Heterology and the Postmodern

This monographs aims to present a new view of the history of poststructuralism (heterology) and the origins of postmodernism by analyzing three French theorists: Georges Bataille, Jean Baudrillard and Jean Francois Lyotard. Beginning with the introduction of Hegel in French postmodernist thought - largely but not exclusively through the thought of Georges Bataille - the author argues that the core problematics of postmodern aesthetics are related to Bataille's re-conceptualization of the Hegelian framework. Pefanis explores how Bataille was influenced by Hegel, Marcel Mauss, Freud and Nietzsche, and traces the effects of this influence on the analyses and critiques of later postmodernists, most notably Lyotard and Baudrillard. Finally, employing these postmodernists along with Freud and Jacques Lacan, Pefanis discusses the discourse on postmodernism and its relation to Freud's concept of the death drive. This intellectual history intends to add to the ongoing debate over what the "postmodern" may mean for intellectual and political activity. Crossing disciplinary boundaries, this work will be of interest to students and scholars in literary theory, cultural studies, philosophy, intellectual history, anthropology and psychology.