Last time, we looked at Japanese literature, so this time I'd like to introduce the French writer and thinker Georges Bataille. His work is a dark underworld that seems to expand on the works of Sade and Masoch.
I first encountered Bataille in my second year of university. It was the subject of a book reading class taught by a professor famous for his classical music criticism. I think it was the first class. Incidentally, this class was a simple one: we read the book on the subject over the course of a week and simply shared our thoughts about it. The class was also full of pretty dangerous people. The professor always wore all black, and I wondered to myself if he was aiming to be like Tatsuhiko Shibusawa. Well, the books he assigned were also in the Shibusawa style.
Then, the book I read in that class, "Histoire de l'œil" (The Tale of the Eye), was a reading experience that completely transformed my existential world. Simply put, it's comprised of only Eros, scatology, thanatos, and blasphemy. Incidentally, the professor loved the story so much that he had students translate the original French text in his German class. Apparently, one female student got so angry she walked out midway through the story. While I won't go into the details here, as the title suggests, the story revolves around eyeballs, expanding on associations like egg balls and bull testicles, and escalating with various shameful acts. People die needlessly, killing, and blasphemy against God continues. Depending on how you read it, it could be interpreted as a slightly sad and shameless tale of a boy (narrated in the first person) and the heroine, Simone, who are more than friends but less than lovers. Kawade Shobo and Kobunsha have now released an easily accessible paperback edition. Note that the Kobunsha translation, by Nakajo Shohei, has been retitled "The Story of the Eyeball." The language is easy to read and modern. However, I would still recommend reading Ikuta Kosaku's translation, which has been considered the standard until now. The erotic, grotesque, and dark world is loudly proclaimed in elegant Japanese. I love this work so much that I own Ikuta's hardcover, Kobunsha's paperback, and Shueisha's paperback editions.
When I went to Paris four years ago, I bought the original paperback even though I didn't intend to read it. The cover featured a drawing by doll maker Hans Bellmer. The first edition of The Eyeball Tale was published in 1928 under the pseudonym Lord Auch. It was later republished in 1947 with Bellmer's illustrations replaced. Bellmer's shady lines perfectly fit the story's world.
Although Bataille has written only outrageous works, his real job is a staid one as a librarian at the National Library. His true identity is unknown, but he resembles Shozo Numa, who is believed to be a judge or a university professor.
It is said that Yukio Mishima was a fan of Bataille. So, let's go to Mishima next.
