Transgression, Sovereignty, and the Metaphysics of Evil: A Bataillean Reading of The Untamed

Abstract

From earlier onwards literature is an important site of cultural negotiation regarding the metaphysics of evil. Popular culture provides a more nuanced representation of evil by challenging the binary aspect of the good and the evil. The Untamed, a popular Chinese xianxia (fantasy martial arts) drama adapted from the danmei novel Mo Dao Zu Shi by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, exemplifies this complex non binary nature of evil. The 2019 Netflix series is a particularly rich text to enquire how the notion of evil is essentially non-binary in nature. Placing the text against a long philosophical tradition of literary enquiry into the nature of evil, the article argues that The Untamed explores the metaphysics of evil. It not just dramatizes the conflict between good and evil but rather deconstruct the binary itself. The Untamed stages a systematic deconstruction of the good/evil binary through its various characters, especially through Wei Wuxian and Jin Guangyao. While Wei Wuxian acts as a “sovereign” in the Bataille’s concept, Guangyao exemplifies how the cultivation sects act as constructors of “evil” in order to establish boundaries. Layered readings of characters are done to underline how the notions of transgression and sovereignty is reflected in the series when their actions and intentions break the binary of good/ evil concepts. The article analyses evil as socially constructed through institutional power rather than individual practice. A close reading is attempted using the concepts of transgression and sovereignty by Georges Bataille. The article further analyses how the cultivation sects with its laws and forced representations of the evil acts as an institutional apparatus which also contributes to the deconstruction of the binary of the good and the evil.