The Insolent Saint of the Chasm (Part III)

Drunk Church

To exist against and NOT with. This does not suppress joy but exalts it, it is not despair but immense hope. Today we deliver you the finale of our three-part close reading of the work and life of Laure (also known as Colette Peignot)—masochist, poet, revolutionary, and the only female member of the secret society Acéphale—dying in Bataille's home at the age of thirty-five as the forgotten author of many of the best ideas he is known for. For our last time spent with Laure, we investigate her political writings to look at how her philosophical views directed her commitments in material ways and drove her to engage with leftist thinking in contrarian ways through a deeply Nietzschean lens. We also think about Laure in the context of the many themes of our show so far and as we move forward, including to take a second look at her erotic text in order to elaborate on its relevance to our contemporary thinking around both trauma and BDSM. According to her own wishes, we are here to invoke her favorite Blake quote and "drive (our) plow over the bones of the dead" in order to grow something new.

Sources:

"Laure: The Collected Writings" by Laure, with contributions by Georges Bataille and others

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