The philosophy of Georges Bataille has been an inspiration for many with Foucault, Deleuze, Derrida, Kristeva, and Baudrillard amongst others acknowledging their debt. Philosophy was however just one of Georges Bataille's wide ranging interests. Bataille made important contributions to the fields of art history, religion, economics and literary criticism. In fact, Georges Bataille did not even consider himself a philosopher and would often try to distance himself from philosophy. In 1943 he wrote "I am not a philosopher, but a saint, perhaps a madman."
Georges Bataille was concerned with themes often neglected by traditional philosophy. Bataille frequently uses shocking imagery such as human excrement, bodily secretions, filth, crime, madness, and erotic suggestion. Given this subject matter it is not surprising that Bataille's philosophy (I make no apology for grouping all of Bataille's literature under the umbrella of philosophy) attracted criticism and scathing review. Jean-Paul Sartre, describing Bataille as 'A New Mystic', dismissed Bataille's philosophy as "an adventure that is beyond philosophy". Andre Breton, on behalf of the surrealist movement rejected Georges Bataille labelling him 'pathological' in his Second Manifesto of Surrealism.
Georges Bataille founded a number of philosophical groups and reviews (again, I make no apology for the broadest use of 'philosophy'). Most notable of these, was his co-founding (with Georges-Henri Riviere) of the journal Documents. Other examples include the College of Sociology and Acephale. In 1946, Bataille founded the journal Critique which remains one of Europes most respected journals.
Georges Bataille also wrote fiction (under the philosophy umbrella) including the infamous Story of the Eye and The Blue of Noon. Strongly influenced by Sade, Bataille's fiction (often pseudonymous) explores sexuality, eroticism and violence.