Roger Caillois (b. Reims 1913 - 1978)
Keywords: sacred, anthropology and sociology; sacred and profane as sociological categories
Influences: surrealism, Breton, Marcel Griaule; collaborated with Georges Bataille on founding project of 'sacred sociology'.
 
Online Resources
Bibliography: French Works; Published works;
Texts:

"Outline of "Power" Lecture presented by Georges Bataille to the College of Sociology (19 February 1938), Trans. Betsy Wing in Denis Hollier, ed. The College of Sociology 1937-39. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1988) 125-136.""

Mimicry and legendary Psychasthenia - surrealist text by Caillois on animal and insect mimicry that qualifies the notion of a survival instinct.

Review of The Edge of Surrealism - Donna Roberts (pdf)- a well crafted introductory review, that addresses Caillois in his own right as much as in his association with Bataille and Surrealism. Also discusses a little of the acknowledged elitism in Caillois's thought.

The breath of the possible - Gavin Grindon - a thoughtful essay that situates Caillois and the College of Sociology in the tradition of surrealism, autonomist marxism and situationist practices.

English Texts:

Man, Play and Games - University of Illinois Press, 2001

Man and the Sacred - University of Illinois Press,

The Edge of Surrealism: A Roger Caillois Reader - Claudine Frank (.ed) DUP, 2003

Riddles and Images - Roger Caillois - Yale French Studies no. 41 (1968)

11/26/2004