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Contrary to popular belief, the review of the ï¬rst two volumes of Genetâs Collected Works and The Thiefâs Journal that Georges Bataille published in Critique in 1952 and that later became the last chapter of Literature and Evil was not Batailleâs ï¬rst text on the other author. The ï¬rst reï¬ection of an interest in Genet dates back to 1949, to an article entitled âOn The Sacred Character Of Criminalsâ.1 In response to Fran¸ ois Mauriacâs article âLe cas Jean Genetâ2 (âThe Case c of Jean Genetâ), Bataille took it upon himself to defend the author of Deathwatch, thus aligning himself with the few critics who had praised the play. The word âdefendâ may be surprising in light of the out of hand condemnation of the subsequent article, whose severity guaranteed it considerable critical attention: Genet, the writer, has neither the power to communicate with his readers nor the intention of doing so. His work almost denies the reader. Sartre saw, though he drew no conclusions, that, in these conditions, the work was incomplete. It was a replacement, half way from the major communication at which literature aims.3 The chasm between this attack by a critic who for once
Paragraph – Edinburgh University Press
Published: Jul 1, 2004
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