UCLA

This dissertation assesses the relevance of Georges Bataille's philosophy for film studies and explores the conjunction between the political and the erotic operative in his work. It is widely held that, at the time of the German occupation of France, Bataille experienced the "inward turn," which had marked his transformation from being a political activist to a solitary philosopher preoccupied with eroticism. My project contests the view that he had lost interest in politics at that point as it discloses the political dimension of erotic experience. Furthermore, I demonstrate that the logic of the "inward turn" helps to illuminate the work of Japanese New Wave film movement of the 1960s. What precipitates the "inward turn" is the experience of disappointment. In Bataille's case, it stems from the rise of fascism in Europe and the failure of the Left to assume power in France. In the case of Japanese New Wave, it has roots in the political protest movement that opposed yet ultimately failed to offset the renewal of the Japan-U.S. Mutual Security Pact of 1960. In each case, the turn towards eroticism constitutes a different kind of refusal - an act of separation from the social order as opposed to an act of destruction, a movement away from the community of militants and towards the community of lovers.