Georges Bataille in the 1930s: A Politics of the Impossible Author(s): Jean-Michel Besnier and Amy Reid Reviewed work(s): Source: Yale French Studies, No. 78, On Bataille (1990), pp. 169-180 Published by: Yale University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2930121 . Accessed: 08/01/2012 23:23 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
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JEAN-MICHEL
BESNIER
GeorgesBataille in the 1930s: A Politicsofthe Impossible
It is not easy to draw a map of the 1930s. This periodin French which,to a greatextent,extendsto thepresentday,has prohistory, gressivelyenteredpeople's mindsas thatof a prewarwhile at the as thatofthepostwar.In sucha same timeseekingto be experienced context,one dominatedbyintellectualconfusionand themuddling of political identities,GeorgesBataille occupied a position both of his epoch unique and typical.He espoused the characteristics which without,however,givingin to thegeneralizeddisorientation on thepartofmostof thedisarrayofintellectualreferences reflected theperiod'sactorsand witnesses:a desireto breakwithtraditionfor thosewho livedthetragedyofthetimeas a chanceto beginanew; a returnto the securityofcertaindogmasforothers,less sensitiveto thetragicaestheticthanto a devotionto partisancommitment. Duringthisconfusing period,manySurrealistsbrokewiththeCommunist Partyin orderto celebratethe virtuesof violent "Refusal" At thesame time,MauriceBlanchotwas led to rally [Inacceptation]. forthe"YoungRight"andtoproclaim"terrorism as a meansofpublic salvation".' To a certainextent,Batailleproceedsfromthisextremefluidity of intellectualandpoliticalpositions,fromthisirresistible expenditure of commitmentsand ideas. Like many of his contemporaries, he as well as apoliticalresignation; rejectsthe politicalestablishment he belongsto thecampofthe "revoltesde l'inespoir"[rebelsofhopelessness],to thecampoftheactivistsofheterogeneity. The advantage 1. This is thetitleofan articlebyMauriceBlanchotwhichappearedin La Revue in Gramma5, (1976). Fran~aise,(July1936),andwas reprinted YFS 78, On Bataille,ed. Allan Stoekl,? 1990byYale University.
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vantageof his position,relativeto thatof others,resultsfromhis oftheimpossiblesituationfacedbyhis generarigorousformulation tion: "Ifthereis no longera greatmachinein whosenameto speak," he writes,"howdo youcall otherstoaction,andforwhatend?"2This Lyotard,forexample),but questionis still asked (byJean-Franqois unaffected bythevertigoof unlikethepresentday,whichis generally in the 1930sit was accompaniedbya movingfascination militancy, then,thatthe evils of foraction.It was underthesecircumstances, discovered: the ofthe Sovietrereality were projects revolutionary gimeand theriseofFascism.The subsequentrevulsionfor"political reasonto but thatis not a sufficient machines"is understandable, abandonaction.Given a choice betweenthe risksofrevolutionary there democracy, apathyofparliamentary actionand thedebilitating The lie on the side of revolt and risk. is no roomforhesitation:ethics thanthedistasteforpolitics. call ofpoliticsturnsout to be stronger Forthem,"refusal" clearwiththeSurrealists. This is particularly becomes the absolutevirtue,and Revolution-"any revolution,as bloodyas you like"3-the most popularcall to action.It became unbridled The Revolufury. evidentthathistoricalimpassesprescribe whichhad tionwas,fromthenon,deliveredfromthetranscendence beenintrinsicto (whethertheylikedit ornot)the "greattheoretical justragein thegut machines":neithermessianismnoreschatology, and in thehead ... It maybe arguedthat,in orderto attenuatethevehemenceofthis of the Reignof Terror decision,the reestablishment revolutionary calledforbyAndreBreton(inLes Pas Perdus)is onlyintended"forthe the Surrealistsremainedpurelyinoffenspirit"and that,therefore, "those sive idealistspain in the ass idealists"as Bataille called thatBreton onlyifoneforgets them.Thatobjectionis valid,however, heldon to theHegeliandirectiveto actso as to realize andhis friends theontologicalargument and, theideal,tomakethatidealismsatisfy the basis of a new on to create thought it reality thus,make possible which we shall see as exalone. Moreover,Bataille's originality, byhis "politicsoftheimpossible,"consistsin hisrefusalof emplified Hegelianismas a means oflegitimizingthe desireto revolt.In this 2. GeorgesBataille,Oeuvres Completes (Paris:Gallimard,1970),vol. 6, 161. citedin textas OC. Henceforth as bloodyas youlike.... Itwouldnotbebadfor 3. AndreBreton:"Anyrevolution, NRF, Les Pas Perdus(Paris:Gallimard, thelaws oftheTerror." thespiritto reestablish 1924).
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moreradicalthantheSurrealists, respect,he seemsqualitatively who had,in anyevent,morethanone opponentin theirraceforsubversive audacity. The decisionto workforrevolutionat anycostis in a wayexpressed in itspurestatebytheintellectualcommunity whichRogerGilbertSima baptized"Le Lecomte,ReneDaumal, RogerVailland,and Josef GrandJeu"[The GreatGame] in 1928.*This communityofyoung men,who were all about twentyyearsold at the beginningof the an imageofrevoltso extremethatitfrightened even thirties, putforth the Surrealists.AndreBretontriedfirstto bringthemaround,but thenquicklyrejectedthegroup(afterthefamousmeetingon theRue du Chateau) fortheir"mysticism."These "Godseekers"obviously didnothavetheirfeeton thegroundandtheiradolescenceseemedall too uncontrollable. withthem,one discoversjusthowfarthefeelingof Nevertheless, beingin a historicalimpassewas able to sproutrevolt,thedesirefora "Tout-Autre"[a completelydifferent world]."We are all backedup andeventhosewhoknow againsta wall,writesRibemont-Dessaignes, whatliesontheothersidecanseenowayoutexceptwhatis paintedon thewall.Thereareonlyfakedoorsandwindows.Andtheyareno way out." Faced with a choice betweenabsoluterefusaland the world, violentand unconditionalrevoltappearsto theseadolescentsas the onlysolution.Thatis whatDaumal willexplainlaterin La Revolte et 1'ironie: "Allthattheadolescentunderstands is thehammering ofhis blood,thedesireofhis wholebodyforenjoyment. He wantseitherto orto destroy-andhe will destroy. understand Offhe goesintobattle againsttheworld;resolvedtoshowtheworldthathe defiesitsrule.He strivesto respectnothing:he'll be sacrilegious,developa tastefor Black Masses, throwbombs in public meetings,insultgreatmen, preachanarchy. He'll stealandmurder. If,as isusuallythecase,hefinds himselftoo weak forthisviolentrevolt,he'll say 'I'm a coward,but that'sthewayit is."' Numerousarethetextswhich,in thethreeissuesofthereviewLe Grand Jeuglorify"violentrevolt"in this way.4Textswhich owe nothingto,butinsteadanticipate,Breton'sfamoustirade:"The simplestSurrealistact consistsofdashingdownintothestreet,pistolin * "Le GrandJeu"is a termthatrefers bothtotheTarotand,idiomatically, toan allout effort. [-Translator'snotel 4. Le GrandJeu(Paris:Jean-Michel Place,1977).
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into the hand,and firingblindly,as fastas you can pull the trigger, crowd.Anyonewho,at leastonce in his life,has notdreamedofthus in puttingan endto thepettysystemofdebasementandcretinization place in thatcrowd,withhis bellyat barrel has a well-defined effect beyondthisinvocationof however, level."5Upon closerexamination, ofniviolence,what is at stakehereis neitherexactlya profession hilistfaithnoran acceptanceofsomesuicidalattitude.Theirrevoltis ideal,ofcoursereallyin theserviceofan ideal.An unrepresentable it is forpreciselythatreason that "Le GrandJeu"challengesthe principlesofany revealedreligion;but an ideal just the same, as it portendsunspeakable"miracles"and promises"escape and liberation."Daumal sums up the ethicsofviolence-that is to say ofthe searchforsalvationthroughviolence-expressedbythemembersof the "GrandJeu"group:"To rejectceaselesslyall ofthe crutchesof each hope,breakall thestablecreationsofthelaw,endlesslytorment the be assured of such is victory: never and desires his with person hardand fastroad ofrenunciation.Men mustdespairiftheyare to castofftheirhumanityintothevasttombofnatureandthus,leaving theirhumanselfto its own laws,finda wayout."Nothingcould be clearer:it is a questionof "findinga wayout" throughviolence.To revoltagainsthopelessness-againstthe wall of reality-is, at the same time,to givehope a foothold. In anycase,logichardIs thismerelyan adolescentcontradiction? thesechildrenofRimbaud.Evenas theyunleashtheir lyconstrained theybecomemiredin desireto save theold worldfromdestruction, is tosay,in of the action-that which vanity prove of thought systems voluntarism Theirrevolutionary thiscase, in Marxistdeterminism. is linked to a scientificbeliefin the fixednatureof things.Their ofhumanactionby showing determinismchallengesthe efficacity has alreadybeen decided.This antinomybetween thateverything human will and science is resolvedby leavingit up to chance to decidewhenandwheretheax will fallandwhethertheeventsareto be as peoplewantthemto be,ortheproductofan intangiblechainof cause and effect. shiftwhich, "Le Grand Jeu"illustrateswell the unsurprising againsta backdropofgeneralizedconfusion,collapsedtheavailable andgavethethirtiestheiruniqueconphilosophicaloptionstogether For these rebelsexplicitlyalignedthemselveswith the figuration. 5. AndreBreton.The SurrealistManifesto,Trans.RichardSeaverand Helen R. of MichiganPress, Lane in Manifestoesof Surrealism(AnnArbor:The University 1969),125.
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doctrineofhistory"whichlogicallyshouldmakerevo"determinist As Gilbert-Lecomte lutionaryactionunthinkable. stated,contradict-
ing Emmanuel Berl: "We affirmthat we are Hegelians . . . Monists,
andDaumal,contradicting Breton:"Nothing absolutedeterminists"; has yet been done withHegel's principalidea: the perfectibility of human reason and its ultimateidentification with the Objective ofit.Nothingneedsto be Spirit,whichcreatestheworldbythinking changedin the dialectic-Heraclitus's,Plato's,Hegel's,theyare all thesame-for it to comealivebeforeoureyes,forthelightoffatality to be a beaconforrevolutions." and decidedlyfa"Le GrandJeu"is thusbothwildlyvoluntarist talist.This sumsup thestagnationofthiserawhichsaw itselfas the end of an age prettywell. It also explains,to some extent,how the most turbulentthinkersof the thirties,like Queneau and Bataille, could have soughtwisdomalongsidethe most reasonable,such as Aronand Weil,in the classes ofAlexandreKojeve,theMasterwho revolution. proclaimedthe end ofHistorywhile encouraging ThatHistoryis over,thefinalwordspoken-by Hegel,Napoleon, Marx,or Stalin-does not seem to have necessarilycalled forthe hauntedbythe suppressionofaction-action rackedand irresistibly ortheImpossible.The formidable success Other,theheterogeneous, of the lecturesgivenby Kojeve at the Ecole Pratiquedes Hautes Etudesbetween1933 and 1939 is well known,as is the spell ofhis obsoletetheneo-Kantiandiscoursethendomiwordswhichrendered natingthe Frenchuniversity system.WithKojeve,Hegel arrivedin France,andwithhimcametragicidealism,whichalonemeasuredup to the din ofhistoryand was capableofopposingthe scientificidealism ofthenationalacademies. To the calmestofhis studentsas to the most turbulent, Kojeve taughttheinconceivable: -That Historyis fundamentally tragicforit functionsbymeansof struggleand war. -But also thatit is overand thatone mustreadthepresenttimeas theconclusionoftheprocessofHistory. on thePhenomenolKojevedid,ofcourse,producea commentary ogyofMindandon itsfamousdialecticofmasterandslave,at theend ofwhichwill arisetheeraofuniversalrecognition: a timeofabsolute as equalitywhen "citizens, citizens,will have no specificity."6 But 6. AlexandreKojeve, Esquissed'unePhendmonologie du Droit(Paris:Gallimard,
1981), 578.
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as "a piece of Kojevedidnothesitateto presentHegel'scommentary propagandaintendedto shockpeople,"just as he made it clearthat Stalinwas usheringin posthistory. In short,conceivedofas theplace whereconflictarisesand dissipates,politics,accordingto Kojeve,runsintoits own impossibility and, in this sense, imposesthe necessityof an "un ailleurs"[elsewhere].Afterthe war,in fact,Kojeve abandonedteachingand his "propaganda"in orderto enterthecivilservice,whichmanagesthe Universalforall eternity. of Le Dimanche de la Vie byRaymondQueneau is symptomatic ofKojeve'slessons.ValentinBrui,thenovel'shero, the effectiveness era,orat leastas a prophet sees himselfas a manoftheposthistorical of a hero who thinksofnothingbut is the His portrait ofposthistory. itsendwiththeNapoleonicvicJena-whereHistoryacknowledged visits)wrotethefinalwords toryand whereHegel (whosehouse Bruf ofthePhenomenology ofMind.A zombielikehero,"useless"forlack a shopin his regiment, to bear-supernumerary of contradictions keeperwithoutconviction-Bru'makeshimselfout to be a prophet (replacinghis wife,a.k.a. Madame Saphire)and foolsthose around who is flabbergasted that Bruc's him, includinghis brother-in-law, admiration of Jenaallowed him to predictHitler's revenge....
Bru.s
forHistoryhas no meaningexceptwhen action is contemplation, to watchtimepass and,in orderto do He forces himself suspended. so,he triesto emptyhis head,theonlywayto controltime:"I think, he says,ofthepassingoftimeand,as it is identicalto itself,I always thinkof the same thing,whichis to say thatI end up thinkingof nothingat all." He is a parodyofKojevewhosevoice echoesin these after, oraclesoftheSage: "Therewill be no postwarperiod.Orrather, After therewill be nothing.Oryetagain,whatwillbe is unthinkable. such a war,therewill be no afterwards."7 In the thirties,Kojeveproclaimedin a captivatingmannerthe byeach individual. historicimpassewhichwas thenfeltconfusedly He showedthe path of wisdom to these youngrebels,who were beatingtheirheadsagainstthewall,in sucha waythat,iftheRevolt decidedshouldcontinueitwouldnecessarilybecomeMetaphysical, failure. to be doomed it would ly superhuman.In otherwords, WithKojeve,"Hegel becomesthe evidence,and evidenceis hardto bear." Among Kojeve's transfixedlisteners,Georges Bataille atbetweenBatailleand On therelationship 7. LettertoThanDuc Thao, 10/7/1948. Kojeve,see J.-M.Besnierin Le Magazine Litteraire,(June1987):42-43.
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temptedto testtheendofHistoryproclaimedbytheSage.Or rather he assumedtheunbearableand painfulparadoxoftherevoltwithin himselfcoupledwiththeknowledgethattherewas nothingmoreto livedbya manwhosereason do. A movingdramaofirreconcilability calls forhis adhesionto theHegeliansystemofuniversalreconciliation. Bataille'sletterto Kojeveof 6 December 1937,in whichhe exit was forhim to accepttheidea thattherewas plainshow difficult nothingleftforhim to do, since "historyis finished(exceptforthe conclusion),"is oftencited.He makes it clear,in thatletter,thatin ordertoretainhishumanity-thatis,nottosinkintothelifelessness of ValentinBrui-it was necessaryto struggleagainst the meanTo that inglessnesstowhichhe was condemnedbytheendofHistory. existence"againsttheHegeliansystem.The end,he sethis "ruptured seemsto be forhimto knowunderwhat essentialquestiontherefore the "unemployed whichtheendofHistocircumstances negativity," andunderwhatcircumstances ryforceshimtobe,willbe recognized, a need to act,whichlacks a purpose,will be legitimated. This is a crucialquestionwhich,indeed,tiestogether theparadox ofrevoltand fatalismand sumsup,in myopinion,thetragedy ofthe thirties. This paradoxis apparentin Bataille'ssimultaneousadhesionto bothHegelianandNietzscheanthought.The coexistenceofthisdouble philosophicalreference undoubtedlyexplainsthe dissipationof effect ofKojeve'steachingandtheturn,withinjusta few thepacifying years,to a combativeNietzscheanism.Put anotherway,Bataillelet himselfbe convincedby Hegel at the verysame time thathe discovered,in Nietzsche,the expressionofan absoluterefusalofsubThe "paradoxicalphilosophy"to jugationtoanythoughtwhatsoever. whichhe subscribed, andwhichhe describedsuccinctlyas "thesense oftheimpossible,"goes togetherwitha politicsno less impossible: the unwillingnessto submitwhat has been institutedto any recuperativedialectic. Nietzscheis theguaranteeofnonreconciliation neededbythose who,at thattime,refusedto consenttotheorderofthings.Thatin no waymeansthathe becametheobjectofa univocalreading-farfrom it. Fromthe beginningof the thirtiesthe avowedNietzscheansare legion:therearethosewhoreadThusSpakeZarathustraas an apologiafortheuse ofbrutalforceandthosewhotakeit as encouragement to workfora Renaissanceofcivilization.Somefindin BeyondGood and Evil a lesson of discouraging relativismwhile othersecho its
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denunciationofdemocraticinstitutionsand theruleofthemasses. Finally,thereare thoseforwhomthe struggleagainstfascismmust beginbywrestingthe "hammerwieldingphilosopher"fromtheNational Socialist fallacy.In short,the ethos of this time belongsto Nietzsche.In theupheavaloftheprewarperiod,theGermanthinker resonateslike the tonicchordof a generationclearlylivingout its It is Nietzschewho formulates theencouragement disorganization. to love "danger,adventure,(and)war,"as well as thepraiseofthose who "don'tallowthemselvesto accommodate, mend,orreconcile."8 One can imaginethe impactof Nietzsche'sunbridledvoice: to thisworm-eaten thosewho dreamofdestroying world,it cries"eterrestoresan infinite nal chaos"andthereby numberofpossibilities;to thosewho havelosthopein action,it saysthattheabsenceofmeaningin theworldis notto be confusedwithan acceptanceofa necessarilydemobilizingrandomchance,but that,on the contrary, it encouragesan investmentin this terraincognita.Historyis, in fact, innocent:"Whenyouknowthatthereareno goals,youknowas well thatnothinghappensby'chance.'"9 Couldtherebe a betterreasonfor stayingin thering? Nietzschebecomesa weaponofwar.In thislight,Bataille'srage when Hitler visited Elisabeth Foerster,Nietzsche's sister,on 2 November1933,and when she daredto attestto herbrother'santiSemitism,is understandable.The falsification, recuperation,and subjugationofsovereignthought!Batailledevotedan entirenumber ofAcephale to makingamendsto Nietzsche.The stakeswereobviouslynotonlyphilological:itwas insteada questionofreestablishingthetruthaboutNietzsche(topointout thecontemptthathe felt It was also, and above all, a move to preservea foranti-Semitism). Nietzscheanpointofviewon politics,in otherwordsan "elsewhere" beyondthe categoriesof leftand right,an attitudewhichcould be Nietzscheaway opposedto Stalinismas wellas tofascism."Wresting fromthe Nazis" was a way of denouncingthe instrumental use of humanity(of any human being)which was incipientin National Socialismand wouldlaterburstforthin theestablishedtotalitarian regimes.It was a moveto save independentactionbecause it is the onlyweaponagainstthefascinationofNazism. It was necessaryto makeamendsto Nietzschebecausethecooptationofhis thoughtfor 337. 8. Nietzsche,The Gay Science,paragraph 9. Ibid,paragraph109.
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propagandapurposesis, in and ofitself,thesymbolicdestruction of all freeexistence.The stakeswerea measureofthe urgencyofthe times:it was a questionofescapingnotonlyfrompoliticalduplicity but also fromthe dizzyingunificationrepresented by Hitler,Muscalls forththeneed solini,and Stalin.In sum,Nietzsche,as a figure, fora politicalstancethatis up to thestandardsoflife,thatis tosay,of tragedy.10
Itwas the "voluntarist" thoughtofNietzschethatthisgeneration their neededmost.Throughit rejectionofbothcurrentpoliticsand apoliticalresignationfoundexpression. In thesecondissue ofAcephale, a magazinewhichwas declareda fromits inception,PierreKlossowskiquotes extenwartimeeffort book on Nietzsche,in whichJaspers formulated sivelyfromJasper's thepoliticalpossibilitiesopenedup to himbyNietzscheanphilosophy.On theeveofWorldWarII theidea ofan "elsewhere," opposedto the statusquo, is weddedto an awarenessoftheimpossibleas foretoldbyNietzschealone. Batailleturnsto the expression"politicsoftheimpossible"in a letterto JeromeLindon,9 January 1962,11in orderto emphasizethe a politicswhichlimitsitselfto "a discourseof necessityofsubverting thepossible."This is a late echo ofwhatBataillehadneverceasedto proclaimsince he firstassociatedphilosophywithpoliticalexperion EmmanuelBerl's ence.'2 It evenharksback to his commentary freudiens," whichappearedin Documentsin article"Conformismes 1930.ThereBatailleannouncedhis intentionto takeup sidespolitically,andhe alreadybeganto attacktheSurrealists, those"decadent aesthetesutterlyincapableofeventhepossibilityofcontactwiththe lowerclasses" (OC, vol. 11,94, 103). Thus, the politicsof the impossibleannouncesits naturequite earlyin theworkofGeorgesBataille.It blendsin withtheprojectof a "popularphilosophy"whichwouldbe subversive establishing insofaras it is motivatedby a movementswellingup fromthe bottom. The impossibleis, forthis politics,the equivalentof the "heterotoLa Critiquesociale setagainst geneous"whichtextscontemporary ofthetotalitarian theassimilatingundertaking states.The firstissue 10. "L'existence,c'est a direla trag6die," Acephale3, (Paris:Jean-Michel Place, 1980),18. 11. Bataille,OeuvresCompkltes, vol.3, 521. (Thisletterbeginson page519,the termis used on 520.) 12. Bataille,L'Erotisme(Paris:UGE, 1965),277.
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translatesit as "spontaneousmovementsofthe of Contre-Attaque masses." As Bataillethenwrote: "Still,as astonishingas this may a comnotes,amongmilitantrevolutionaries, seem,one frequently pletelack ofconfidencein thespontaneousreactionsofthemasses. The need to organizepartieshas resultedin unusual habitsamong the so-calledrevolutionary agitators,who confusethe entryof the withtheir Revolutioninto the streetwiththeirpoliticalplatforms, withtheirmaneuversin thehalls ofCongwell-groomed programs, ress."'E3
Nothingcould be clearer:thepoliticsoftheimpossiblechooses what revolutionnot as a goal to reachbutas an unplanneduprising, Andthatincludes Bataillecalls "la depensepure"[pureexpenditure]. even unbridledemotion,outburstsof violence which "carrythe crowdsout intothestreets"and all that"fromhouse to house,from suburbto suburb,suddenlyturnsa hesitatingman into a frenzied being"(OC, 1, 403; VE, 162). Contre-Attaque,the movementBataille foundedwith Andre maintainedthat,in thefaceof Bretonin September, 1935,forcefully held to the HenriDubief,a witnessto one is impossible. fascism, that "it was remembers these times, questionless of organizinga it bythemobilizadefendedretreatfromfascismthanofovercoming ofsclerotic tionofthepopularmasses,deliveredfromthestructures After16 February workers'organizations."'4 1936,Bataillerejoiced: "500,000workers,defiedby littlecockroaches,invadedthe streets and caused an immenseuproar.Comrades,who has therightto lay down the law? This ALL-POWERFULmultitude,this HUMAN OCEAN.... Only this ocean of men in revoltcan save the world fromthe nightmareof impotenceand carnagein which it sinks!" (OC, 1,412; VE, 168).This is givingin to the "lyricismoftheunconit is confidencein trollable,"as has been said; butmoreimportant, the "powerlesspower"which,resistantto all powerandin thatsense "impossible,"characterizesthe people,accordingto MauriceBlanchot.'5
Whatgovernsrevolutionary action,as Bataillesees it,is a politics
13. OeuvresCompletes,vol. 1, 403-04. The Englishversionis to be foundin Bataille'sVisionsofExcess: SelectedWritings, 1927-1939,ed. and trans.A. Stoekl ofMinnesotaPress,1985),162.Henceforth (Minneapolis:The University citedin the textas VE. 14. Textures6 (Brussels:1970)57. 15. MauriceBlanchot,La Communaut6inavouable (Paris:Minuit,1983),54.
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whollyinspiredbytheNietzscheanaphorism: oftheunforeseeable, ofthe future."A politicscompletelyop"I love the unknowability posed to that which is anchoredin reality,this mediocrewaiting periodwhichcalls itselfpolitical,is convincedthatthereis nothing leftto do but manage a historybereftof surprise,such as Kojeve describedit. The politicsoftheimpossibleseems,then,like an answerto the confusionof the thirties:it calls fora revoltagainstanythingthat It calls for andnecessary. pretendsto be completed,full,transparent, a refusalofwaiting,a refusalofthepatiencewhichendurestherandomnessof the world.Ultimately,it is underpinnedby a double refusal: eschatologywhichportends -a rejectionof the Hegelian-Marxist theineluctableend ofHistory. to whichthe -and a rejection,as well,ofthatkindofirrationalism historyof HeideggerianBeinggivesrise,and which welcomesthe "miracle." eventas an incomprehensible Is thisto saythatthepoliticsoftheimpossiblebecomesconfused witha voluntarist positionthatholdsthathistoryis alwaystheproduct of conscious beings?One would thinkso to read,in ContreAttaque,a declarationsuch as thatofAmbrosinoand Gilet which undertheauspicesofNietzsche:"The predictsa "moralRevolution," worldborntomorrowwill be the worldannouncedbyNietzsche,a worldwhichwill liquidateall moralservitude"(OC, 1, 391-92). It couldalso be drawnfroma readingofthebrillianttextwhichBataille entitled"Politique": "It is a strangeparadox:if one perceivesthe profoundlack of a way out, the profoundabsenceof an end and of meaning,then-and onlythen-can one actually,witha liberated spirit,lucidlytacklepracticalproblems"(OC, 6, 251). But voluntarismcalls forpowerand the politicswhich results fromit aspiresto politicalcontrol.The politicsoftheimpossible,on motive.As the otherhand,avows powerlessnessas its controlling infini,308: the impossibleis "ce en Blanchotwritesin L'Entretien quoi nous ne pouvonsplus pouvoir"[thatin whichwe areno longer able to be able], and that is what the man at the end of History whichdiscoversitselfto be useless. discoversin himself:negativity Hegel made voluntarismand anypoliticsofthecontrolofpower vain.Thatis whyBataille'spoliticalthought, at theendof inherently the thirties,turnsin tune with Nietzsche's,to thoughtsof sovThis is also why the politicsof the impossible,breaking ereignty.
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with the classic problematicof power,ends up in an unexpected formulation:"It is no longera questionof meetingthe failingsof authority:it is, moremodestly,about REPLACING GOD." Such a soughtbythose declarationleads one to believethatthesovereignty who shall henceforthexceed masteryand servitudedistinguishes in conflictwiththe itselffrompoliticalpower.It is not,therefore, cut off from power.The bestthatone masses,whicharebydefinition can ultimatelyhope to obtain fromthose who assume this sovforwhichsecretsocieties ereigntyis thattheyforma community, offerthebesthistoricalmodel.16 Thereinlies the last wordforBatailleon the eve ofthewar.The because,accordmovementabortsitself(primarily Contre-Attaque ingto Bataille,it exposeditsmilitantsto thetrapagainstwhichthey a secretsociety,Acefought)and Bataille givesit, as its posterity, on and foresees its back onlya religious "turns politics which phale, goal" (OC, 6, 485n.). To examinethe natureof this religiousgoal whichlead us to believethatthe wouldrequireotherdevelopments experienceofthe impossible-an experienceofthe limitsofpower and ultimatelyofdeath-necessarilyendsin the questforcommuquicklyappearstobe yetanotherway nication.This communication thispoliticsoftheimpossible,evertornbetweenthe ofdesignating which keeps men apartand subjugatesthemto the discontinuity possible,on the one hand,and the fundamentalcontinuitywhich joins themin an anticipationofdeath,on theother. inBataille'sworkwouldbe, Evokingthethemeofcommunication us to thatpartofhis workopened bringing in anycase,anotherstory, in 1937,andconcludedby bythecreationoftheCollegeofSociology, La Partmaudite,havingreachedits apogeein La Somme atheologique.
ofthethirties, In thisessayI havetriedtoplotoutthewanderings whererevoltand fatalism,messianismand despair,intentionality and to suggestthatthesewanderand eschatologyblendedtogether, ings are articulatedin the definitionof a politicsof the impossible actionwhileit resolutelyrejectsthe whichunderpinsrevolutionary goal ofa takeoverofpoliticalpower. TranslatedbyAmyReid Besnier,Politiquede l'impossible-Sys16. OC,6, 251-52. See also Jean-Michel chez GeorgesBataille (Paris:La Decouverte, 1988). temeet communication
