Barthes / Bataille: the writing of neutral economy
Barthes / Bataille: the writing of neutral economy
By his own admission, Roland Barthes was seemingly remiss in not placing Georges Bataille within his account of ‘zero degree’ writing. This article draws inference from this fact, but specifically examines commonalities between Bataille’s heterology and Barthes late project on the Neutral (in which reference to ‘zero degree’ is again raised). The article works through Barthes’ two key articles on Bataille, ‘The Metaphor of the Eye’ and ‘Outcomes of the Text’, and also considers Bataille’s statement on informe, a concept that can be said to resonate with Barthes’ use of the Neutral. Neither terms refer to specific ‘forms’, but rather an ‘operation’ of writing, as a means of undoing knowledge without its disavowal. An account is given of the commonalities of Bataille’s ‘general economy’, and what might be termed Barthes’ Neutral economy. Emphasis is placed upon their practice of writing as ethical responses in the ‘preparations’ of knowledge; to be judicious to what forms in and around knowledge, allowing as much for pauses as the possibilities of thought.
Roland Barthes, Georges Bataille, General Economy, Neutral, Practices of Writing
193-215
Manghani, Sunil
75650a9a-458d-4e1a-9480-94491300e385
September 2018
Manghani, Sunil
75650a9a-458d-4e1a-9480-94491300e385
Manghani, Sunil
(2018)
Barthes / Bataille: the writing of neutral economy.
Theory, Culture & Society, 35 (4/5), .
(doi:10.1177/0263276418769998).
Abstract
By his own admission, Roland Barthes was seemingly remiss in not placing Georges Bataille within his account of ‘zero degree’ writing. This article draws inference from this fact, but specifically examines commonalities between Bataille’s heterology and Barthes late project on the Neutral (in which reference to ‘zero degree’ is again raised). The article works through Barthes’ two key articles on Bataille, ‘The Metaphor of the Eye’ and ‘Outcomes of the Text’, and also considers Bataille’s statement on informe, a concept that can be said to resonate with Barthes’ use of the Neutral. Neither terms refer to specific ‘forms’, but rather an ‘operation’ of writing, as a means of undoing knowledge without its disavowal. An account is given of the commonalities of Bataille’s ‘general economy’, and what might be termed Barthes’ Neutral economy. Emphasis is placed upon their practice of writing as ethical responses in the ‘preparations’ of knowledge; to be judicious to what forms in and around knowledge, allowing as much for pauses as the possibilities of thought.
Text
Manghani-Barthes-Bataille-ACCEPTED
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 8 April 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 4 May 2018
Published date: September 2018
Keywords:
Roland Barthes, Georges Bataille, General Economy, Neutral, Practices of Writing
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 421905
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/421905
ISSN: 0263-2764
PURE UUID: 6d67df97-c4e1-4f7a-9508-e77fae806edd
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Date deposited: 09 Jul 2018 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:14
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