Georges Bataille’s Classical Modernism

Following decades of association with a style gauchi, the work of Georges Bataille has emerged as exemplar of le classique moderne. What do the markers of classical language and style signify in the context of his radically innovative fictional works? Bataille’s contention is that modern writing remains in the thrall of past emotions that are inseparable from the modes of expression it inherits. By invoking ancien régime artifice, classical tournures de-naturalize the erotic provocations of the text while relaying an emotive charge. As this article shows, the disconcerting effect of classical references must also be located within a broader paradigm of techniques of interruption. Such disruptions include cries – the expression of an archaic poetic sensibility identified here in the continuum forged between Racinian moments of L’Expérience intérieure and the avant-garde ambition for a universal language.