KNOWLEDGE OF SOVEREIGNTY

B y G e o r g e s B a t i l l e

• G e o rg e B a t a i l l e w a s a Fre n c h s c h o l a r   w o r k i n g v a r i o u s fi e l d s r a n g i n g f ro m a n t h ro p o l o g y , p h i l o s o p h y , e c o n o m y , t r a n s g re s s i o n , e ro t i c i s m , s o v e re i g n t y , l i t e r a t u re , t h e h i s t o r y o f a r t a n d m u c h m o re .

• At t r a c t e d t o S u r re a l i s m

• H e s o m e t i m e s p u b l i s h e d u n d e r p s e u d o n y m s

• O n e f o u n d e r o f t h e C o l l e g e o f S o c i o l o g y d u r i n g t h e W W 2

G e o r g e s B a t a i l l e

S o v e r e i g n t y

Tr a d i t i o n a l d e fi n i t i o n :

‘ SUPREME POWER OR AUTHORITY ’

B a t a i l l e ’ s re s p o n s e t o s o v e re i g n t y i s d i v e r s e , re l a t i n g t o t h e h i e r a rc h i c a l s t a t u s a n d p h y s i c a l a n d e m o t i o n a l s t a t u s .

What ’s the tex t a l l about?

A n ex p l o r a t i o n o f t h e t e rm s o v e re i g n t y d e fi n e d b y B a t a i l l e :

‘ t h e b a s i c e l e m e n t s : c o n s u m p t i o n b e y o n d u t i l i t y , t h e d i v i n e , t h e m i r a c u l o u s , t h e s a c re d

C o n s u m p t i o n b e y o n d u t i l i t y: t o h a v e a n d d o m o re t h a n y o u n e e d o r re q u i re ; exc e s s i v e n e s s .

T h e d i v i n e : a n a s p e c t o f t h e m i r a c u l o u s ; ‘ t h e o b j e c t o f l a u g h t e r i s d i v i n e ’

T h e m i r a c u l o u s : a s u g g e s t i o n o f t h e f re e d o m o f h a v i n g exc e s s i v e n e s s o f m a t e r i a l s ‘ t h e m i r a c u l o u s s e n s a t i o n o f h a v i n g t h e w o r l d a t h i s d i s p o s a l ’ a n d e m o t i o n a l s t a t e s .

‘He works in order to eat, and he eats in order to work.’

‘We must satisfy our needs,and we suffer if we fail.’

‘The possibility of life opens without limit.’

‘If I am right, if my feeling is justified, I will still have to prove it!’

‘Attributed to god and dignitaries’

‘Beggar can sometimes be as close as the great nobleman.’

‘Man does not live on bread alone, he lives on what is divine’

‘Knowledge is never sovereign’

‘The meaning of art, the anticipation of a suspended wonder struck moment, a miraculous moment’

What’s this got to do with architecture?