Blue of Noon
Encyclopedia
Blue of Noon is a transgressive novella
of erotic fiction written in 1935, and its French author, Georges Bataille
was a dedicated anti-fascist, as can be seen from the content of this particular work . Harry Matthews translated it into English in 1978. Dennis Hollier, among others, have noted that the novel is a modern adaptation of the story of Don Juan
.
to Barcelona
during the Spanish Civil War
in time to witness
the first General Strike
of the Catalans against the Spanish
. He is torn between three different women, all of whom arrive in the city
at that time
. One of them, Lazare, is a Marxist Jew and political activist, who is preparing herself for prospective torture
and martyrdom at the hand of General
Francisco Franco
's troops if she is captured. "Dirty" (or Dorothea) is an incontinent, unkempt alcoholic who repeatedly has sex
with Troppmann. Xénie is a young woman
who had previously nursed him to health
during his violent fever
in Paris.
The novel
is introduced by a scene of extreme degeneracy in a London
hotel
room, followed by the narrator's description of a dreamlike encounter with 'the Commendatore
' (English: "the Commander"), who in the Don Juan myth is the father of one of Don Juan's victims, and whose statue returns at the end of the story to drag Don Juan down to hell for his sins. Troppmann has to choose between the abject
Dirty and her associations of sex, disease, excrement and decay, the politically engaged Lazare, and her ethical values of commitment, resistance and endurance, and Xénie, who has outlived her usefulness. While looking at Lazare beneath a tree, Troppmann realises that he respects her for her social conscience, but also sees her as a rat
, and chooses Dirty instead, whilst sending Xénie off with a friend, who is subsequently killed in the street. He travels with Dirty to Treves, the home-town of Karl Marx
, where the two copulate in the mud on a cliff overlooking a candle-lit graveyard. They see a Hitler Youth
group, lending Dirty a vision of the war to come and their probable deaths. Troppmann leaves her to return to Paris.
, upon whom the character of Lazare is based), are dramatized in the life of the protagonist, Troppmann. Bataille's sense of hopelessness and powerlessness in the face of militarism is reflected in the conclusion of the story: the language Bataille uses to describe Troppmann's overcoming of impotence in the graveyard is recalled in his description of the obscenity of the Nazi youths' gestures. In both cases, Bataille is describing a totalitarian world where sexuality is suffused with violence and the pathological fear of, as well as attraction to, loss of control. Dennis Hollier remarks in Absent Without Leave that, where in Mozart's opera, Don Juan opposes the Commendatore as a force of sexual license against repressive authority, in "Blue of Noon" the Commendatore himself, the regime of repression itself, absorbs sexual licentiousness and becomes obscene. Sexual desire becomes desire for death; Bataille's version of Don Juan wants to be dragged down to hell.
Full of vomit, tears, screams and excretion, the novel is an allegory of the disgust, fear, sorrow and rage at a world beginning its slide into the abyss.
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
of erotic fiction written in 1935, and its French author, Georges Bataille
Georges Bataille
Georges Bataille was a French writer. His multifaceted work is linked to the domains of literature, anthropology, philosophy, economy, sociology and history of art...
was a dedicated anti-fascist, as can be seen from the content of this particular work . Harry Matthews translated it into English in 1978. Dennis Hollier, among others, have noted that the novel is a modern adaptation of the story of Don Juan
Don Juan
Don Juan is a legendary, fictional libertine whose story has been told many times by many authors. El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra by Tirso de Molina is a play set in the fourteenth century that was published in Spain around 1630...
.
Plot summary
Henri Troppmann goes from his sick-bed in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
in time to witness
Witness
A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...
the first General Strike
General strike
A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...
of the Catalans against the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. He is torn between three different women, all of whom arrive in the city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
at that time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
. One of them, Lazare, is a Marxist Jew and political activist, who is preparing herself for prospective torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
and martyrdom at the hand of General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
's troops if she is captured. "Dirty" (or Dorothea) is an incontinent, unkempt alcoholic who repeatedly has sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
with Troppmann. Xénie is a young woman
Woman
A woman , pl: women is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent...
who had previously nursed him to health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
during his violent fever
Fever
Fever is a common medical sign characterized by an elevation of temperature above the normal range of due to an increase in the body temperature regulatory set-point. This increase in set-point triggers increased muscle tone and shivering.As a person's temperature increases, there is, in...
in Paris.
The novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
is introduced by a scene of extreme degeneracy in a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
room, followed by the narrator's description of a dreamlike encounter with 'the Commendatore
Commendatore
Literally Commander, the official title of Commendatore is awarded by decree of the President of Italy to individuals who are given this honour in the Italian Order of Merit known as the Ordine al Merito della Repubblica and other orders of knighthood...
' (English: "the Commander"), who in the Don Juan myth is the father of one of Don Juan's victims, and whose statue returns at the end of the story to drag Don Juan down to hell for his sins. Troppmann has to choose between the abject
Abjection
The term abjection literally means "the state of being cast off". In usage it has connotations of degradation, baseness and meanness of spirit.-In critical theory:...
Dirty and her associations of sex, disease, excrement and decay, the politically engaged Lazare, and her ethical values of commitment, resistance and endurance, and Xénie, who has outlived her usefulness. While looking at Lazare beneath a tree, Troppmann realises that he respects her for her social conscience, but also sees her as a rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
, and chooses Dirty instead, whilst sending Xénie off with a friend, who is subsequently killed in the street. He travels with Dirty to Treves, the home-town of Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
, where the two copulate in the mud on a cliff overlooking a candle-lit graveyard. They see a Hitler Youth
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...
group, lending Dirty a vision of the war to come and their probable deaths. Troppmann leaves her to return to Paris.
Interpretation
The story of the libertine Don Juan and the protective father-figure of the Commendatore are transposed by Bataille into the world of fascism in Europe in the 1930s. Bataille's own failed attempts to oppose fascism in France in the Contre-Attaque political group (which included Simone WeilSimone Weil
Simone Weil , was a French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist.-Biography:Weil was born in Paris to Alsatian agnostic Jewish parents who fled the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. She grew up in comfortable circumstances, and her father was a doctor. Her only sibling was...
, upon whom the character of Lazare is based), are dramatized in the life of the protagonist, Troppmann. Bataille's sense of hopelessness and powerlessness in the face of militarism is reflected in the conclusion of the story: the language Bataille uses to describe Troppmann's overcoming of impotence in the graveyard is recalled in his description of the obscenity of the Nazi youths' gestures. In both cases, Bataille is describing a totalitarian world where sexuality is suffused with violence and the pathological fear of, as well as attraction to, loss of control. Dennis Hollier remarks in Absent Without Leave that, where in Mozart's opera, Don Juan opposes the Commendatore as a force of sexual license against repressive authority, in "Blue of Noon" the Commendatore himself, the regime of repression itself, absorbs sexual licentiousness and becomes obscene. Sexual desire becomes desire for death; Bataille's version of Don Juan wants to be dragged down to hell.
Full of vomit, tears, screams and excretion, the novel is an allegory of the disgust, fear, sorrow and rage at a world beginning its slide into the abyss.