This is a fascinating interview with Georges Batailles from 1958, regarding his essay, La Littérature et le Mal (hat tip, Rob Hardin). Some of the high points include the statements that all literature is essentially evil, or else it’s boring. Literature has to deal with anguish…therefore any good writer is guilty of something when writing – a profound culpability. Writing is the opposite of working. All good books are efforts against real work. Literature is essentially puerile, but contains profound and fundamental truth. Literature allows us to face the worst in life, the horror, and confront it…
I remember when I lived in France, people would come over and see all my Bataille books, they’d think I was a weirdo. That never happened in America, ’cause nobody knew who he was. Though they thought I was a weirdo anyway ’cause I wore black jeans. You can’t win…
Classics Interviews Video What Not