Dionysus and French Surrealists

It turns out that Northwestern is one of just a few libraries in the world that has a complete collection of the journal Acephale, which was a very ambitious but short-lived attempt to create a space for alternative humanist visions during the very trying climate of prewar France in the late-1930s.  I found out about the group by searching for "contemporary cults of Dionysus."  But I had to go to the special collections at our library to look at the journals.  After a few minutes of begging, the archivists there let me take these HD photos to share with the class.

The most prominent contributor to the journal was George Bataille, a famous French Surrealist.  From what we know, Bataille's fascination with Acephale (a Dionysus-like god of the group's creation) was probably related to his admiration for Friedrich Nietzsche, one of the great (and perhaps most controversial) philosophers of the nineteenth century. 

Below are some of the pages I photographed from the journal.  Unfortunately, I must admit that -- aside from being really captivating to look at in all their psychological complexity and gut-wrenching gore -- this artwork is not really helping me recognize my shared humanity with the members of People's Temple.  (Neverthless, this was just too cool not to share.)