cannot justify the prohibition we declare except in one ways the mother simply syst the eid “Ws diy" and she olen even uss the childish word denoting both excrement and the forbidding of contact 3. That the Transition from Animal to Man Must ‘Be Grasped in a Comprehensive View "donot intend to dell on the problem of anteriorly It snot eran thatthe caller character of sextal taboos makes much sense {have only tried to account forthe changes occuring between the time when the revulsion wat ceased by reali ‘es ofa sexu nature andthe present time, when i jstified bythe undicussed fone of the dejeta, imagine chat our digo for excrement secondary (that i ‘sppears foul 1 ws because of something other thay its objective reality). But my mpresion is contrary to the one hat generaly Drews and I dont fel obliged tobe casvncing on this point ‘The esul tht am for sa view ofthe whole which embraces ‘not ony all of space but the diffrent eis in succession, This beings, chronology loses a lest some ots importance, That hich succession brought about in certain onder may be per ‘er the production of organisms has required, the more susie: tory the operation is, The principle of producing atthe least ‘expense isnot so much a human idea asa narrowly capitalist one {it makes sense only from the vewpeint ofthe incorperated em pany). The movement of human life ec tend toward angi ¢ the sign of expenditres chat ar finally excessive, that go beyond ‘what we can bea. Everything within ax demands chat deat ay ‘wate os: we anticipate chese molipe eras, thee new bein rings, ampreducive fom the sandpoine of reason, this whole sale destricton of effective force accomplished inthe ernaer of ene individu life to other, younger, individuals. Deep dwn, ‘we ren assent tothe condition tha ess, hat samo ito rable inthis condition of individual destined for suring and Inevitable annibiaion. Or rather, were tot fo this inter be conition, so ars tha he will constanaly waver, we would not be satisfied, (How sgnficane tpreene thes book? is ent Hed, leds, dfn gue ma ne mere.) Today our judgments are formed in disappointing circumstances: those among us wo best make dhemselves heard are unaware (and want at allt £9 be unaware) tha if is she lnxury of which death ie ehe highest & degree, that ofall the luxuries of ie, human life sche most extravagantly expensive, that, nll, an increaed prehension of deat, when life's security wears thin, sat he highest level of ruinous refinement... But oblivious of this, hey only add to ‘he anguish without which i esd encrly to focury would be less boldly marion. For if human tobe luxurious, what to say ofa luxury of which anguish is the product and whie anguish does not moderate? Part Foun Transgression one The Festival, or the Transgression of Prohibitions 1. The Death ofthe King, the Festival, Transgression of Prohibitions Sometimes, inthe fice of death, ofthe lure of human ambi ton, a boundles despair takes hold. Then i seems that chose eae storms and those rumblings of ratore to which man is ord rly shamed to yield gor the upper and. In his sense the death fof aking i apt co produce he most pronounced affects of hor ro a rn The nature othe sovereign demands tha hi se= tment of defeat, of humiliation, sways provoked by death, atin such a degree tat nothing, Se seems, can stand fm against che fay of analy. No sooner the event announced han mex ish infor al quater, illing everthing in roe ofthe, ping and pillaging to est the dev. "Ritual license,” sys Roger Calli, “hen assumes a character erexpanding sel to the catasio- phe that bas cccutred,.. Pope fem i never ested inthe least way In the Hawalan islands, he populace, upon learing ‘ofthe king's dest, commits rey at ordinary regarded as rie inal. te burns pillages and kil, and the women ae required to prostitute themselves publi.."The disorder “ends only with ‘he complete elimination ofthe patrescene substance ofthe mal Cave, when nothing moe i fof he ryal remains but hard sound, and incorropible skeleton sd the 6 2. The Festival ls Not Just @ Return (0 One's Vomit ooking a this second movement, we might imagine that, che first having filed. man ets, without he least change, to dhe ‘nimalty om which he started. Bat the explosion tat follows death sin no way the abandonment of tht wold which the pro hibition Bunnie i the fetal ti ofcourse, fora moment, the cessation of work, the unrestrained consumption ofits prod ucts and the deliberate violation ofthe most hallowed laws, but the exces consecrats and completes an onde of things based on rules; ie poesagninst tha oder ony temporal. Moreover, we shoe note mised bythe appearance of recutn by man to ature. Ie is such a return, na doubt, but only In one sense. Since man has uprooted hinsel fra natures that ‘being who retums os stil uprooted, he isan uprooted being, ‘who suddenly gos bck toward that from which he s uprooted, fiom which he has not ceased to uprot ine? The fist uproot: ing not obliterated: when men, in the course ofthe festa, ve fee play tothe impulses they refs in profane times, these Impulies havea meaning inthe context of he human world they re meaningful ony in that context. In any eat, these impulses, cannot be mistaken fr those of animals. ane give a etter ida of the gulf sepuating the two kins ‘of free ply than by drawing attention to te connection betwen laughter and the festa. Laughter snot the festival by il, you In its own way ie indicate the feral’ meaning ~ ied, lg teri alway the whole movement ofthe fst In nashell— but there nothing move contrary to animal than bug. | will go forther: aot ony ithe fetal not as one might ‘hinks a etum by man o his emt, bu i ulimaty bs the oppo site meaning. I aid thatthe iil hurnan negation hich eve sted the human in contrast the animal, had 0 do with the being’ clpendenc on the natural given, on the body which itd » not choose, but the Break constituted by the Festal is nota ll {vay of renouncing independence i ater the culmination ‘ofa movement toward autonomy, which forevermore, the ame ‘thing mar ins 4. The Failure ofthe Denial of Animality ‘hae then the essential meaning of our hocor of mate? Not ‘wanting to depend on anything, abandoning the place of or car tal birth, revolting intimately aginst theft of ding, geacaly tmistrsting the body that i, having a ep mistrust of what ‘cident ata, perishable ~ thir appear tobe for each ne of tvthe sense ofthe movement that lead us 0 repreent man inde pondently of ft, of the vxual functions and of death. | have ‘no objection, this clear and distinct way of looking at things ‘thar of man in our ies is assuredly not tht ofthe fist men. In fae, eassimes a dicriminating contelousnes andthe atin lated aaguage on which the conssiousnes i founded, But I can sear by envisaging the way of feeling and reacting that determined the fie prohibitions. Everything aggets tat chese feelings and these ealy reactions eespond obscurely to the fics hat we now have the ability to think discursely I wos't lor this point: tn referring o he entre history of religions that must only ale to, not wishing to review iin detail. Te line of develo ‘ment from taboos on incest or menstrual blood othe religions ‘ot purty ad ofthe sous immorality s quite clear tis always ‘matter of denying the human beng’ dependence o the nati ‘al geen, of setting our digi, oar petal nature, our detach ‘ment, gains animal avidity. ‘ut obviously 1 cannot limit myself to this fist pereption. know thet ital movement filed 1 look forthe integral meaning of my will to act and ofthe crist fears that | share, ‘cannot help but note the atiey ofan llr so wrongly placed. ” ean deny my dependence, denying sexualey, ith, death and Inssting thatthe world submit tomy aetion. But his negation 1s ttious. 1 Fly ave co tll myself chat the cam origin of which Lam ashamed my origin nonetheless. Al however great my homor of death may be, how ea I eseape the fatal appoint ‘ment? know sha will de apd Ue wil ot, Wok, for spas Sally marks the limits of my means: limited ete extent to ‘which I can espond tothe tress of misforrane, 4. What the Festival Liberates Is Not Merely Animality but Also the Divine ‘OF cours inser own way men recognized long ago the fine ofthe negation of matre could not fall o appear inevitable fiom the begining. Bu rom the beginning there mus have been ‘wo felings about It According to the second of thes, it was neither possible nor desirable for man to be tay protected, to beso protected that the secused elernent would permanently ‘cease (o mater, That element was denied, but ths denial was the reans of giving It diffrent vale Something unfamiliar and sconcerting cme ino being something tht was longer it ply nature, but nature easfigued, the sored. Ina basi sense, wha i ered specie what i prolied Duc if the sacred che prot, is east rut of the sphere of prox fane life (inasmuch a ie denotes disruption ofthat ile), it nex- ‘ertheless has greater alse chan this prone that exludesie fe {so longer the despised bestiality: often tha resid anni smal form, but the latter has become divi, As such, ative to profane life this sacred animality has ce some meaning thatthe negation of nature (hence profane Ife) ha eitive to pre ani malty. What is denied in profane life hough prohibitions and through work) a dependent tae ofthe animal abject o death and ouster blind needs. Whats denied by means of divin o {ssi pendans, bu this time tie he pane word whose lcd and yolotary serilty bs contested. In seme, the second com testation appeals to forces thatthe fst had denied but iso 1 they cannot truly be confined win the limits of the ist Deawing on their ip, the movement of the festival eats ‘hese animal forces, but now thet explosive liberation incerrupss the course ofan existence subordinated to ordinary ends. There {sa breakdown ~aninterupion = of the ales the regu course of things cease what originally had the meaning flit has that of shatering limits, This, the secre announces anew possibil iste sa leap into the ulenowa, wich animality its impet. ‘What came to pas canbe auramed up ina simple statement: the force of x movement, which repression increased tenfold, projected ie into richer woe. 5. The Negetion ofthe Profane World and the Divine (or Sacred) World { emphasved eier chit “the ature’ thats deste aher being rejected is not desired in submission co ee given! ts peure tranligured by the car, to whieh the spre then accedes only through anew mover fra of nsebordination, of eet.” “Thisis he bse ference Between ordinary and divine animal= ity, OF court, it would not be possible co say that simple ani- ‘malty is analogous cathe profane sphere. I only mean o point ‘out that relative to profane le sacred animality ed the same meaning that dhe hor of nature ba lative co the first animal ity. For there wat negation and overcoming each time, Bur now wil have ro describe in deal, and discursive, system of opp sitions tat fiir Cows, But unconsciously so, in an bc tly tha favors confusion. “The negston of ature hat two clea and distinctly opposed aspects that of horror or repugnance, which implies fever and paslon and hat of fie, which sumes the fee hs Sutaldd I hoe sendy plen! of those movement tat we Suive (© make itl mobile of hse realtone wevegrd attesting enya we mae praca Sher esence were nochange Thi nt nce the a ity tha one mules tobe: we cn ithe peer sor abl ih change ye we cannot aly be chang Bet we sol ot eonfn charge wil the sable state that ests om te at tinsel ome he cure of the rvs sate whieh the Chango end refine Ife ey ding am mer anima ver ifr om theater king wena nonetde he mode le without har fad prot Me isan exeriono tine ese ha ows ating of dese vad olen change ach hang fl ey Bell fom te untae I ret nov ta character dnt and esate Bband aw of wold eens ony he lent ton of pion and wagreion wl be evden es he unity ofthe ured wor cong wth he al ely ofthe profane world.” “" “ene o Two ‘The Phacdra Complex 1. The Connection of Horror and Desire es bony the combination ofahorence an desire that ges the sacred world a paradoxical character, holding the one who ‘considers it wichou cheating ina state of anxious iscination. ‘What ie sacred undoubeedly comesponds othe object of hor- ror {have spoken of fetid sticky object without boundaries, which toems wih if and yer i the sgn of deah, [eis mature at ‘the point where its effervescence closely joins fe and death, shot it is death gorgng life with decomposed substance. lets hard to imagine thas hum individual would not with raw tom such an object in digit. But would he witha if he wore no empted? Would the abjece nausea ii offered itm rothig desirable? Am fron, hen, t0 chink the following: it fen seems that, by overcoming 2 resistance, desire becomes ‘ore meaning resitnce she test that asures us of desi’ tuthenleity and thus gives ita free that comes ofthe cerangy Fits dominion. Wr deste had ot had so mich lily ver- ‘coming ovr undeniable repugnance we would not have thought {itso strong we would not have wen init object hat which was ‘capable of ning desire ro sacha degree Soi ws that Phaedn’s Jove increased in proportion to she fea that arose from the por silt of cme, Bat onthe other baa, how would the repug tance maintain tel, more simply to what woul it respond ‘its object did noe present anything dangerous’ Pure ad sim ple dango eights one away, while only the horor of proki tion keeps one inthe anguish ofemptation. TH consider from this standpoint any repugnant object, 2 “decomposing corp fr instance, i ste chat my argument seems na longer to hold. However, Ian bring specific consider tla to bear. wl eae for rane the aserton that every hor tor conceals a possibility of enticement [can then asume the ‘operation ofa relatively simple mechanism. An object thats ‘repugnant presents ore of repulsion more or les great will ‘a that, follwing my bypothess should also present 2 force of attaction; ike the force of repulsion, its oppose, che force ‘of atzaction wil be more or less great. But I didi ay thatthe ‘epson and the attraction were always deeuy proportions to ‘ne anther: Things ae from beings simple Indeed, instead fineressng desir, erenie boro prays it shat it of (Of couse, the excesivenes ofthe hotorbrngs i the subjec= tive element Instead ofthe Hippalytus of the story imagine 2 parcid, who would not have us stsfied an incestuous desire ‘but would have killed Theseus. {am fe to pieture 2 Phaedra ‘overcome by the crime she would ave uninentiorally provoked, refisng tose her lover agin. | might aso, mils away rom the ‘asia theme, imgine her burning with renewed passion for the abominable Hippolyes. Or, finding another instance of the fume that Racine delighted in, can even se her overcome a= ‘roed, bu all the more ardent despite ~ or beeause of — her hottr of Hippolyee and ofhersel the horror ein fact more or less grat, his snot merely because ofthe object that gies isc to i he inva who feels Its himself more ols inclined to felt. Thi dessin any * ‘nay alter the situation mos avorable to desire: ics both hese “tion of Racne’s Phedra andthe one that I proposed lst, that 1 ive prominence to, placing I inthe setting i requles~ che situation that calls forthe ees, the sighs and the silences of tage dy. The moe dilicul the horror is to bese, the more desirable Feis~butone mast be able wo bear it ‘Bu the Phacdrs example relates o sexual desire, and tothe Inet praibiton thi makes eriminal, ba ina clea defined ‘eases A rotting canes, i sem il he nothing dsieable about ‘it; apparently, the prohibition on comtace with decayed mater, Alejcta, conpus, could’ protect these objects from a nonexis: tent desire! 2. The Allorement Linked tothe Corpses Putrefaction ‘Apparenily and in principle, the prohibition concerning the dead isnot designed to protect them fom the deste ofthe living. The -rrar we ive of them des not seem to corespnsl to any atc: tion. Fead, eee, thoughe sheets obsious defenselessness justified the forbidding of contac. But other subsidiary hyposh> ces of Freud’ are groundless... I snot a all the sane wich ‘onpis as with Kinsmen who cae have sesul relations with ws: ‘he orb, critinalehuacer may a an alleen othe hor sible significance they have Been given. But the horror of putre faction, it would sem, will never be coupled with any desire “The vale of wha I sid in eeerence to Phaedra would thus be linited to the nartow domain of objects of sexual dese It would bbe wrong to suppose a Id that horror alway conceals poss bility of dese. Here I need to point out chat a8 concerns death, | spoke of the dea, with whom its criminal to ave contact | oly alluded Telly the living, whom i iermina Kl ” [Now while is tue that men seldom want wo have dire fol contact withthe dead (orc ater all only 2 venil eri) ‘i cemain cat sometimes they desire tl dhe ling. lt may bey however, thst the two profibitons are connected. 1 have delayed speaking tho fa f the univers lw tha forbids (in principle) the llag of burn beings. Nevertheless, respect forthe dead might bea corellay of respect for the living. Might the pro hilton on corpses tum aut to be an extension ofthe prob tion on mu? Ista dead person, i ee bell of primes, the presumed vet of murder? Primitives are inclined t te there, nf, dat death cannot be maura fet face with “dea perso, one must suppose that spel or some act of wteh- Craft is responsible forthe death; one must set out in search of ‘he culprit, We may suppose that, na dead body, an attraction, hidden esponse ro our desire, dost relate to the very object that has filed us wlth horror, be ether 0 murder ‘We shoulirt be surprised, i this 30, at our ack of com seiousnes ot, We dont much like o think shat we might il ‘nd even les that we might enjoy killing Undoubtedly if any desire is mixed with ehe horsor ofthe ead the lure of mardercontibured tt. And yt this way of looking at thing tikes me being very incomplete; a most shes sche begining of an explanation There sore in the hor fible aration ofthe dead than the desire to ill an bring nto ‘play Going back tothe Fest spoke of, which s rudimentary, shapeless, we can embrace the complex that combines death, ‘rics and murder: perhaps that i the comprehensive view swe must adhere t. Sexual activity is ondinally Hite by rales and murder i reared as awl unthinkable. Thi regular oner of things means thatthe moyement of ie etaned, contol che way a hose fn hy good rider. fri the protonged lite of ol people that sta 8 bales the course of socal activi. It the stagoation, or at least the slowing down, tat keeps this crac under the say of ‘work. Comersely, the death of old people, and indeed death in general accelerate the efron and exuberance of fe, with the ‘beat ellct resulting fom an alteration of arrest and sudden releac of motion. Inthe end, we dons know anything, of searely anything f we ioe i Grom this movement that death berate, From the Immense seductive power that generally belongs to life and gives _ response to the depressing look of eorpes bearing no makeup. “This passage fom authority co impotence, from the uprghtness of being soabsenc, fromthe negative word lepbe] position ‘ofthe living to the enales deni of limits heralds the return, ‘he tinmph even, of neglect ecles, capricious if, fl of tener abandon and obscure dorder. Violence responds to decay, ‘which eal forth the nothingness of decomposition, zlave to the enor abandon of disordelypasions, analogous to ‘that aur of sored error that tragedy rites. ‘The crx ofa convulsion ae complete at thir comes atthe moment when ie, assuming in death dhe look of impotence, appears, at tho cst in its elles breaking loose. A power ofanni- Ilion underlying a power of proliferation, of renewal, of Eesh- ‘nes, announced by a ptrefcton Ine fl fife: would there bea young generation i che cemeteries did oe fl up co rake room fore? 23. The Seert of Desire “Theres however a gulf between the decaying of es, given in tre, od the link seciatng youth with the dismal operations thatthe lndicape of graves covers up. I iecharcterisic of man tw obliterate or hide the traces of so black an alchemy and, just 1 they are buried in the ground, 0 they are bared in the inc cesuble parts of memory. Moreover, the most dificult job of ‘reconery has to do with the whole of vate movement. tay be posible co rediscover the connection between prescriptions of reapoct for the dead and the desire eo Mil. But, detached from ‘theres, this view is uperficial. And however complete pictare {he “ential ofthe king” may be, linklag the decay ofthe royal corp to sexual lcentiousmess ad the fey ofmurdey, sill ‘only 3 schema whore mesnig mast be constricted. ‘What Ihave steady shown enables ust rasp wha inks the hotror ofthe dead and the des that relates to the otal move- ‘ment of life Tiss already an improvement over the theoretical ‘connection exhibited ina feria leat, But I must go further snd show fall ht, onthe other hand che sexual le of human Deings, erotciem, would not be intllighble withos this coo- nection. Is posible no doubt to imagine eroticism indepen dently of the horror ofthe dead. But actly this independence emo given. Ian imagine psson independently of Phaedra ci ‘cumstances: nothing ls more common than the inact love 3 ‘woman hae for a man she ir eniled to love (in ov day, more ‘ore, Pods psson for Hippolyts ceases to appear ermal ou... But leaving side a extreme case, which isthe elclent ‘sexual desire ~ responsive co the pal ‘ment that uncessngy cate apart of humanity ino he grave ~ is atized, a8 it wer, by the horror we nonetheless have ofthis movement. just athe crime, which horfes her, eerety rises tnd fuls Pacis ardor, sexual’ fisgrance of death ensures all {ts power. This che meaning of anguih without which sexual ity would be only an animal activity an would not be ert. IF ‘we wish o clearly represent this extraordinary fect, we have to compare ito vertigo, where fea doesnot prslyz= but increases an involuntary desire to fll; and to uncontrollable laughter, ‘where the laughter increstes in proportion to our anguish iF some dangerous element superenes ad if we laugh even ehough ‘eal coms we should stop laughing. In each of chese situation, a feling of danger ~ yet not so preing a to preclude any delay ~ places us before «nausea Ing void. A void in the fae of which our being ea plenum, tdveatened with sing its plenitude, both desing and fearing ro lovee. Arif the conscioumess af plenitude demanded a state of uncertain of suspension. Asi being fel were this explore tion of al possibilty, lays going to che extreme and always har ardows And 20, to sucha sbborn defiance of imposbility,co sucha fll desire for emptiness, there no end but the dei tive empines of death, Tune Desire Horr ed at Losing and at Losing Oneself 1. Jey Demands That We Consume Our Resources of Energy Horror astocited with desire and the poverey of desire not enhanced by any horror east, however, preven fom seeing thor dese har the devoble a ite object. Anguish, when desire ‘opens ont the void ~ and, sometimes, onto death ~ i perhaps a reason for dsiing more strongly and for finding the desired objec more azar, bat nthe a inne the objet of desire alias as the meaning of elght and this object, whatever one right say of i, ot inacceabe. It would be inexcusable co spetk of erotcien without saying esseneally cat it centers on joy. A joy, moreover, that i excess, In speaking of thelr ap ‘ures, mystics wish to give the impression ofa plese so grext thatthe pleasure of human lve doesnot compare Is hard co asses the degree of intensity of sats that may nt be incom ‘munieable, perhaps, but tha can never be compared with any ‘exactness, fr lack of famiiaricy wich other tates than those we personaly experience, Buti does sem allowable to sink that ‘we may experience, nthe related domaine of eroticism and rel: ious meditation, joy a0 great that we ar led to conde chem ‘exceptional, unique, supasing the bounds of an oy imaginable Be chis ast may, there can be no doube about the excessive, ‘exorbitant character of the ansports of oy tha erotcsm gives ‘aI ellen tha the skeptic shown by a all mmber of lad Indios response ether tothe afectednes of statements, ‘or to the awkwardness or bad conditions of an experience. It remains to be seen how the puri of sch great joye mast g0 ia that of horors and epugnant objects of every sot ‘What Iai eatirrended to show that horror was present and payed apaein eroticatuactlon | funshed what might be con sidered sulfcent evidence of his prado fact, but [ail have not givena clear enough account ofits pecullares To this end, 1 wil pu forward a hypothesis hati perhaps fundamental | ahi the the feeling of horror (am not aking about fe) ‘does noe corespond as mot people belive, to what ed for us, to what jeopardizes thei interests. On the contrary, they hor us, objects that otherwise would hive no misning take ‘on the higher present value in our eyes Eote activity can be gusting It en also be noble, ethereal excloding sexual con= tac, ba i illaratera principle of human behivior nthe latest way: what we wanes what uses up ou strength and ou resources and, necessary, places oer ifein danger “Actually, we dont alway have the means t0 wan it ue Sources ran ou and our desc lal ws (quite simply nhbitel) s4soon a we re fced with a danger the ial too unavoidable 1, however, we ae Blested with enough courage and luck, the objec we desi moss In picipe the one mos Hey to endan- ie o destroy us. odie ifr their able to stain grest Tosses of energy or money ~ or serious threats of death. Bue iso farasthoy arable (nce again iia question of strength, quan- tlatve mater) men rick che greatest losis and go t9 mock the most serious threats. If we generally believe the contray, cis Is because they generally have lee strength; but within their so personal limits they hve nonetheless een willing o spend and to expose themselves to danger. In any event, whoever has the strength and of course the means for it, indulges in continual {pending and repestedly exposes himsel! 0 danger. Through ex ‘ples, and through detailed analy of he operation of contrary Factor, eich fs most cll apparent in eri, Iwill attempt to show the significance and cope ofthis ws furcher Iwill not neglect to come back to the theoretical aspect of the problem. ‘ave presented its general Ines in he fst part ofthis work. What fist explained sartng fom the movement of predation, f wil nove show at work inthe individual fever thus ina more concrete vray, contributing to fla view byway af a detour. What ean- rot change in any cate is way of loking at ehings thai ad ‘ally opposed to the comet judgment of thought. Eversthing that “jurtfes” our behavior aged to be reexam- Ine andorra howto keep from saying simply that thought isan enterprise of enslavement; i is che subordination of the hear of pon, incomplete economic calealston. Humanity Is letting Keel be ld the way 3 child submits toa professor: 2 Feeling of poverty paalyzes it. But those general interests that it alleges are valid ro the exten that fear prevail, o energy ack Ing. They make sense only inthe short view that obtain ino ‘al ditcourse; but energy abounds and fear doesn stopansthing Beeween an indolent thinking and volen eouse of things, dis ‘ord is soeregn; and our wars are the measure of chose impo- tent and restonableprofrors tha led us. 2. Literature and Anguish; Sacrifice and Horror For the time being, in order to ilstrate the Iw by which we seck the greatest los or the grates anges | wil mie myself to two relarences, the fest belngfltinal literature. For the charm of 3 novel is inked tothe misfortunes of «hero wo the threat that hangover hi. Without troubles, without anguish, his fe would have nothing tht capcnates us, noting tat eles ‘sand compels us wo lve ith him. Yer he tonal nature of ‘the novel helps us bear what, Ft were real eight exceed our strength and depres us.* We do well t ve vcaiously what we dont die tive ourselves. Not tae ia question of beating mis fortune without weakening on the contrary, ensuring ie wth ‘out t90 much anguish, we should ae leu in the feeling of lossor endangerment i gives us. But literature only continues the game ofreligions of which {tis the principal helt. Above al ithatrecehed sacrifice asa leg ‘cya the start this longing to lose, to ose ourselves aa to Look ‘ie novel, respond inthe best way posible to the dese o ose curser ~ tragically, comially ~ inthe vast movement where begs endlestly lose themselves? And if s ee that rckery presides over literature, that an excess of reality would break ‘the momentum that caries us toward the point of resolution ‘where Literature aims ur, tr alo true that ony area daring has cnabled us 0 find n the angush of figurative death or down ‘al that singularly excessive joy tha engages being in its destruc- tion. Wihou thi daring we canes opps the riche of eign and arco the poreryof anual if. Four The Object of Desire and the Totality of the Real 1. The Object of Desire isthe Universe, or the Totatty of Being Rather strangely, decribe what i hardest to comprehend, but 2 the same time ithe most familar thing. Spectators ol age tay and readers of novels ge she meaning ofl without fly Understanding i; and in thei own way those who attend mass ‘eligiouly do nothing but contemplate its essence. Bot if fom ‘the word of psson, where without difficulty waged and the novel or the sacrifice of mas farm recognizable sigs, I pass to the world of thought, overything shuts of in deciding to bring the movement of raged, that sare horcoe” hich fascinates into the ineligible world, 1am avare that, disconcerted, the ‘eader will have some trouble flowing me. a elit, what Fcnaes nthe way speaks to passion bu as nothing fo say to the intellect. Thus i appears, in many cases, thatthe leter i Tes Tied than 2 simpler reaction. In point of facta the intellect eannot Justi the power of pasion, and yet it ively considers elf obliged to deny that power. But in choos ing o ear no other reasons but ts ow, the itll es Frit ‘can go into the reasons ofthe heat Iie so chooses, provided it ‘does nt insist on reducing them fist co the caleulation of rs son. Once it has made this concession can define» domain in ‘which iis no longer the sole rule of condt:t does so it speaks ofthe secre, of what surpasses i by nature. The most emarlable thing is that i quite capable of speaking of what surpases it indeed, It eannoe conceive that it might Rally be able co justify Itself without abandoning ts wn calelatons The intellect ln fact, im hat with sf impo i a sacs, separating the object of flection fiom the concrete tot Ia ofthe real [constructs under the mame of slence, 8 word ‘of abstract things, copied from the things ofthe profane word, pata work dominated by wit. Nothing serange, once we ‘ve surpassed i han this word ofthe tlle where each thing ‘ust arser the question ‘What is che we of hat” We then re: Ine thatthe mena proces of abstraction never gets ou ofa cycle In which one thing i related to another, for which the fist s Useful the other ching in turn must be wef.fr something elke. The sythes therefor the harvest, the harvest fo food, the food fr labor the labor forthe factory whee cytes are made beyond the abor neces far the manufacture ofa many new seythesas are needed to replace the old one, there ls surph, ses tly is dlined in vance: wil serve to prove the tnd audlliving. Nowhere do we a totly Ha ran en in tae that is meaningfl as such, chat doesnt ned to justify Isl by leading is usefulness for some other thing, We scape thisempty And sterile movement, this sum of ejects and abstract fictions ‘hats the word of che inellec, only by entering avery fer ‘ent world where abjects are on the same pine a che subject, where the form, together withthe sebject, 2 sovercign totlsy ‘which is not divided by any aberaction ands commensurate with the entre uninee. “To make this ral dllezence erween two worlds pescept ble, thereisnofinerexample han she domain fertile, where ‘he object are situated on anther plane than the subject. “The object of sensual dest is by ature another deste. The esr af the sunse the deie, if motto destroy ones, test tobe consumed and to lose oneself without reseration. Now the object of my desire does wot tly respond to except on one ‘ondion: dat I avakon ina desire equal to mine. Love ie ‘sence isso clearly the coincidence of wo deste that theres ‘nothing more meanngfl in love, even nthe purest lov, Buc the other's deste is desirable soar a isnot known a profane object is from the ouside (as an analyzed substance isk in a aboratry). The eo desires ily respond to one another only ‘whea prceited inthe tarspareneeof as intimate comprehension. Ofcourse a deep repulsion underlies this comprehension: ‘without repulsion the desire would not be boundless a ies when it does nor give way to repuon. Ife were not 0 great, ‘would ic hae tha consncing force of the lover answering her lover in darkness and sllence, cht nothing absolutely nothing separates them nove? But doen't matter: nove the abject i 0 longer anything but that immense and angushed desite forthe other deste. Of course, the abject fst known by the sbjece ss other, dllerent from it, ut af the moment it reduces iselF to desie, the object, ima tremor tha sno less anguished, Is not dstint fom it: the ewo desies met, intermingle and merge ‘nwo one. Without doubt, the intellect emis behind and, look: ing 3 things from the outside, diingushes wo salir dsites that ate basically ignorant of one another. We only know our ‘own sensations, not chose ofthe others Let us sy that the dis tinction of the intllct i so cle contrary tothe operation thc would paralyze the laters movement if were compelled to fale from awareness. Bat the intellect snot wrong. merely ‘because the illusion denounced is ffcactous, because i works and no purpose woud be served by depriving the deluded part= a ner oftheir contentment, I is wrong in tht tis not an lion Tobe sre illusion i always posible in any domain whan, ‘We thus fool ounces if some incomplete perception ie ane ‘raed by wsas Being hat ofa bottle: it isnot tle spe rsfecion ge me the impression it wa, and I tought {es ‘s0ing to touch it. Bue the ample proves nothing. Foran emer ‘ofthis Kind i verifiable and other times ts nde a bow thag tny ha pips. Kite hat abot inde hand, core pol ‘is something certain, slid, Whereas, inthe most iworabe roe, ‘he pouty of atcining che deseo the exitenceof va okay ‘un nt just ts exeral sign is generally disputed. Yet aninfaoe isnot ble, the first time atlas, to deduee the presence of ‘other, interval sila oi, fromm exter signe On the cone te can ily infra presence onthe asf exer sigs only fier having feared to asocite the sg with Hut preset, which fe mast fet have recognized ina ttl contacts thea sy peor analysis, "es not ey to ote this contact ~an intra hing on both Sides ~ when we ae talking about the embrace afl aceon tuner condisions in which thedilerentisted sensations and the ‘complex asociatons can never be set aside (they are or the 1 ume cll), Weare always etd eo adap he essing ‘fsctences this complex of definable enations is asocated by fhe subject witha bellFin the desc of his partner Possibly But i would be futile n my opinion, co advance further on the ‘ath ofolation. This goes without sying: we will ever fn a {his way an lable moment in which willbe Crain hat these comenttonallyolated elements are ot sufiient, Beier totale the opposite approach, focusing on the total appearence es este inthe embrace This & because i the embrace eeything x revealed anew, ‘venting appears ina new way and we have every rcs fg OO the start for denying the interest, and even che possibile, of aburace mental operations thr would follow ths unflling Besides, noone hs attempted these operations... Who week Presume to delineate fom ponderous ales what appeared to Se a hat moment? This appearance might even be defined ty showing that it cannot be grasped through teaties like thors Published in the journal of paychlogy ‘What cries one from che firs "ecesion” of discernible ements, aking of drowning in which there smothing drowned or any depth of water that would down. Ie woald be ey to ‘ay tothe contrary: not atall..and to cite distinct imprestons, “These impressions doi fc ean, despite dhe fling of being rowed to which ef, ‘This Fecling isso strange that, a tule, one gives up the idea of describing it. Actaly, we have only one way to dos, When wre describe a state we ordinarily do this by singling aut sects ‘hat ditnguish it, whereas here we merely have toy "eee ome th he totiy of what the uniter allows ‘(physical ade swallowsme, orice salons, a ising myst om it; athing remain, except this or dr, which ae ess meatng thn this thing, Ina seme ease, ‘tle and seem tbe dying. eit the costo da, hac a no onger melt inc in which alo, "No doube this not emilee: a ficton the cont eee me | bea lose to the one who ut iti ah pao ok ‘eed by an expiration: suddenly he intensity of her dese hich katy he, iene sh suecamb ni al he, she wer "etn fom he uderword fnd her aa, embeae her ‘Bisco is gute sng: she ta longer the ome wh pepe aly, wahedbenall,o bought soll ances. She vats ae lsat Hike ha hes in which she as rouble Brenig od Ms sh so ly the anne ofthe unre her crs, ese ‘eso tly th empties of death, that Lembeace her eamuch angus pd foe thro me in ple of sth, wh ie he bnene of bounds the ete, Buc between hers meter ‘Rnd of appesement which, denoting rebellion ad pathy the ‘ane sine, eliminate dstince ht epaed us fom ich thes, and he one he separated us eh am she une 11s plafl to dwell onthe inadequacy of description, neo: ‘sarily awkward and tray, whos inal meaning refers tothe enil of any distinct meaning, We cas beep this much in mind ‘tht in the embrace the object of desire i alway the totality of ‘being, jst a cs the object of religion ora, the sully ‘which we lose ourselves insofar a we ake ourselves for = cy separate entity (forthe pure abstraction that dhe isolated ind vidual is, or thinks hei) na word, the abject of desire ithe ‘nie, inthe form of she who in the embrace site mirsor, where we ourselves are reflected. At the most intense moment ‘of fasion, the pure Har flight, like sudden Mis, iuminates ‘the immense feld of posits, on which these lovers ae sub> ‘lized, annbilated, ubmisve in thelr excitement to raelic= ‘on which they desired. 2. The Analytical Representation of Nature and the Vogue Totality, Which Ie Both Horrible and Desirable In speaking ofa totality, the problem is that we usualy speak of| 4 lighly, withou being sbe to fx ou tention on thi ot ‘object we speak of (when Infact it would need toe considered with che exasperated attention ofthe lover.) ‘The toraiey i erly alien to ordinary reflection in that Includes at che same time abjesive reslity and the subject who pereates the abjective reality. Neither the object nor the sub- v6 Ject can foam by themselves «totality that involves che whole In prtculr what ee cotlty, called “nature,” b fr the scien. ‘fe min a simple caricature: isthe eomplete opposite of ‘conception according to which, in he cae ofan unlimited ena lesz (a desire not hindered by any eservation, not contradicted bby any plan, not curbed by any work), its object precisely the ante ality ofthe rl and hls implies that fasion withthe subject which | clumsily aterpeed to describe Tam obliged eo linger over the aalpieal representation of nacre, opposed to an accurate represeatation ofthe totality. since {myse have spoken of nature, in avery diferent sense of the word Here T must look fora terminological exactness withe ‘rich wil have spoken to no purpose ‘Theistic philosophy contrasts nature with the totality: Frit, there Is Gd on the one hand, and nature on the ater. (In eh there is even sn embryo of dualism, which thology prefers not to develop.) {don's mean to defend the theistic conception of the world: onthe contrary, I would Uke to distance myself from representation of nate that makes, like de scent spi, substitute for God. My intention is tall costs to protect the totality From the colorations cha tant it ts nelther God nor nature ts not anything chat answers tothe maliple meanings ofthese words, nor evento anyone meaning among them. Iso- fares such meanings do not deceive us what they denote fin face only anabtrace part oft. And lewis, the nature of which speak in tis book, a part of che totality, cannoe be envinaged fw a concrete way xcept insolaras itis included inthe cota [As sid it is foul and repugrant: the objec that {designate in this manner doesnot refer to anything abstract that one might folate apd stable, che way Solate and sable in ny thought some wll object~2 piece of bread, for example, This detached plece ofbread iran abstraction But the moment Ie ren> ‘ers the unstable totality, with which connect it by eating, ino far as connect myself with the eancet totality ofthe el- This becomes clearer i come back to“oulnatre”: isthe alma ‘gy that Ian grasp in he totality which the embrace conseaes ‘The moment comes when my attention inthe embrace ist its object the asmliy of he beg | embrace. tam then gripped with hon. Ifthe being that I ersbrace hae taken om the mean ing ofthe otal. in that ison which tales the place ofthe a= Jeet and the object, of the lover and the beloved I experience the horror without whose posblity 1 ean experience the ‘movement ofthe totality. Ther it oro in bel his homo epagnant animal. whose presence I discover atthe very point where the totality of being takes form. But the horror | exper. ence dors not repel me, the diggut I ect doesnot nauseate me. Were I more nave {might even imagine, nd moreone | might ven claim, that Tid not experience this horror and this disgust But may, onthe contrary, thst fr a from escaping may resolutely quench my his with his horror that makes me pres loser, with this disgust that ha become my delight. or this have itty words at my disposal, words that sharpen the fecling | have of touching onthe aaah secret of bel. I may say ‘hese words in order to ery ou the uncovered secret wanting to be sare 1am not the only one ko know it: at this moment I ne longer doube that 1 am embracing the ctaliy without which 1 ‘was ony oud: {each ongm. Such moments require the growing intensity of sensations that inform us of the totality and braid together its objective and ub fective elements inextlably: this i the compler of senatione ‘hat proclans at the same time the other sod ones ~ that notin ary wap reducible to an analy where nothing ev apps but abstract elements, colors, sounds and so on, wiose ground ‘salways the totality... Ifthe sensations do not have hele grees Intensity, ts possible for us Isolate specific objects on the field ofthe totality: whereupon we no longer know anything but ‘hose objects; we know them clearly and distncly, bu he pres ence ofthe tori escapes ws. The sense ofthe cotality demands sm extreme invnslty ofthe vogue sensations, which ea to oF ahing clear or din: these ate essentially animal sensations, ‘which ae not merely rudimentary, which ring back our anna. ly, effecting the reversal without which we could not reach the totality. Ther igh pitched intensity overane ws, and they su focate us atthe very moment they overthrow us morally. The negation of nature (of smal) fe what separates os rom the ‘concrete torlity it inserts us in the abstractions of a human, ‘order = where like so many ala fees, wor, selence and Iureaucracy change ut into abstract entities. But the embrace restores unr to nate (which sel, it sn velntegrated, conly a detached ar), but rather tothe rorley in which an ss Ii shat by ling hinzl. Fr an embrace i ns just fll into ‘the animal mack, but the antcpation of death, and of the putre- faction cat follows It. Here eroticism is analogous toa tragedy, ‘where the hecatomb a the end brings together all the chara: ters. The point f thatthe cote reached (yet indefinitely out of reach) Is reached ony at the price of a sseifice eroticism seacheritpreciely insumuch as love is kind of immolation." i Parr Five The History of Eroticism ove Marriage 1. Eroticitm Developed oot of Mlict Sexuality “The subject of his ok the ity of eroticism, and thas fave ony ale abou the elements tha constitute exotics, But ‘de seallyamatter ofthe fit historic stp that edt the difler- tent Fors of ats snus, 8 they evolved in time. ew ea fly be granted that cheve frst eps had a decisive importance, ‘histor of erotics tha did not consider them frst ad fre most would make lle sense “This ie all the mare important seeing thar while eroticism subsequently developed varied forms, these always tke up its basic themes the “evra of allancs," the Phaedra complex and the desire to consume oneself do not ceate to exert thelr force ina movement hove ends always the totality. The repesition ‘of these themes i cacred out whenever all at once human being behave in an astounding way in violent contrast wit his ordi ary behavots nd gents — revealing an unsvowable reverse side matching the plesat, core ie, the only one we show. nis always question of revealing felings, pars ofthe body and sways oF Being that we are ashamed of at anyother time, It 3 ‘mater of sovrng wt a any aher time imposible show, ‘nd what we show precizly because i isimposibleto show it Forks, Led mak hic apc of ec ler tno mgd ‘The ts of man sex ctv supsing ts ot ll fren pin subject retin a come, bet thee restos lave open an exten Hild ol pone ‘Wheto he history af erticn i by no mean thf sexe 2s allowed win the ints define bythe res ned, ‘tric ony includes on mare ff ty these of ‘aes avs mater of going bed the ines alared hee othing ert Ina sexi ame ie ht lana Ad perhaps resco sell shad omy rng do Srte on hs point she ly of elie day incom sin the it hat sect ls of sellin cee sch way hat they reno lnger lowe. Sear of posing fom che Hic the fade, Mass seal Me do ‘pou ofthe secure, pried dent he i oma 2. The Dubious Character of Marriage ‘This bring me to reconsider the inital form of properly human sexu. in which the prohibition leary mie an he tan. ‘reson ofthe prohibition aks place acconting to wles Among he diverse fos of human sexuality, mariage eccpieran ambi ‘ous position whih squite unsettling, ‘asserted that inthe beginning it was the transgression of prohibition Actually, this isa very difBiculching to prove xen ‘conflicts with a conspicuous aspect ofthe institotion, which is ‘sentially iit. But there are other examples of tangressons ‘that comply withthe rams law onebeas in mi he fact hat sactifice i crime! one recognizes the paradox ofa awl «ime ~ an infistion ofthe ule allowed by the rule esc This pots a problem. IFone fellows mes just asthe act of killing a Deformelin serie is Forbidden from the very fis, eh see ™ Fo Upmann tsi ona recep) afd icy nin Sars ceeieSat tn Scere es een inhi meine waa scieaictcnamaad wep Seen coe eres races alee mir tsepe se Snot imeaaod ecg pitas inea re Fane oer ie sectnancwndiiameee l ere ate eh er eluates ietaree ne teen ren tp woman ht aa ns cic eto sal ls. We ao he ing Sih srt a ced we aot es 1th they ally sae rampant do prc ha ar simpy sh he eon tng ta te ferry an clonct of tangs ome ih tn the wih nerfs he desing or aig a td jects sigma sos aways confe os thee ht ls as stele Tr segment {© rfinei oan onder alan gs he rule of utility dominates. Howe wheeahe Ina sense, margin which she ate bts get oman ih vio amen sce ras ‘hh warn ty gang lis agro in Sr the dager he cane) big rhe met so Ste oeon Thee pton mls ge "ter cla he gaol menage mae ea oe Si, ely speed conn soethig ols soto fsous 5 quod tht osu a aprnh vies ‘ig metipl eco and du Ta hes St mrage ete fr Bat sean Ln Note mene infevrce swe neo cna ‘inl an pte spo hich ory fe, Nng col ae gone eg S thece tht ws ado na poland yon the mang af he hr and few ting ‘ie hw of il fess as kcal Jesh ny lr inp ot han realy ssn “stronger than the will, ™ aes 3. Marriage and Habie Unly we are at lost to understand the erotie characte of mar- lage, owing tthe fat tha, in dhe end, we ony sce the stat: sve forget the transition. Actually, we have every reason fortis ‘The transition isnot lnting, and in the sequel che ik aspect overshadows the regular ireglariy ofthe tansition. We direct ‘ur atention o sexual achities outside marriage, reserving the ‘word erotic for them, and we neglect the st forms in which the glsng of woman by her clove kin eo relative strangers repre- ented a kind of beak. In acta fct, more often than not the ‘conomie vale of the transfered woman tends 1 minimize the ‘tie aspect ofthe transom and, from this viewpoint mariage his taken on the meaning of babi, duling desire and reducing plesure to noching. Hable isnot necessarily inimical to the intensity of sexual activ Ie vorable tothe harmony, tothe secret understand ing of one bythe other, without which the embrace would be supafci.Feis even pose to think that onl habit smetimnes hrs the value of deep exploration, in opposition tothe misun- «aly abolished. There remains an nmensedorderin which the nimal explosion is released blindly. This sno longer pur sexu ality and etodcam is ivalve, certains bot ina complerely nog sive way, foram orgy i ernsgresion ofthe rule, oro al the ‘xstomary ules, and does not at all present itself in an alluring form. The postive, llaring pec of eroticism very differen: there the object of dei is distinct, te mature opposes to al others, and If is erode its posithely so first of al. A naked ‘woman, young and pretty, ie doubrlest the exemplary form of ‘his object. (But =penk of cis now ony inorder to give a mate rl image of i sgt away. la aceal fet, a naked woman does not always have che erotie meaning that Faicrbe t het. More cove, che nakedness of the earliest tes could not have had any particular messing) The crucial element in the distinct constitution of erotic ‘objects iat disconcerting e aks fr granted thats hman Tet cas be regarded ae» thing. In theory, hei just the oppo: se ofa thing. He i nota penton either, bur always subj nota thing vis chins, objects, an the subject that sees ‘hem, names them and hades chem, Bat if conser my fellow being, eannoe place im onthe side of things which Ivo aed handle, but rater on that ofthe subject tht Fam ex sy ie 52” of thing but could not say am” of eel I ea say “he i" of my fellow being, but he ean sty tam" of himself in ‘he same way that Ido. So I cannot take him for 3 thiag snd Instead {shoul call him, a bie childs an am,” to iste ais him fn ths way fom chose things tha ate subordinate to ‘me and that in face Leger as nothing, ‘The animal might ina sense but cannot actully say“ 3n." ‘The same is true, moreone, ofthe sleeping man: the aia! perhaps» man asleep, man an animal tht roses itself rm the sleep of mature... More often than nat, we don't know what to snake ofan animality co which, for very deep reason, the eal xt men attributed a divine life. But we enly tere animal things, Frm the beginning they were once things an beings ‘milar tows, a des even undefinable aspects of the divine ‘When men reduced other men to slavery. they fally wer nthe presence of mén who had lot human dignity and who no longer ‘ounted excep as things. This extreme degradetion had it in. les; the life of saves, which never became anil life, wav not ‘edced to the absence ofthe thing either livery was nest ya flevion and slaves never really stopped being men But the Action ehrough which our ancestor looked on thet fellow men ‘shins all of meaning. The fletion is conveyed essentially in the fc that human beings can be useful soods objects of own, ‘nip and wansctlon. Buc inasmuch a they ala alented pat ofthc righs othe sovereign totaly, hese same begs segue the posiblity of being ancien ofthat toa, the erotic Ene tion, for example ; ley ie men eel ened 9 ce women hing tele mugs, woman sorb ings the ar rte beer tre to ower by tao «marine the hb nt beae te mater of hrs eld whichsbe woud eds thin of the Uke per which he wm she ae ri rc The val is oft hashed em ajo ess ps seen, Ofcourse th son sate es th pseion of preci abe roti oes nocepe = tendency thn coat oth one pene ie “Sponsor it omelets te cits ot aang own pathogen comrati ‘Rr scowd die ie concn so eo song, pes sense hte ih aly te Morte a not we ret ook ite re ee “hun weds sot nto fh ol ean ling sei em nn ing we wh ethno por Mere yb we Nontrlocamuchasgecomar dese tet mie care hee toweh pry td conse ean pe Tape the mot peng ovis ad heen dos at 1 stds inte wy haps Bu cel enh es mandi thst women oan et of peony isn mo see bt none ich ca cnt hc naar ieee not hare bone hy ihe bet fret ese tse ‘bjs ne los, purer spctih he mands oe te id rv The meds ein ini wets the ero dere nor bel hh ee en cr neon gre tote empaton os pore "Te option simp bet can rh ces of the to ary wo ht map the tly of ian ee ee Its necessary o contrast the courte’ caeflyatrangod Beauty ith the disheveled animal of the maenad, 2 The Object of Desire and the Prostitute Actually the posession of women in hele of regular coupes bad only an indizec effet i his enue. te wasnt the wile phe became the erotic abject thus offered tothe desire ofall men, ‘As thing both because ad inspite of male jealossy, «wiles ‘mainly the woman who bears children and works at homes thin § the form in which she is objctfed inthe manner of ih oF piece offurmieure. The prostate i, just much athe mar fed woman abject whose valu ir arsesables Bu thi abjere In erotic from one end to the other nd in every sent. This com dlensation ofall the sigs of eroticism into one objec obvicisly hada decisive importance ist the origin of those figure hat ‘ommand the reactions of man’s sexual il, replacing the motive signs of ania sexuality. "would be rave, 20 doubt, to limit the determination ofall «rotl alues roan overly schematic view. Experience ha shown ‘,umambiguowly, hit when they men 0 seduce, respectable women fend ta resort co the embellishments ofthe harlot, Bat ‘any fctrs entered nt the formation ofthe signs tha ar ape ‘© provoke deste. Nothing prover that uty, which ay no ere ‘esting inset, owes its general etc vale to postition lt 488 at ale more fom the we of clothes. ty unl ity 's pure which not only not unusual but eral in che onder of tng) italways hs svorofanimality which seconds with ‘he fallen state of prostates. The allare of nudity is not the exclave propery of prostates, but tie the alr of chins, of seal object, and veal lve has the privilege of redclng ‘woman to tha “object” which eote nudiey te ‘We are far from paying prostates the attention that uch a {aly determined form of human ie warrants. This ack often tion is due tothe fivolousness of che intellect, which immed ‘ely tums away fiom es objec iti ot nsigiicant There wl never bea lack of compassionate sel o protest the miseries of Prostitton, but dhe eries conceal general hypocrisy. may be ‘ful, humanly, amie that che detour of prostitution payed 4 pat in the formation of or sensbity. But this not vo ser ‘ous if we stop to chink that in matters of eos eatin there i ‘nothing buranlty has not persisted in denying (But since we all eld tothe desire, since we al sccumb tothe desire ~ even ‘sintsat che moment of thei tempration there is nating that snswers beter o our ineluctabe demand, nothing that express, ‘more fihflly ou heart of hears) ‘We need the shame that slinked to prostitution and tht ‘enters nto the alchemy af eroticism from every sane. But we ould have met with shame in another way: the very figere of ‘esr coll not hare bee traced had not the velit of women berated the movement chat did the eacing. This Figure hat be independent; t needed to Freely compose the response 10 Aeste’s burning ing. Let us come back tothe principle acconding to which desire demands the greatest possible loss. Ina sens, the ongy offered ‘he flee satificton co thi need, but the loss then had the shortcoming of not being cles limited, of being shapes ad ‘of never offering desire anyching to grasp. The same isnot tre if the prositue forms a definite figure whose meaning is that of loss, In faethe snot just eroticism bu also ln having taken ‘he form of an object. That sparkling flery and that makeup, those jewel and those perfumes, thote faces and those bodies lng of fesh energy. distorted things» litle by stressing the ‘nef ppeces ofa renewal titi the principe f not of being thea of is multfor appearance IF beauty is indeed the sign ‘of sovergny, af what is never prostate, never reduced tothe servile state, renewal (youth) Ike idleness signifies beawy. I ko speak of abundance, ease ane the inetbaustibleeffson of ‘nergy. Assuming tat one i atentve to my argent, will be clear thatthe adverse aspects of dest, if they predominate, ae 1 be sen fst asthe condition ofa resurgence, apd second 2 the greatest lary: che greatest energy, nor eae which ‘beyond che immediate charms of flowers or of springtime, cases lw to seek the wrenching experience of tragedy? But rigedy and ingener all he plendors dat anguish sd death cornand dont mean anything diferent than the most beaut lowers and the strongest upwellings of pring vigor. They dont sunder death rom 2 youth often chin ang, burch trough an exces of bloc. ‘Bu tht surfce beauty hich flames desi the fie pice is ot just a postive sign ofthe overflowing power of es in 2 form where discretion ba litle place, alway a accent to ofthe tits ofthe other sex. Under the canton of wealth, leisure ad choice that prostitution reserves for women, ti ‘matter of sing pais, jewels and finery to make them more fen Inine. In this perfection of femininity, illness ha» pare, the ‘most significant part perhaps, forthe Inerlty of work reduces ‘he contast of the sexs. The posite isthe only human beng ‘who logically should be le, being what shee A man who does ‘nothing doesnot soem many the charactrisis that dings him are thereby degraded. If he isnot 3 soldier ora member of the urdenrold, ou Fret thought so suspect hin of eninacy 6 (done think we ean speak ofthe poets ences because, st ofall ie does hives Inborows ie poet xt Yeaet awa rex tie life; moreover, Iemay be pointless to speak na general way ‘of the living conditions of poets...) Bae by Living in illness, the prostitute preseres the completly feminine qualities that work Aliminishes, cha soft and uid form ofthe yolee of chemi, of the whole body, othe chilis tokens of allection demanded obsesivelyin the desire ofa woman, Tn contadistinction, women subjected to factory jb have 2 roughness that diappoines desire, ands fe the se with the erspness of busineswomen, oF even with all those women ‘whose dynes apd sharpness of waits conics withthe profound Indolene without which abety i not entirely feminine. Femininity’ traction for men, and masculinity’ for women, represen in eroticiam an exentialfrm of nial sexuality, but ‘hey modify the Inter ins radial way- What diectly exits the body ofanimals ina way analogous tothe motor action of light, reaches men though symbole gure. en longer a scretion ‘whose odor ges rse to another odor, buta constructed image, signing in sum ee essence of Feminny. Moreover, fei gy participate fn that rection of the erie object ta otened forms, which caprivate without breaking what ehey touch, Foun Nudity 1. Obscenity and Nudity [Nadigy,aboue which there i agreement that arouses to the textent tha its Iovely i also one of the softened forms that tnnounce but donot reveal the sticky contents that hoe and seduce us, But nudiy Is unlike dhe beauty of faces and decently tloched bodies in tha it draws one near he repulsive source of coticiam. Nudity sno always obscene and can appear without recilling the indecorouiness ofthe sexual at Possibly so, buts {general rules woman sipping nked ins rome ofa man exposes herself to his most unseely desires, Nudity thas has the mean- Ing, ifn of outright obscenity, of tipping toward ‘utrght obscenity snot dieurbing. A naked woman, fahe's ‘ld and ugly, leaves most men unmoved: bur isuch a woman is hscene without dinurbing anyon, the obscenity which the nade body of pretty woman lets one glimpse soures tothe extent that fs obscene, thats causes anguish but doesnot sulorate, that ies animality repugnant yer docs’ exceed the limits of a hotror which beauty makes beable and fascinating at once- 2. The General Unfolding ofthe History of Eroticism Moreover, abscenty Itsel nothing bu thar natural animality, the horror of which eases our humanity Let us recall dat 4 humanity stands opposed in us tothe dependence of which n= malic the sgn, but eat the calculations and labors of profene Iie, n which man hoped to find independence with respect 10 ure, sooa became reveling in that they ensured mins ub- ordination to means. In every ease, it wat ee desire for auton omy, without which dhere i no humanity, tha deermined the human attude (ba tha nee led anywho but from oe depen ence 9 another, the second dependence never having anything bu the power expe from the fs). The sacred n= ye an m= personal form became the neve principle of pure autonomy, but missing fom this principle was consciousness. The sacred wat no longer animality it ruth had, negaively, the meaning of a leach ofthe atonal laws of work, of of effective forbearance; Postel that ofan explosive release which no longo lasted In the sphere of sexuality, mariage andthe orgy coresponded to the operations of the sacred inthe domain of symbole Bg res, We can now be more exp by saying chat nudity snd gen ‘nally the posing ofan obj of desire contrast with the ory’s

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