Most Anglo-American readers know Bataille as a novelist. The Accursed Share provides an excellent introduction to Bataille the philosopher. Here he uses his unique economic theory as the basis for an incisive inquiry into the very nature of civilization. Unlike conventional economic models based on notions of scarcity, Bataille's theory develops the concept of excess: a civilization, he argues, reveals its order most clearly in the treatment of its surplus energy. The result is a brilliant blend of ethics, aesthetics, and cultural anthropology that challenges both mainstream economics and ethnology.
- ISBN10 0942299116
- ISBN13 9780942299113
- Publish Date 15 May 1991 (first published 1 June 1988)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Zone Books
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 200
- Language English
- URL https://press.princeton.edu/isbn/9780942299113