Bataille and the College of Sociology - A Brief Introduction

This page consists in a brief introduction to the "Collège de sociologie," a small group of French intellectuals who met during 1937-1939 to discuss the "sacred" aspects they believed to be at the core of social existence.

Introduction

In March 1937, two months after publishing the second issue of Acéphale, Georges Bataille joined with Roger Caillois and Michel Leiris to begin organizing a group for the purpose of studying the central role of "the sacred" in the social dimension of human existence ("l'existence sociale"). The group would call its approach "Sacred Sociology" and name itself the Collège de Sociologie. It would meet during the period of 1937-1939, usually in the back room of the Galeries du livre, a Paris bookstore on left bank, and attract a number of intellectuals, including Walter Benjamin and Jean Wahl. But the group's considerable work found limited publication at the time. The only publication of work explicitly associated with the Collège is found in the July 1938 issue of the Nouvelle Revue française, which contains a collection of articles under the title "For a College of Sociology," including Bataille's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," Caillois's "The Winter Wind," and Leiris's "The Sacred in Everyday Life."

The initial announcement of the Collège appeared in Acéphale 3-4 (July 1937), under the title "Note on the Foundation of a College of Sociology" (but listed in the table of contents as "A Declaration Relating to the Foundation of a College of Sociology"). It was signed by Bataille, Caillois, Georges Ambrosino, Pierre Klossowski, Pierre Libra, and Jules Monnerot (but not Leiris, who had also declined, as did Caillois, Bataille's invitation to join the secret society of Acéphale). Of particular interest in this Declaration is the expressed intention of establishing "a moral community" that is different from the community of scientists in that it embodies, as a social group, the sacred aspects that it studies in social institutions.

"Note on the Foundation of a College of Sociology"

1. As soon as particular importance is attributed to the study of social structures, one sees that the few results obtained in this realm by science not only are generally unknown but, moreover, directly contradict current ideas on these subjects. These results appear at first extremely promising and open unexpected viewpoints for the study of human behavior. But they remain timid and incomplete, on the one hand, because science has been too limited to the analysis of so-called primitive societies, while ignoring modern societies; and on the other hand, because the discoveries made have not modified the assumptions and attitudes of research as profoundly as might be expected. It even seems that there are obstacles of a particular nature opposed to the development of an understanding of the vital elements of society: The necessarily contagious and activist character of the representations that this work brings to light seems responsible for this.

2. It follows that there is good reason for those who contemplate following investigations as far as possible in this direction, to develop a moral community [une communauté morale], different in part from that ordinarily uniting scholars and bound, precisely, to the virulent character of the realm studied and of the laws that little by little are revealed to govern it.

This community, nonetheless, is as free of access as the established scientific community, and anyone can contribute a personal point of view to it, without regard for the particular concern inducing one to get a more precise knowledge of the essential aspects of social existence. No matter what one's origin and goal, this preoccupation alone is considered to be enough to create the necessary ties for common action.

3. The precise object of the contemplated activity can take the name of Sacred Sociology, implying the study of all manifestations of social existence where the active presence of the sacred is clear. It intends to establish in this way the points of coincidence between the fundamental obsessive tendencies of individual psychology and the principal structures that govern social organization and are in command of its revolutions. [College of Sociology 5]

Bibliography

Primary Works

• Le Collège de sociologie, ed. Denis Hollier (Paris: Gallimard, 1979).

English Translation

• The College of Sociology, 1937-39. Edited by Denis Hollier. Translated by Betsy Wing. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1988. Translation of Le Collège de sociologie (Paris: Gallimard, 1979), with additional material. Hollier notes that the English edition contains additional information that came to light after publication of the first French edition (1979).

Secondary Literature

• Hollier, Denis. “Foreword: Collage.” In The College of Sociology, 1937-39. Edited by Denis Hollier. Edited by Betsy Wing. viii-xxix. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1988.
• Richman, Michèle H. Sacred Revolutions: Durkheim and the College of Sociology. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002. 

Last update: 25-Mar-06

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