"Corpus fractum": Georges Bataille and sacramental theology

Recent work on political theology - most notably that of J. Kameron Carter - has turned to eucharistic theology and its notion of the "corpus mysticum" to explain the political theology undergirding nationalism, white supremacy, and fascism. This article builds on this approach to articula...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Body and religion
Main Author: Loftin, Mac (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Equinox Publishing 2020
In: Body and religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Bataille, Georges 1897-1962, Somme athéologique / Eucharist / Body / Cruelty / Fascism
RelBib Classification:CG Christianity and Politics
CH Christianity and Society
FD Contextual theology
KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
KBA Western Europe
NBF Christology
NBP Sacramentology; sacraments
Further subjects:B Sovereignty
B Nationalism
B Fascism
B Vulnerability
B Sacrifice
B Eucharist
B Community
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Summary:Recent work on political theology - most notably that of J. Kameron Carter - has turned to eucharistic theology and its notion of the "corpus mysticum" to explain the political theology undergirding nationalism, white supremacy, and fascism. This article builds on this approach to articulate an anti-fascist sacramental theology through a reading of Georges Bataille’s Summa Atheologica. Against fascism's fantasy of a pure and purifying sovereign body that can secure the redemption of the threatened body of the nation, Bataille's Summa risked a "new theology" of the irremediably lacerated body of Christ which might ground a non-sovereign community of fragmentation, dispossession, and vulnerability. By rethinking the Summa's relationship to one of its main influences - the eucharistic theology of St Angela of Foligno - I argue that it is possible to rethink sacramental theology in a Bataillean key, against political theology and its eucharistic structure.
ISSN:2057-5831
Contains:Enthalten in: Body and religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1558/bar.17886