Sade and the Narrative of Transgression (Cambridge Studies in French, Series Number 52)

This major collection of essays on the Marquis de Sade encompasses a wide range of critical approaches to his oeuvre, now made available to English-language readers for the first time. It focuses on several contemporary areas of interest: the explicitly libidinal components of Sade's work and the effects they engender, the textual and narrative apparatus that supports these operations, the ethical and political concerns that arise from them, and the problematic issues surrounding the conceptual closure of representation. Sade is placed at the center of current debates in literary and philosophical criticism, feminist and gender theory, aesthetics, rhetoric, and eighteenth-century French cultural history. This major collection of essays on the Marquis de Sade, first published in 1995, encompasses a wide range of critical approaches to his œuvre, including some of the most celebrated texts in Sade scholarship. It focuses on several distinctly contemporary areas of interest: the explicitly libidinal components of Sade's work and the effects they engender, the textual and narrative apparatus which supports these operations, the ethical and political concerns which arise from them, and the problematic issues surrounding the conceptual closure of representation. Sade is placed at the centre of current debates in literary and philosophical criticism, feminist and gender theory, aesthetics, rhetoric and eighteenth-century French cultural history, and this volume will be of interest to a wide range of readers across these disciplines 1. The Use Value Of D.a.f. Sade (an Open Letter To My Current Comrades) / Georges Bataille -- 2. Sade, Or The Philosopher-villain / Pierre Klossowski -- 3. Libidinal Economy In Sade And Klossowski / Jean-francois Lyotard -- 4. A Political Minimalist / Philippe Roger -- 5. The Society Of The Friends Of Crime / Alphonso Lingis -- 6. Sade, Mothers, And Other Women / Jane Gallop -- 7. The Encyclopedia Of Excess / Marcel Henaff -- 8. Sex, Or, The Misfortunes Of Literature / Dalia Judovitz -- 9. Structures Of Exchange, Acts Of Transgression / Allen S. Weiss -- 10. Gender And Narrative Possibilities / Nancy K. Miller -- 11. Sade's Literary Space / Lawrence Schehr -- 12. Fantasizing Juliette / Chantal Thomas. Edited By David B. Allison, Mark S. Roberts, Allen S. Weiss. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 265-269) And Index. If I think it good to address this letter to my comrades, it is not because the propositions that it contains concern them.