Introduction Mark Hewson and Marcus Coelen Part 1: Contexts 1. Surrealism Marina Galletti 2. Sociology and Ethnography Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi 3. Fascism and the Politics of the 1930s in France Andrew Hussey 4. Nietzsche Giulia Agostini Part 2: Key Concepts 5. Expenditure Stuart Kendall 6. Heterology Marcus Coelen 7. Sacrifice Elisabeth Arnould-Bloomfield 8. Inner Experience Gerhard Poppenberg 9. Sovereignty Claire Nioche 10. Eroticism Nadine Hartmann 11. Art Michèle Richman 12. Religion Mark Hewson 13. Evil Tiina Arppe 14. Bataille's Literary Writings Patrick ffrench. Index

This collection, written by an international team of contributors, covers the social, political, artistic and philosophical contexts that shaped Bataille's thought. It also engages with the key themes of his work, including: art, eroticism, evil, inner experience, heterology, religion, sacrifice, and sovereignty. The final chapter addresses Bataille's literary writings.

Mark Hewson teaches at the Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy and at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of Blanchot and Literary Criticism (2011), and of articles on Wordsworth, Mallarmé and the history of literary criticism.

Marcus Coelen is an affiliate of ICI Berlin, and a practicing psychoanalyst. He is the author of a study on Proust and the problem of aesthetic judgment in the Recherche, and several translations and editions in German of texts by Maurice Blanchot. He is a co-editor (with Felix Ennslin, Johannes Klein Beck and Claire Nioche) of the book series Neue Subjektile.