Overview
A radically interdisciplinary inquiry into the origins of human consciousness, community, and potential.The Cradle of Humanity: Prehistoric Art and Culture collects essays and lectures by Georges Bataille spanning 30 years of research in anthropology, comparative religion, aesthetics, and philosophy. These were neither idle nor idyllic years; the discovery of Lascaux in 1940 coincides with the bloodiest war in history-with new machines of death, Auschwitz, and Hiroshima. Bataille's reflections on the possible origins of humanity coincide with the intensified threat of its possible extinction. For Bataille, prehistory is universal history; it is the history of a human community prior to its fall into separation, into nations and races. The art of prehistory offers the earliest traces of nascent yet fully human consciousness-of consciousness not yet fully separated from natural flora and fauna, or from the energetic forces of the universe. A play of identities, the art of prehistory is the art of a consciousness struggling against itself, of a human spirit struggling against brute animal physicality. Prehistory is the cradle of humanity, the birth of tragedy. Bataille reaches beyond disciplinary specializations to imagine a moment when thought was universal. Bataille's work provides a model for interdisciplinary inquiry in our own day, a universal imagination and thought for our own potential community. The Cradle of Humanity: Prehistoric Art and Culture speaks to philosophers and historians of thought, to anthropologists interested in the history of their discipline and in new methodologies, to theologians and religious comparatists interested in the origins and nature of man's encounter with the sacred, and to art historians and aestheticians grappling with the place of prehistory in the canons of art.
Full Product Details
Author: Georges Bataille ,
Stuart Kendall ,
Stuart Kendall ,
Michelle Kendall
Publisher: Zone Books
Imprint: Zone Books
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.50cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.340kg
ISBN: 9781890951566
ISBN 10: 1890951560
Pages: 216
Publication Date: 13 March 2009
Recommended Age: From 18
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Awaiting stock
The supplier is currently out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out for you.
Language: English
Reviews
it's terrific as a kind of poetics of prehistory -- Publisher's Weekly Online
For readers who have not comprehended the nuances of Georges Bataille's fascination with prehistoric art, and the role it plays in his conception of the erotic, this new collection of translations is a vital addition to one's library. -Consciousness, Literature, and the Arts It's terrific as a kind of poetics of prehistory. -Publisher's Weekly Online
it's terrific as a kind of poetics of prehistory Publisher's Weekly Online
Author Information
Georges Bataille (1897-1962) was a French writer, essayist, and philosopher whose works include The Story of the Eye, The Blue of Noon, The Accursed Share, and Theory of Religion.
