Violence and the Sacred as the Topos of 20st-21st Century French Thought

Abstract

The article considers the conceptual pair of violence and the sacred as a commonplace ("topos”) of French scientific, philosophical, and religious thought of the 20th-21th centuries and explains why this pair was so relevant and attracted many dissimilar thinkers. Six authors are taken as the main examples: G. Bataille, R. Caillois, R. Girard, E. Levinas, M. Eliade, and J. Kristeva. For analytic purposes, the author identifies three "common factors” that unite them. Firstly, the influence of the French sociological school (Durkheim, Hubert and Moss, Dumezil, Hertz etc.). Among other things, these scholars studied the religious meaning of blood, violent ascetics and sacrifice, conceptualizing violence as a pledge of social cohesion (Durkheim) or as a factor of transition from the profane to the sacred world (Hubert and Moss). Secondly, the ideas of these six thinkers were inspired by real violence, which they tried to comprehend via the concept of the sacred. In particular, their reflection was influenced by the cultural and personal experience of world wars. Third, this conceptual pair is value-charged and used to create a new religion or interpret the existing ones in heterodox way. As starting point for this creative process, Catholic or Orthodox Christianity, Christian atheism, and Judaism are taken. The author concludes that even if this topos is forgotten today, it undoubtedly remains significant for the history of sociology and philosophy, as well as for cultural history.