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Sources on Georges Bataille and the Acephale

 
 
palotin
01:18 / 22.01.07
I am currently engaged in a rather extensive project on Bataille's secret society the Acephale. This is a open request for citations pertaining to this subject. I will give genuflections in return for direction to even the most perfunctory of discussions or references.
 
 
sdv (non-human)
15:24 / 24.01.07
I think my first suggestion would be:

'Michel Surya' Georges Bataille: An Intellectual Biography. Which I found very informative about the context, intentions and connections.

I think there is some useful material in Jean-Luc Nancy's work but I'll check and get back to you about this...

s
 
 
Lysander Stark
13:12 / 08.02.07
Just in case you have not seen it, there was a superb exhibition on the South Bank in London called Undercover Surrealism which essentially revolved entirely around Bataille-- it was a very literary-based exhibition, and therefore has a lot of bibliography and bibliographical pointers.

For Acéphale, most of the references I have come across have been fairly tangential, apart from the above, in works about the artist, Bataille's friend, the designer of the Acéphale logo, André Masson, a fellow member of the society.

I love the idea of their encyclopedia-- would love to see more than passing references and reproduced pages one day...
 
 
lord nuneaton savage
13:28 / 08.02.07
The encyclopedia was reproduced by Atlas books and is a worthy read indeed.

Primary problem: The Acephale was a secret society and, as an inevitable result, not much is know about their rituals, meetings etc. It is fairly commonly known that their meetings took place in a deserted bit of forest next to a lightning struck tree, but this could be bollocks.

Other 'facts' include one of their founding tennants being that no member should ever shake hands with an anti-semite. They were also obsessed with the state of headlessness and apparently all agreed to be executed in this fashion, but couldn't agree on an executioner.

They were a rum bunch and no mistake.

I'm researching them myself at the moment as I wish to mercilessly parody them, so if I find anything else out I'll let you know.
 
  
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