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André Masson’s cover for the first issue of Acéphale. (1936).
André Masson’s cover for the first issue of Acéphale. André-Aimé-René Masson ( January 4, 1896 &ndash October 28, 1987) was a French Artist. (1936).

Acéphale (from the Greek a-cephalus, literally "headless") designates both a public review created by Georges Bataille (which counted five issues, from 1936 to 1939) and a secret and esoteric society formed by Bataille and some other members who had sworn to keep silence. Georges Bataille (ʒɔʀʒ baˈtaj ( September 10, 1897 &ndash July 8, 1962) was a French Writer. Secret society is a term used to describe a variety of organizations Bataille himself maintained close links with the Surrealist movement in Paris. Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early-1920s and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city

Contents

Acéphale, the review

Dated 24 June 1936, the first issue was composed of only eight pages. Events 972 - Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces takes place Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The cover was illustrated with a drawing by André Masson. André-Aimé-René Masson ( January 4, 1896 &ndash October 28, 1987) was a French Artist. This drawing openly inspires itself from the famous drawing by Leonardo da Vinci, the Vitruvian Man, but the latter is decapitated and his sex covered by a skull. Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci ( April 15 1452 – May 2 1519 was an Italian Polymath, having been a scientist Mathematician, Engineer The Vitruvian Man is a world-renowned Drawing with accompanying notes created by Leonardo da Vinci around the year 1487 as recorded in one of his journals Under the title Acéphale, one may read the mentions Religion. Sociologie. Philosophie followed on the next line by the expression the sacred conjuration (la conjuration sacrée).

Bataille's ambitions

The first article, signed by Bataille, is titled "The Sacred Conjuration" and calls "secretly or not. . . to become altogether other, or cease to be" [1] Further on, Bataille wrote: "Human life is exceeded of serving as head and reason of universe. Insofar as it becomes this head and this reason, insofar as it becomes necessary to the universe, it accepts serfdom. "[2]

This reference to Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy should be contextualized in its era: while most of Europe had been conquered by fascism, Nietzsche had been appropriated by Nazism as one of its utmost thinkers — despite the various explicit attacks of Nietzsche against anti-semitism, nationalism and racism. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15 1844 August 25 1900 ( was a nineteenth-century German philosopher and classical philologist Fascism is a totalitarian nationalist and corporatist ideology Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism; also rarely known as judeophobia) is the Prejudice against or hostility The term nationalism can refer to an Ideology, a sentiment, a form of Culture, or a Social movement that focuses on the Nation List of racism-related topics|Racism by country Racism, by its simplest definition is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that Thus, unsurprisingly, the German philosopher was unpopular at the time in France.

The second issue of the review begins with a large article titled Nietzsche and Fascists, wherein Bataille starts by violently attacking Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, Nietzsche's sister who had married in 1885 a notorious antisemitic, Bernhard Förster — the wedding had led to a final rupture between Nietzsche and his sister[3]. Therese Elisabeth Alexandra Förster-Nietzsche ( July 10, 1846 Röcken, Germany, - November 8, 1935 Weimar, Germany Bernhard Förster ( March 31, 1843, Delitzsch, Saxony &mdash June 3, 1889, San Bernardino Paraguay) was Bataille hereby called Elisabeth Elisabeth Judas-Förster, recalling Nietzsche's declaration: "To never frequent anyone who is involved in this bare-faced fraud concerning races. "

The same issue contains an inedited text of Nietzsche on Heraclitus from Die Philosophie im tragischen Zeitalter der Griechen (Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks), as well as an article from Jean Wahl titled Nietzsche and the Death of God, which is a commentary of a text from Karl Jaspers on Nietzsche. Heraclitus of Ephesus ( Ancient Greek: &mdash grc-Latn ''Hērákleitos ho Ephésios'' English Heraclitus the Ephesian) (ca Jean André Wahl ( May 15, 1888 - 1974 was a French Philosopher. Karl Theodor Jaspers ( February 23, 1883 – February 26, 1969) was a German Psychiatrist and Philosopher who

The other issues are also centered on Nietzsche. The last one, prepared but ultimately not published, was titled Nietzsche's madness (La folie de Nietzsche).

Collaborators of the review

Apart from Bataille who signs most of the texts, Roger Caillois (issue 3 and 4), Pierre Klossowski (issue 1, 2, 3 and 4), André Masson, Jules Monnerot (issue 3 and 4), Jean Rollin and Jean Wahl (in the second issue) also participated in the review. Roger Caillois ( 3 March 1913 - 21 December 1978) was a French Intellectual whose idiosyncratic work brought together Pierre Klossowski ( August 9, 1905 — August 12, 2001) was a French writer translator and artist André-Aimé-René Masson ( January 4, 1896 &ndash October 28, 1987) was a French Artist. Jean Michel Rollin Le Gentil (born November 3, 1938 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris, France) is a Jean André Wahl ( May 15, 1888 - 1974 was a French Philosopher.

The Secret Society

Because of its very nature, it is difficult to describe the society's acts. Bataille referred several times to Marcel Mauss who had studied secret societies in Africa, describing them as a "total social phenomenon". Marcel Mauss ( May 10, 1872 &ndash February 10, 1950) was a French Sociologist. On this model, he organized several nocturnal meetings in the woods, near an oak which had been struck by lightning. Members of the Acéphale society were required to adopt several rituals, such as refusing to shake hand with anti-semites and celebrating the decapitation of Louis XVI, an event which prefigured the "chiefless crowd" targed by "acéphalité". Louis XVI ( 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) Louis-Auguste de France, ruled as King of France and Navarre Members of the society were also invited to meditation, on texts of Nietzsche, Freud, Sade and Mauss read during the assemblies. Sigmund Freud (ˈziːkmʊnt ˈfʁɔʏt born Sigismund Shlomo Freud (May 6 1856 &ndash September 23 1939 was an Austrian Psychiatrist who founded

The Encyclopaedia Da Costa

They also published Encyclopaedia Da Costa (Da Costa Encyclopédique) meant to coincide with the 1947 International Surrealist Exhibition in Paris, but due to printing delays, the encyclopedia was not distributed until months after the exhibition ended. Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The International Surrealist Exhibition was held from 11 June to 4 July 1936 at the New Burlington Galleries in London, England Ironically modelled after the format of a conventional encyclopedia, it lambasted social and individual conventions with an unprecedented fervor, as well as perpetrating more recondite clusters of ideas.

Perhaps its most insolent entry was the "License to Live", a faux governmental form requesting vital statistics from the bearer in order to enforce its legal fiat; the penalty for failing to keep the document "in order" was death. It is most likely another invention of the mind of Marcel Duchamp, typographer for the Encyclopaedia Da Costa, and a gesture that, in keeping with the best of Surrealism, had no obvious relationship to the art object as it is commonly known. Marcel Duchamp (maʀsɛl dyˈʃɑ̃ (28 July 1887 &ndash 2 October 1968 was a French artist whose work is most often associated with the Dadaist and Surrealist A precursor to "License to Live" appears in an earlier note in Duchamp's Green Box, published in 1934 but written 20 years earlier, where he imagines a society in which people must pay for the air they breathe. Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

By the end of the century the encyclopedia fell into obscurity, partly because those who created it actively discouraged interested parties from procuring copies.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ « Il est temps d’abandonner le monde des civilisés et sa lumière. Documents was a late 1920s-era Surrealist journal edited and masterminded by Georges Bataille. Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Minotaure (1933 to 1939 was a primarily Surrealist -oriented publication founded by Albert Skira in Paris Albert Skira (1904 - 1973 was a French publisher In 1933 he contacted André Breton about a new journal which he planned to be the most luxurious art and literary Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. La Révolution surréaliste (The Surrealist Revolution was a publication by Surrealists in Paris Year 1924 ( MCMXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. View was an American literary and art magazine published from 1940 to 1947 by artist and writer Charles Henri Ford, and writer and film critic Parker Tyler Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. VVV was a journal devoted to the dissemination of Surrealism, published in New York City from 1942 through 1944. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Il est trop tard pour tenir à être raisonnable et instruit — ce qui a mené à une vie sans attrait. Secrètement ou non, il est nécessaire de devenir tout autres ou de cesser d’être.  » (French)
  2. ^ « La vie humaine est excédée de servir de tête et de raison à l’univers. Dans la mesure où elle devient cette tête et cette raison, dans la mesure où elle devient nécessaire à l’univers, elle accepte un servage.  » (French)
  3. ^ See e. g. Nietzsche, Nice, end of December 1887: Draft of letter to Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche:
    In the meantime I've seen proof, black on white, that Herr Dr. Förster has not yet severed his connection with the anti-Semitic movement. [. . . ] Since then I've had difficulty coming up with any of the tenderness and protectiveness I've so long felt toward you. The separation between us is thereby decided in really the most absurd way. Have you grasped nothing of the reason why I am in the world? [. . . ] Now it has gone so far that I have to defend myself hand and foot against people who confuse me with these anti-Semitic canaille; after my own sister, my former sister, and after Widemann more recently have given the impetus to this most dire of all confusions. After I read the name Zarathustra in the anti-Semitic Correspondence my forbearance came to an end. I am now in a position of emergency defense against your spouse's Party. These accursed anti-Semite deformities shall not sully my ideal!! Nice, end of December 1887: Draft of letter to Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche

Bibliography

Texts from Georges Bataille

Other references

External links

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