, "Magie," in Oeuvres
comple`tes
(Paris: Ple?
Sartre-Jean-Paul-What-is-literature¿-Introducing-Les-Temps-modernes-The-nationalization-of-literature-Black-orpheus
As well say that I am against air or against water.
On the contrary, I recognize in no uncertain terms that surrealism is the only poetic movement of the first half of the twentieth century; I even recognize that in a certain way it contributes to the liberation of man.
But what it liberates is neither desire nor the human totality, but pure imagination.
Now, the fact is that the purely imaginary and praxis are not easily reconciled.
I find a touching admission of this in a surrealist of 1947, whose name seems predisposed to the utmost honesty:
'I must recognize (and probably I am not alone among those who are not easily satisfied) that there is a divergence between my feeling of rebellion, the reality of my life, and the fields of the battle of poetry which I may be waging, which the works of those who are my friends help me to wage. Despite them, despite myself, I hardly know how to live.
'Does recourse to the imaginary, which is a criticism of the social order, which is a protestation and a hastening of history, risk burning the bridges which connect us with other men and, at the same time, with reality? I know that there can be no question of freedom for man himself (Yves Bonnefoy, Surrealism in 1947, p. 68). [Bonnefoy (la bonnefoi)--good faith, honesty. This will explain M. Sartre's play on words in the sentence immediately preceding the quotation. --Translator. ]
But between the two wars surrealism spoke in a quite different tone. And it's something quite different that I attacked above concerning the surrealists' singing political manifestoes, their bringing judgement to bear against those among them who did not stick to the line, their defining a method of social action, their entering the C. P. and leaving it with a flourish, their rapprochement with Trotsky, and their concern about clarifying their position with regard to Soviet Russia. It's hard for me to believe that they thought they were acting as poets. It may be objected that man is a whole and that he is not to be divided up into a politician and a poet. I agree, and I will even add that I am more at ease for knowing that there are authors who make poetry a product of automatism and politics a conscious and reflective effort. But after all it is a truism; it is both true and false. For if man is one and the same, if, in a way, his mark is found everywhere, that does not at all mean that the activities are identical; and if, in each case, they bring the whole mind into question, one need not conclude that they do so in the same way, nor that the success of one justifies the failures of the other. Besides, does one think that one would be flattering the surrealists by telling them that they have been carrying on political activity as poets?
Still, it is reasonable for a writer who wants to mark the unity of his life and his work to show by a theory the community of aims of his poetry and his practice. But the fact is that this theory can itself only belong to prose. There is a surrealist prose, and that is the only thing I was considering in
? Notes to Pages 164-174 \ 345
the pages that are under attack. But surrealism is hard to pin down; it is Proteus. Sometimes it presents itself as completely involved in reality, struggle, and life; and if you call it to account, it starts screaming that it's pure poetry and that you're murdering it, and that you don't know what poetry is all about. This is shown rather clearly in the following anecdote which everyone knows but which is pregnant with meaning: Aragon had written a poem which rightly appeared as a provocation to murder; there was talk of legal prosecution; whereupon, the whole surrealist group solemnly asserted the irresponsibility of the poet; the products of autom- atism were not to be likened to concerted undertakings. However, to anyone who had some experience with automatic writing, it was apparent that Aragon's poem was of a quite different kind. Here was a man quivering with indignation, who, in clear and violent terms, called for the death of the oppressor; the oppressor was stirred to action, and all at once he found before him nothing more than a poet who woke up and rubbed his eyes and was amazed that he was being blamed for his dreams. This is what has just happened again: I attempted a critical examination of the totality of the fact 'surrealism' as a commitment in the world, in so far as surrealists were attempting, by means ofprose, to make its meanings clear. I was answered that I am harming poets and that I misunderstand their contribution' to the inner life. But really, they didn't give a rap about the inner life; they wanted to shatter it, to break down the walls between subjective and objective, and to wage the Revolution on the side of the
proletariat.
To conclude: surrealism is entering a period of withdrawal; it is breaking with Marxism and the C. P. It wants to demolish the Christian-Thomist edifice stone by stone. Very well, but I should like to know what public it expects to reach. In other words, in what souls it expects to ruin western civilization. It has said over and over again that it could not affect the workers directly and that they were not yet accessible to its action. The facts show that they are right: how many workers visited the 1947 Exhibition? On the other hand, how many bourgeois? Thus, its purpose can only be negative: to destroy the last remnants of the Christian myths in the minds of the bourgeois who form their public. That was what I wanted to show.
26. Which has particularly characterized them for the last hundred years because of the misunderstanding which has separated them from the public and has obliged them to decide upon the marks of their talent themselves.
27. Pre? vost declared, more than once, his sympathy for Epicureanism as revised and corrected by Alain.
28. If I did not speak of Malraux or Saint-Exupe? ry earlier, it is because they belong to our generation. They were writing before we were and are doubtless a little older than we. But whereas we needed the urgency and the physical reality of a conflict in order to discover ourselves, Malraux had the immense merit of recognizing as early as his first work that we were at war and of producing a war literature when the surrealists and even Drieu were devoting themselves to a literature of peace. As to Saint-Exupe? ry, against the subjectivism and the quietism of our predecessors he was able
? 346 I Notes to Pages 174-187
to sketch the chief features of a literature of work and tool. I shall show later that he is the precursor of a literature of construction which tends to replace the literature of consumption. War and construction, heroism and work, doing, having and being--it will be seen, at the end of this chapter, that these are the chief literary and philosophical themes of today. Consequently, when I say we, I believe that I can speak of them too.
29. What are Camus, Malraux, Koestler, etc. now producing if not a literature of extreme situations? Their characters are at the height of power or in prison cells, on the eve of death or of being tortured or of killing. Wars, coups d'e? tat, revolutionary action, bombardments, massacres. There you have their everday life. On every page, in every line, it is always the whole man who is in question.
30. Of course, some minds are richer than others, more intuitive, or better qualified for analysis or synthesis. Some of them are even prophetic and some are in a better position to foresee because they hold certain cards in their hand or because they discern a broader horizon. But these differences are a posteriori and the evaluation of the present and the near future remains conjectural. For us too the event appears only through subjectivities. But its transcendence comes from the fact that it exceeds them all because it extends through them and reveals to each person a different aspect of itself and of himself.
Thus, our technical problem is to find an orchestration of conscious- nesses which may permit us to render the multi-dimensionality of the event. Moreover, in giving up the fiction of the omniscient narrator, we have assumed the obligation of suppressing the intermediaries between the reader and the subjectivities--the viewpoints of our characters. It is a matter of having him enter into their minds as into a windmill. He must even coincide successively with each one of them. We have learned from
Joyce to look for a second kind of realism, the raw realism of subjectivity without mediation or distance. Which leads us to profess a third realism, that of temporality. Indeed, if without mediation we plunge the reader into a consciousness, if we refuse him all means of surveying the whole, then the time of this consciousness must be imposed upon him without abridge- ment. If I pack six months into a single page, the reader jumps out of the book.
This last aspect raises difficulties that none of us has resolved and which are perhaps partially insoluble, for it is neither possible nor desirable to limit all novels to the story of a single day. Even if one should resign oneself to that, the feet would remain that devoting a book to twenty-four hours rather than to one, or to an hour rather than to a minute, implies the intervention of the author and a transcendent choice. It will then be necessary to mask this choice by purely aesthetic procedures, to practise sleight of hand, and, as always in art, to lie in order to be true.
31. From this viewpoint, absolute objectivity, that is, the story in the third person which presents characters solely by their conduct and words without explanation or incursion into their inner life, while preserving strict chronological order, is rigorously equivalent to absolute subjectivity. Logically, to be sure, it might be claimed that there is at least a witnessing consciousness, that of the reader. But the fact is that the reader forgets to
? Notes to Pages 187-216 \ 347
see himself while he looks and the story retains for him the innocence of a virgin forest whose trees grow far from sight.
32. I sometimes wonder whether the Germans, who had at their disposal a hundred means of knowing the names of the members of the National Writers' Committee, did not spare us. We were pure consumers for them too. Here the process is inverted. The diffusion of our newspapers was highly limited. It would have been more inexpedient in regard to the supposed politics of collaboration to arrest Eluard or Mauriac than dangerous to let them whisper in freedom. The Gestapo doubtless preferred to concentrate its efforts on the underground forces and the members of the Maquis whose acts of real destruction troubled it more than our abstract negativity. Doubtless, they arrested and shot Jacques Decour. But at the time Decour was not yet very well known.
33. See particularly Wind, Sand and Stars.
34. Like Hemingway, for example, in For Whom the Bell Tolls.
35. But don't let us exaggerate. In gross, the situation of the writer has
improved. But, as will be seen, chiefly by extra-literary means (radio, cinema, journalism) which were not available formerly. He who can't or won't have recourse to these means must practise a second profession or have a tough time of it. 'It is extremely rare for me to have coffee to drink and enough cigarettes,' writes Julien Blanc ('Grievances of a Writer', Combat, April 27, 1947). 'Tomorrow I won't put any butter on my bread, and the chemist's price for the phosphorous which I lack is preposterous . . . since 1943 I have undergone five serious operations. Very shortly I am going to have a sixth, a very serious one. Being a writer, I have no social security. I have a wife and child. The state remembers me only to ask for excessive taxes on my trifling royalties. . . . It is going to be necessary for me to take steps to reduce my hospital expenses. . . . And the Society of Men of Letters and the Authors' Fund? The first will back me up; the second, having given me a gift last month of four thousand francs . . . Let's forget it. '
36. Aside, of course, from Catholic 'writers'. As for the so-called Communist 'writers', I speak about them later on.
37. I admit without difficulty the Marxist description of 'existentialist' anguish as a historical and class phenomenon. Existentialism, in its contemporary form, appears with the decomposition of the bourgeoisie, and its origin is bourgeois. But that this decomposition can disclose certain aspects of the human condition and make possible certain metaphysical intuitions does not mean that these intuitions and this disclosure are illusions of the bourgeois consciousness or mythical representations of the situation.
38. The worker has joined the C. P. under the pressure of circumstances. He is less suspect because his possible choices are more limited.
39. In Communist literature in France, I find only one genuine writer. Nor is it accidental that he writes about mimosa and beach pebbles.
40. They have caused Hugo to be read. More recently they have spread the work of Giono in certain areas.
41. I except the abortive attempt of Pre? vost and his contemporaries. I have spoken of them above.
? 348 I Notes to Pages 220-330
42. This contradiction is met with everywhere, particularly in commu- nist friendship. Nizan had many friends. Where are they? Those he was most fond of belonged to the C. P. These are the ones who revile him today. The only ones who remain faithful are not in the Party. The reason is that the Stalinist community with its excommunicative power is present in love and friendship which are person-to-person relationships.
43. And the idea of freedom? The fantastic criticisms that have been made of existentialism prove that people no longer mean anything by it. Is it their fault? Here is the P . R. L. , antidemocratic and antisocialist, recruiting former fascists, former collaborators and former P. S. F. 's. Yet it calls itself the Republican Party of Freedom {Parti re? publicain de la liberte? ). If you are against it, it means that you are therefore against freedom. But the communists also refer to freedom; only it is Hegelian freedom, which is an assumption of necessity. And the surrealists too, who are determinists. A young simpleton said to me one day, 'After The Flies, in which you spoke splendidly about the freedom of Orestes, you betrayed yourself and you betrayed us by writing Being and Nothingness and by failing to set up a deterministic and materialistic humanism. ' I understand what he meant: that materialism delivers man from his myths. It is a liberation, I agree, but in order the better to enslave him. However, from 1760 on, some American colonists defended slavery in the name of freedom: if the colonist, citizen, and pioneer wants to buy a negro, isn't he free? And having bought him, isn't he free to use him? The argument has remained. In 1947 the proprietor of a public swimming pool refused to admit a Jewish captain, a war hero. The captain wrote letters of complaint to the newspapers. The
papers published his protest and concluded: 'What a wonderful country America is! The proprietor of the pool was free to refuse admittance to a Jew. But the Jew, a citizen of the United States, was free to protest in the press. And the press, which, as everybody knows, is free, mentions the incident without taking sides. Finally, everybody is free. ' The only trouble
is that the word freedom which covers these very different meanings--and a hundred others--is used without anyone's thinking that he ought to indicate the meaning he gives it in each case.
44. Because, like Mind, it is of the type of what I have elsewhere called 'detotalized totality'.
45. Camus's The Plague, which has just been published, seems to me a good example of a unifying movement which bases a plurality of critical and constructive themes on the organic unity of a single myth.
Black Orpheus
1. Ste? phane Mallarme?
, "Magie," in Oeuvres comple`tes (Paris: Ple? iade, 1945), p. 400.
2. Aime? Ce? saire, "Tam-Tam II," in Les Armes miraculeuses, 2nd e? d. (Paris: Gallimard, 1946), p. 69.
3. Ce? saire, "Et les chiens se taisaient," in Les Armes miraculeuses, p. 156.
? A Note on the Texts
"Qu'est-ce que la litte? rature? " was originally published in six installments in Les Temps modernes 17-22 (February-July
1947). It subsequently appeared in Situations II (Paris: Gallimard, 1948), along with "Pre? sentation des Temps modernes" and "La Nationalisation de la litte? rature," and was published separately by Gallimard in 1964. The translation used here, published by the Philosophical Library (New York) in 1949, was the first to appear in English and has been reproduced with a small number of corrections. The final section of the essay, "Ecrire pour son e? poque," was first published in Alexandria in the periodical Valeurs 7--8 (October 1946-January 1947), and was reprinted in the
June 1948 issue of Les Temps modernes. English translations appeared in late 1946 and early 1947 in several periodicals, including Virginia Quarterly Review 23 (Spring 1947).
"Pre? sentation des Temps modernes' was published in the inaugural issue of Les Temps modernes on October 1, 1945. It appeared for the first time in English as "The Case for Responsible Literature" in Horizon (London) 2 (May 1945), and in Partisan Review 12 (Summer 1945). The translation used here was commissioned especially for this volume.
"La Nationalisation de la litte? rature" appeared in the second issue of Les Temps modernes, on November 1, 1945. It is published here in English for the first time.
"Orphe? e Noir" appeared originally as the preface to an anthology of works by African and West Indian poets, Anthologie de la nouvelle poe? sie ne`gre et malgache de langue
franc? ais, edited by Leopold Se? dar-Senghor (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1948). Excerpts were also pub- lished in Les Temps modernes yi (October 1948) and Pre? sence africaine 6 (April 1949), and the whole was reprinted, with
? 350 I A Note on the Texts
a supplementary note, in Situations III (Paris: Gallimard, 1949). It first appeared in English in Pre? sence africaine
(1951). Its first American publication was in the Massachusetts Review 6, no. 1 (1965), and it is that text which has been reprinted here.
? Adorno, Theodor, 16-17, 18 Aesthetic joy, 39, 63-65, 219 Africa, 2 9 8 - 2 9 9
Alain (Emile Chartier), 165, 167,
172, 3451127; The Citizen versus the Powers That Be, 262
Alienation, 56, 72, 73, 134-137, 192
temporary, 166-168, 195-204, 214-215, 218-224, 253-254. See also Public; Reading
Augier, Emile, 108
Author: remuneration of, 8, 80--
130, 164, 249-250, 347n33; class origins of, 8, 93, 99-103,
141-145, 155-156, 187-188, 204, 223-224, 249-250; histo- ricity of, 9, 68-69, 70-80, 134-137, 175-178, 180, 182- 187, 251-255, 277-279; com- mitment of, 34-41, 46-47, 68-69, 77- 8o, 192-196, 215- 238, 243-245, 251-255, 265- 267, 286-287; function of, 38-39, 228-235, 255; relation of, to reader, 50-58, 60-63, 65-68, 70-75, 78; freedom of, 58, 60-69, 72> 77>> 92> IOO> 191-192, 195, 213-214, 222- 224; bad conscience of, 82,
135; in feudal society, 82-85; cooption of, 82-93; in 17th century, 85-93, 96-97; in
18th century, 93-103; and
the bourgeoisie, 96, 99-100, 103-109, 113-130, 223-224; pretensions of, to class indepen- dence, 97-103, 111-120, 155- 157, 249-250; in 19th
century, 103-130; and the pro- letariat, 109-113, 121-122, 130-132; situation of contem- porary, 132-140, 184-192, 195-196, 279-280, 287-288;
Alquire? , Ferdinand,
Anouilh, Jean, 197
Aragon, Louis (Louis Andrieux),
144, 284, 338n25; Aure? lien, 219
Aristotle, 254
Arland, Marcel, 151; L'Ordre,
150; Terres Etrange`res, 150 Aron, Raymond, 5
Art: formai, 6 2 ; realistic, 6 2 , 66y
67, 78, 119, 249. See also Lit- erature; Poetry; Poetry, black; Writing
Artistic creation, 25-28, 48-52. See also Author; Writing
Art object: as appeal to freedom, 16-17, 56-69; as absolute end, 55-56, 104, 191, 213, 221, 249; in bourgeois society, 1 0 5 - 107. Seealso Literature; Poetry;
Poetry, black; Writing Assouline, Pierre: L'Epuration des
intellectuels, 5n
Audience: historicity of, 15,
7 0 - 8 2 - 85; in 17th century, 85-93; in 18th century, 93-103; in 19th
75, 222; in feudal
century, 103-130, 250; con-
Index
3 3 8 ^ 5
society,
? 352 I Index
Author {continued)
American, 141, 148, 186, 194; contemporary British, 142; con- temporary Italian, 142; rallie? , 147, 169, 170-171; and Com- munist Party, 207--214; "impli- cation" of, 251; in contempo- rary criticism, 276-277; social- ization of, 280-281; situation
of black, 294-299, 306-307. See also Journalism; Literature; Poetry; Poetry, black; Writing
Aveline, Claude, 164
Baboeuf, Gracchus, 225
Bach, J. S. , 43
Balzac, Honore? de, 114, 252 Barbey d'Aurevilly, J. , 114, 125 Barbie, Klaus, 5n
Bariler, Etienne: Les Petits Cama- rades, 20
Barre? s, Maurice, 146, 147 Barthes, Roland: Mythologies, 16;
Writing Degree Zero, 16 Bataille, Georges, 173-174, 302,
330, 333^3, 338n25 Baudelaire, Charles, 80, 114,
115, 157; The Glass Maker, 117 Beaumarchais, Pierre, 91
Beauty: artistic, 39, 55-56, 187;
natural, 55-56, 59; in bour- geois society, 92, 117, 120-
121, 172, 221
Beauvoir, Simone de, 4, 5; The
Prime of Life, 4; L'Invite? e, 275 Beckett, Samuel, 17
Be? dier, Charles: La Chanson de
Roland, 279
Behan, Brendan: The Hostage, 219 Being, 48, 63, 187, 192, 193-
194
Being and Nothingness, 5, 14 Benda, Julien, 10, 70, 84; The
Treason of the Intellectuals, 9; The Great Betrayal, 6()n
Be? ranger, Pierre Jean, 284 Bergson, Henri, 23, 31, 156,
237, 316, 317, 320
Bernanos, 281
Bernard, Claude, 277
Beucler, Andre? , 164
Between Existentialism and Marxism,
16
Bevin, Ernest, 236
Billy, Andre? , 144
"Black," 304-306
"Black Orpheus," 7, 12-13, 15,
291-330
Blanc, Julien, 347n35
Bloch, Marc, 182
Bloch-Michel, Jean, 182
Blum, Leon, 146
Boccaccio, 124 Boileau-Despre? aux, Nicolas, 172 Bonaparte, Napoleon, 285,
335ni3
Bonnefoy, Yves, 338n25 Bordeaux, Henri, 108, 122, 281 Boschetti, Anna: The Intellectual
Enterprise, 7, 18
Bost, Jacques-Laurant, 4
Bost, Pierre, 275; L'Imbe? cile, 164,
167
Bourgeoisie: guilty conscience of,
81, 199-204; as rising class, 94-96, 100; as privileged class, 103-130, 146-148; utilitarian- ism of, 104-107, 108, 147; petty, 166--169; class ignorance of, 255-260
Bourget, Paul, 108, 280
Breton, Andre? , 13, 33, 120, 143,
144, 154, 156, 159-161, 172, 329, 338n25; The Communicat- ing Vessels, 338n25; Nad]a, 338n2 5; Le Point du Jour, 338n25
Brierre, Jean, 322
Brod, Max, 237
Brunschvig, Le? on, 167, 177
? Burget, Charles, 122 Byron, Lord, 145
Caillois, Roger, 130
Camus, Albert, 5, 346029, 348043 Capitalism. See Bourgeoisie; Class;
Marxism; Proletariat Carnaedes, 155
Carrouges, Michel, 319 Cartier-Bresson, Henri, 19-20 Caterus, 254
Ce? line, Louis-Ferdinand, 91, 244 Cendrars, Blaise: Rhum, 101 Cervantes, Miguel de, 115, 124 Ce? saire, Aime? , 306, 308-309,
310, 311-313, 314. 315, 3i6,
telleau), 281
Chateaubriand, Franc? ois de, 44 China, 175, 176
Chips Are Down, The, 15 Christianity, 82-85, 87, 94, 98,
323
Churchill, Winston, 236
Clark, Terry Nichols, Prophets and
Patrons, i^n
Class: proletariat, 73, 107, 109- 113, 121-122, 130-132, 166, 199-201, 204-207, 257, 263, 295-299, 329; noble, 87, 95, 101 ; bourgeoisie, 94--96, 100, 103-130, 147, 166-169, 199- 204, 255-259; and poetry,
294-295, 303, 329; and race,
295-299, 326-330 Claudel, Paul, 127, 146, 151,
220, 280
Cocteau, Jean, 144, 151, 174,
197
Cohen-Solal, Annie: Sartre: A Life,
5"
Index I 3^3 Colonialism, 12, 295-297, 3 0 1 -
304, 323
Combes, Andre? , 157
Comite? National des Ecrivains, 5,
8
Commitment, 15-18, 34-41, 69,
77-80; in writing, 14-16, 18-19, 34-41, 66-69, 251- 255, 265-267; author's, 34-
41, 46-47, 68-69, 77-8o, 192-196, 215-238, 243-245, 251-255, 265-267, 286-287.
See also Litte? rature engage? e Communist Party, 4, 6, 7, 203,
205-214, 220, 221, 231, 236, 240, 283, 338n25; and surrealism, 157-160, 174; conservatism of, 205, 207- 212, 214; opportunism of, 212-213
Comte, Auguste, 157, 177, 264 Condorcet, Jean-Antoine, 101 Conta^t, Michel: The Writings of
Sartre, 5n
Corneille, Pierre, 85, 108 Courier, P. L. , 91
Criticism, 82, 224-228, 229,
233--235, 237; critiqued, 41 -- 45; contemporary, 272-288; as prediction, 274-287; histori- cized, 279-280, 287-288
Critique of Dialectical Reason, 14 Croisset, Francis de, 251 Culture industry, 18
Dali, Salvador, 153
Damas, Le? on, 301, 322
Dante Alighieri, 115
Daudet, Le? on, 127-128, 211 Davies, Howard, I4n
Debray, Re? gis, 18, 19; Teachers,
Writers, Celebrities, 6 Decour, Jacques, 284, 347n32 Denoe`l, Robert, 8n De? roule`de, Paul, 284
318-319, 320, 322,
Ce? zanne, Paul, 62
Chack, Paul, 203
Chamson, Andre? , 164, 167, 172 Chardonne, Jacques (Jacques Bou-
32 4-32 5
? 354 I Index
Derrida, Jacques, 11
Descartes, Rene? , 60, 85, 254-
255, 277
Descombes, Vincent: Modern
French Philosophy, 15 Desmoulins, Camille, 225 Desnos, Robert, 161, 338n25 Dho^tel, Andre? , 174
Diderot, Denis, 97, 101, 159, 188
Diop, Birago, 301, 308
Diop, David, 306
Dirty Hands, The, 15
Disclosure: in poetry, 11-12; in
prose, 11-12, 16, 19, 37-38,
65-67; in reading, 52
Dos Passos, John, 186
Dreyfus, Alfred, 208
Drieu la Rochelle, Pierre-Euge`ne,
6, 8n, 68, 161, 163, 244,
281, 345n28
Duchamp, Marcel, 153, 306,
338n25
Duhamel, Georges, 146; The Pos-
session of the World, 192 Dullin, Charles, 272 Durkheim, Emile, 167, 220
Ecole Normale Supe? rieure, 4, 5
Education europe? enne, L', 277 Einstein, Albert, 280
Eluard, Paul (Paul-Euge`ne Grin-
del), 274, 347*132 Empiricism, 236 Engels, Friedrich, 212 Epictetus, 156 Epicureanism, 168 Eros, 319
Esprit, 323
Estaunie? , Edouard, 148 Estenne, Charles, 333n2 Ethics. See Morality Etiemble, Rene? , 76, 335n9 Eurydice, 300
Evil, 178-181, 185
Existentialism: and Marxism, 5, 7, 274, 347n37
Exoticism, 162
Faulkner, William, 186 Feelings, 34, 56, 57-58, 259-
260, 314
Fe? nelon, Franc? ois de, 93, 272 Fernandez, Ramon, 41, 281 Flaubert, Gustave, 8 - 9 , 12, 16,
112, 113-114, 117, 118, 151,
186, 250, 251, 252, 335n l 4 Fontanin, Daniel de, 280
Forces Franc? aises de l'Inte? rieur,
254
Form, literary, 39--40
Foster, Hal: The Anti-Aesthetic, 7 Fouchet, Max-Pol, 3 3 8 ^ 5 Fournier, Alain, 150, 174; Le
Grand Meaulnes, 53
France, Anatole, 121
Francis, Claude: Simone de Beau-
voir, 8n
Fraternity, bourgeois, 256-258 Freedom, 70, 287; writing an
appeal to, 16-17, 54-58, 60- 69, 103; and alienation, 56, 72, 73, 134-137, 192; author's, 58, 60-69, 72, 77, 92, 100, 191-192, 195, 2 1 3 - 214, 222-224; a n d beauty, 59-60, 63-65; historicized,
72, 219, 221-223, 259-265, 276-279; meaningless, 348n43
Frehtman, Bernard, 4n
French Academy, 87
Freud, Sigmund, 23, 280 Fromentin, Euge`ne: Dominique,
125
Gallimard, 8n
Garaudy, Roger, 208
Gard, Roger Martin du, 73 Gassendi, Pierre, 254 Gaullism, 229
? Gautier, The? ophile, 57, 117 Genet, Jean, 16, 57
German occupation of France, 12,
71-72, 73-75, 177-189, 274,
282
Gide, Andre? , 6, 46, 117, 119-
120, 145, 151, 172, 198, 220,
250; Fruits of the Earth, 73,
192, 219, 280
Giono, Jean, 347n40 Giraudoux, Jean, 40, 146, 174,
282; Bella, 271; Eglantine, 271 Gobineau, Arthur, 44
Goncourt, Edmond de, 9, 117,
250, 252
Gontier, Fernande: Simone de Beau- voir, 8n
Good will; abstract, 218-219, 221; historicized, 219, 2 2 1 - 223
Gracq, Julien (Louis Poirier): Au Cha^teau d'Argol, 273; Un Beau Te? ne? breaux, 273
Grasset, Bernard, 8n
Great Britain, 230, 236, 284,
285
Green, Julien, 174
Greuze, Jean-Baptiste: "Prodigal
Son," 28
Groult, Marius, 174
Gyp (Marie-Antoinette de Ri-
Index | 355
Historicity: author's, 9-10, 6 8 - 69, 70-80, 134-137, 175- 178, 180, 182-187, 251-255; and freedom, 72, 219, 221- 223, 259-265, 276-279; con- temporary discovery of, 174-- 178, 182-188, 259-262, 277- 279; and good will, 219, 2 2 1 - 223; and race, 325
Hitler, Adolf, 34, 75, 261, 277 Hittites, 252
Hollier, Denis: The Politics of
Prose,3
Homosexuality, 259-260
Hugo, Victor, 109-110, 347n40 Humanism, 167
Humanite? , L', 207, 219
Human nature, 107
Human project, 64-65
Ideology: religious, 86-87, 89, 94, 111; revolutionary, 100
In Camera, 198 "Introduction to Les Temps
modernes," 8-9, 10, 13, 249-
267
Iron in the Soul, 15
Jaloux, Edmond, 108 Jameson, Fredric: Marxism and
Form, 5
Janet, P . , 128
Janke? le? vitch, Vladimir, 5n Jaspers, Karl, 327, 338n25 Jeremiah, 80
Jouhandeau, Marcel, 3 3 8 ^ 5 Jourdan, P. , 34
Journalism, 10, 13, 272-276 Joyce, James, 346n30
Juare? s, Jean, 146
Kafka, Franz, 17, 53, 186, 209,
237
Kant, Immanuel, 54, 55-56,
218-219, 221, 235
quetti de Mirabeau),
337m9
Hachette, Louis, 251
Hamp, Pierre, 191
Hayman, Ronald: Sartre: A Biogra-
phy, 5n
Hegel, G. W. F. , 29, 126, 252,
280, 338n25
Heidegger, Martin, 14-15, 49,
194, 202, 279, 314
Heine, Heinrich, 151 Hemingway, Ernest, 186, 194 Hermant, Abel, 281, 337m9 Hesiod, 191
? 3$6 I Index
Koestler, Arthur, 74, 3461129; Spanish Testament, 267
Ku Klux Klan, 158
La Bruye`re, Jean de, 87, 93, 3361115
Lalande, Andre? , 227
Laleau, Rene? , 301, 317
Lalou, Rene? , 275
Lamarck, Chevalier de, 277 Language: de? signa^tive function
29, 35; pragmatic, 295; and oppression, 300-307. See also Poetry; Poetry, black; Prose; Writing
Lanson, Gustave, 279
Larbaud, Vale? ry, 337m9
La Rochefoucauld, Franc? ois de,
90, 336ni5
Larousse, Pierre, 225 Lautre? amont, comte de, 306 Lavedan, Pierre, 3 3 7 m 9 League for Human Rights, 167 Leconte de Lisle,
Charles-Marie-Rene? , 280 Le? gitime De? fense, 309-310 Leibniz, Gottfried, 178
Leiris, Michel, 5, ion, i4n, 32 Lenin, V. I. , 212
of,
of production, 80, 104-110, 118, 146-147, 149, 191, 195, 249; of negativity, 82, 98,
131, 151-152, 157-158, 224- 228, 229, 233-235, 237;
abstract, 98, 131, 134; as festival, 130, 149; alienated, 134-137; first generation of contemporary, 1 4 5 - 1 5 1 ; second generation of contemporary,
1 5 1 - 1 6 9 ; third generation of contemporary, 169-238; total,
195; use of mass media by, 198-199, 216-218; as
propaganda, 213, 285-286; of construction, 224, 228-231, 233; of praxis, 224-231, 233- 235, 237, 239-245; descrip- tion in, 233-234; nationali- zation of, 2 8 5 - 2 8 8 . See also Poetry; Poetry, black; Prose; Writing
Litte? rature engage? e, 4, 7, 10, 1 3 - 15, 16-18, 19; revision of,
1 2 - 1 3 ; Adorno's critique of, 16-18. See also Author; Com-
mitment; Literature; Poetry,
black; Writing
Littre? , Emile, 225, 227 Lottman, Albert: The Purge, 5n L'Ouverture, Toussaint, 324 Love: bourgeois, 148-149; in
Proust, 2 5 8 - 2 5 9 ; dialectical, 259-260; ne? gritude as, 328- 329
Lucretius, 320 Lyce? e Pasteur, 4
Maistre, Joseph de, 208 Mallarme? , Ste? phane, 16, 118,
143, 251, 301, 303, 308 Malraux, Andre? , 5, 8n, ion, 42,
46, 196, 244-245, 345^38,
346n29
Mankind: bourgeois conception of,
Le? ro, Etienne, 309-310
Le Sage, Alain: The Devil on Two
Sticks, 336m 5
Lessing, Gotthold, 112
Lettres Franc? aises, Les, i o n Le? vi-Strauss, Claude, i 4 n Liberation, the, 13, 14, 72, 101,
261, 262
Literary inflation, 2 8 0 - 2 8 1 Literature: alibi, 11, 150;
representation in, 16; and other art forms, 25-27; as message, 41, 171-172; of consumption, 80, 87-91, 96-97, 116, 149,
195, 249; gratuitousness of, 80, 97, 104, 146, 191, 192;
? 255--259; Sartre's conception
of, 259-263
Marat, Jean Paul, 225
Marcel, Gabriel, 7, 138 Marianne, 167
Maritain, Jacques, 178, 282 Martin, Henri, 15
Marx, Karl, 5, 112, 196, 212;
The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bona- parte, 10; Theses on Feuerbach,
14; Capital, 2 0 9
Marxism, 7, n o , 156, 178; and
Existentialism, 5, 347n37; and literature, 132, 198-199, 216- 218; scientistic, 212; inadequa- cies of, 263-264; and race, 297-298, 329-330; and Surre- alism, 338n25. Seealso Com- munist Party; Socialist Party
Maupassant, Guy de, 117, 125- 127, 280; Le Horla, 336ni8
Mauriac, Franc? ois, 144, 146, 171, 186, 3381125, 3471132
Index I 337 Montherlant, Henry de, 281
Morality, 167, 221-222, 245 Morand, Paul, 161; Gallant Eu-
rope, 161-163; Nothing But the
Earth, 161-163
Morgan, Miche`le, 199
Mosca, Gaetano, 38
Mouloudji, Marcel: Enrico, 275,
276
Music, 25, 27
National Front, 189 "Nationalization of Literature,
The," 7, 9, 10, 271-288 Nature, 315-316, 320
Nausea, 5, 275
Nazism, 74-75, 175, 229, 261 Negativity, literature of, 82, 98,
131, 151-152, 157-158, 224-
228, 229, 233-235, 237 Ne? gritude, 297-330; revolution-
ary potential of, 297-298, 303, 307, 311, 329-330; impris- oned, 2 9 9 - 3 0 0 ; and language, 301-307; objective vs. subjec- tive, 307; denned, 314; an- drogyny of, 318-319; a Passion, 319-320; status of,
3 2 5 - 3 3 0 ; dialectic of, 3 2 9 -
330
Negro. See Ne? gritude
Neo-Surrealism, 274
Nerval, Ge? rard de, 4 6 , 145; Syl-
vie, 46
Newton, Isaac, 277
Nicole, Pierre, 90
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 116, 136,
320
Niger, Paul, 320
Nizan, Paul, 283-284, 348n42;
Le Soir, 210; The Conspiracy,
220; The Trojan Horse, 220 Nouvelle Revue Franc? aise, 6, 8n Novel, 65-66, 124-129, 272-
Maurois, Andre? , 146, Maurras, Charles, 208,
281
338nn23,24
Meaning: in prose, 10, 28-29,
30, 31-32, 34, 38, 52, 267; in poetry, 28--33; representation vs. expression of, 30-31, 34
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice, 4, 5, 18, 338n25; The Phenomenology
of Perception, 25
Mersenne, Marin, 254 Michelet, Jules, 109
Miller, Henry, 144
Minotaure, Le, 311
Miro, Joan, 176
Miserabilism, 274
Molotov, V. M. , 210
Monnier, Adrienne, 151 Montaigne, Michel de, 44, 46,
161
Montesquieu, The Persian Letters,
243
274, 336m6; rejection of tradi-
? 3$8 I Index Novel (continued)
tional, 182-183, 185. See also Literature; Prose; Writing
Occupation. See German occupa- tion of France
Oeuvre, L ', 167
Ohnet, George, 108
Ollivier, Albert, 5
Oppression: and writing, 12, 72,
76-77, 300-307; and inner
censorship, 3 3 8 ^ 5
Order, 125-127, 149, 150, 273-
274
Orpheus, 300 Other, the, 79, 92
Pailleron, Edouard, 108
Painting, 26, 27-30, 62-63, 274 Parain, Brice, 38, 127, 227, 228,
295
Pascal, Blaise, 46, 85, 108, 272,
3 2 2 ; Provincial Letters, 4 0 Pastoureau, Henri, 338n2 5 Paulhan, Jean, 5, 135, 250; The
Flowers of Tarbes, 1o-11 Pe? guy, Charles, 146 Peret, Benjamin, 161 Pe? tain, Henri, 75, 203 Philo, 155
Philoctetes, 328 Philosophy, 14-15 Phrase-object, 32
Picasso, Pablo, 28, 31, 32 Plato, 42
"Plea for Intellectuals, A," 18-19 Pluto, 300
Poe, Edgar Allan, 114
Poetry, 28-35, J43> i73> 250,
293-295> 308, 313, 319; non- instrumental language of, 11-- 12, 28-34, 333n4, 335n5; and commitment, 12-13, 34-35, 258, 333n4; and subjectivity, 295, 297-298. See also Poetry, black
Poetry, black, 2 9 7 - 3 3 0 ; revolu- tionary potential of, 297-298, 303, 311, 329-330; subjectiv- ity in, 297-298, 303, 329- 330; mystical geography in, 298-299; theme of exile in, 298-299; theme of slavery in, 298-299, 321-323; Orphic, 300; tam-tam, 307-308; epic, 308, 324; Nature in, 315-316, 320; sexual imagery in, 316- 319; Passion imagery in, 3 1 9 - 321; Dionysian, 320-324; anti-Christian, 3 2 2 - 3 2 3
Poincare? , Henri, 273
Politzer, Georges, 156, 212 Pouillon, Jean, 4
Praxis, 12, 194--196, 204, 295;
literature of, 14-16, 19, 233-
234
Pre? vost, Marcel, 108, 164, 167,
193, 283, 345n26, 347n4i Proletariat, 73, 107, 121-122,
130-132, 166, 199-201, 211, 257, 265, 295-296, 329; emergence of, 109-111; culture- lessness of, 112-113; and Sur- realism, 158--160; as revolutionary public, 204-207, 263
Propaganda, 226-228, 232; liter- ature as, 213, 227, 258, 2 8 5 -
286; of fraternity,
2 5 5 - 2 5 8 ;
Nazi, 261-262
Prose: instrumentality of, 11 --12,
28, 30, 31-32, 34-40, 46-47; remnants of poetry in, 335n5. See also Literature; Writing
Proudhon, P. -J. , 5, 112, 196 Proust, Marcel, 8-9, 12, 51,
146, 151, 258-259, 280 Psychoanalysis, 116, 152, 165-
166, 338n25
Public, reading: real, 82, 85, 93,
95, 136; virtual, 82, 88, 112, 137, 204, 209, 215-216; in
? feudal society, 82-85; in 17th century, 85-93; m J8th cen- tury, 93-103; in 19th century,
103-130, 250; ideal, 136; con- temporary, 166-168, 195-204, 214-224, 253-254; disappear- ance of, 195-204, 214-215; revolutionary, 204; formation of new, 218-224
Queneau, Raymond, ion, 144
Rabe? arivelo, Jean-Joseph, 301, 317, 31(R)
Rabelais, Franc? ois, 115 Rabemananjara, Jacques, 308 Race: and oppression, 13, 2 9 7 -
330; and Marxism, 297-298, 329-330; and historicity, 325; and class, 326-330. See also Ne? gritude
Racine, Jean-Baptiste, 40, 99, 115, 143, 272; Phe`dre, 133
Radical Socialism, 167-169, 170-- 171, 262-263
Rallie? author, 147, 169, 170- 171, 172
Rationalism, 294
Reader. See Audience; Public Reading: relation of, to author,
50-58, 60-63, 65-68, 70-75, 78; creativity of, 52-54, 64; and responsibility, 66-67; c o n _ textuality of, 7 0 - 7 2 , 7 8 - 8 0 ; and oppression, 72, 76-77. Seealso Audience; Author; Pub- lic
Realism: artistic, 62, 66, 67, 78, 119, 249; metaphysical, 124;
political, 178; temporal,
3 4 6 n 3 0
Reed, John: Ten Days That Shook
the World, 267
Reformation, 102
Relativism: moral, 177; historical,
Index I 359 182-184, 187; literary, 254-
255
Renan, Ernest, n o
Renard, Jules, 117 Resistance, French, 188-189,
275, 277, 282, 283 Revolution, socialist, 7 - 8 , 2 0 5 -
207, 226, 253, 261
Re? volution Surre? aliste, La, 3 1 0 - 3 1 1 Ribbentrop, Joachim von, 210 Ribot, The? odule, 280
Rigaut, Jacques, 158
Rimbaud, Arthur, 33, 41, 44,
145, 149, 154, 285 Rimbaud, Isabelle, 41 Rolland, Romain, 282; Jean
Christophe, 145
Romains, Jules, 146, 281 Romanticism, 86, 109 Rougemont, Denis de, 259 Roumain, Jacques, 327
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 40, 101,
138, 263; Letter on the Theatre, 44; The Spirit of the Laws, 44; Social Contract, 44, 51; Emile, 243
Rudel, Geoffrey, 274
Rybalka, Michel: The Writings of
Sartre, 5n
Sachs, Maurice, 121
Sade, Marquis de, 44
Said, Edward, 7 Saint-Exupe? ry, Antoine, 182,
194, 316, 345n28
Saint Genet, 9, 13, 15
Salacrou, Armand, 197
Sand, George, 109
Satire, 90-91
Schalk, David L. , The Spectrum of
Political Engagement, 4 n Schlumberger, Jean, 244;
Saint-Saturnin, 2-1^--2-f^
Schnitzler, Arthur, 3 3 7 m 9 Schopenhauer, Arthur, 193
? 360 I Index
Seignobos, Charles, 254 Senghor, Leopold, 12, 15, 310,
314, 326
Shakespeare, William, 42 Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 145 Significance, 25-26, 27, 28. See
also Meaning
Signs, 25-26, 29, 30, 34-38. See
also Language; Meaning Situation, 36-37, 72, 79, 260-
261, 264-265; author's, 132- 140, 184-192, 195-196, 279- 280, 287-288; in travel
writing, 162-163; contempo- rary discovery of, 175-178; and oppression, 188-189; and love, 259-260. See also Historicity
Socialism, 5; bourgeois, n o ; and race, 296-297. See also Bour- geoisie; Class; Proletariat
Socialist Party, 158
Society: bourgeois conception of,
255-259; Sartre's conception
of, 259-263
Soday, Paul, 198
Solidarity, 76, 167, 258, 287 Soviet Union, 158, 287; and
United States, 205, 234, 235- 236; internal problems of, 205-- 207; violence in, 230, 231
Spinoza, Baruch, 132
Sprinker, Michael: Imaginary Rela- tions, 14
Steinbeck, John, 141
Stendhal, 45, 114; Armance, 53 Stoicism, 168
Subjectivity, 124-125, 151-152,
295, 346n3o; black, 297-330 Surrealism, 120, 151-164, 176,
250, 273, 279, 303, 306, 311, 312-313; and the Communist Party, 7, 157-160, 174; failure of, 12, 13, 120-121, 154- 157, 312-313, 338n25; subjec- tivity and objectivity in, 152-
154; the marvellous in, 155; violence in, 159, 163-164, 206; gamma point in, 161,
163; language in, 228; and Marxism, 338n2 5; and psycho- analysis, 338n25
Switzerland, 285
Synthetic anthropology, 13-15,
261
Talent, 105, 275, 294
Tam-tam poetry, 307-308
Temp modernes, Les, 3, 6-7, 12,
18, 28
Terre des hommes, 6
Terrorism, literary, i o - n , 135,
271
The? rive, Andre? , 281
Thibaudet, Albert, 151 Tintoretto, 27
Tito (Josip Broz), 144
Torncelli, Evangelista, 182, 236 Torture, 178-181
Truth, 94, 98, 306
Turenne, Henri de La Tour d'Au-
vergne, vicomte de, 285
United States of America, 206, 228, 230; and Soviet Union, 205, 234, 235-236; and Euro- pean literature, 274, 284, 285
Utilitarianism: bankruptcy of,
104, 147-148, 231; surreal- ism's rejection of, 151 ; in Com-
munist Party, 213
Vache? , Jacques, 158
Vale? ry, Paul, 35, 42, 285, 335^5 Valle`s, J. , 91
Van Gogh, Vincent, 63 Vauvenargues, Luc de Clapiers,
108
Vercors (Jean-Marcel Bruller),
144; The Silence of the Sea, 7 3 - 75, 137
? Verlaine, Paul, 143
Vermeer, Jan, 62
Violence, 192, 232, 338n23; and
language, 229; in Soviet Union,
230, 231. Seealso Surrealism Voltaire, 97, 159, 188, 224, 252
West, Nathanael: Miss Lonely- hearts, 338n2i
"What Is Literature? " 7, 11-12, 13>> ! 9> 23-246
"White," 304-305 Winckelmann, Johann, 112 Words, The, 18
Wright, Richard, 78-80, 101,
J37> I 9 5 - I 9 6 , 222; Black Boy, 79
Writing: critical function of, 7 - 8 , 10, 15, 16-18, 19, 81, 101- 103, 155-156, 228-235, 251- 255, 265--267; revolutionary
potential of, 7-8, 14, 18-20, 274> 297-298, 303, 311, 329- 330; remuneration of, 8, 8 0 - 130, 249-250, 347^35; historicity of, 9-10, 70-80, 132-140, 175-178, 182-187, 239-245, 251--255; prose vs. poetry, 11-13, 28-34; and commitment, 14-16, 18-19, 34-41, 66-69, 251-255, 265- 267; audience of, 15-16, 70-
Index I 361
80, 82-93, 103-130, 195- 204, 214-215, 218-224, 250, 253-254; as appeal to freedom, 16-17, 54-58, 60-69, I O 3 ; reference in, 25, 30-31, 34- 35; significance in, 27, 28; dia- lectic of reading in, 50-54, 58, 62, 64; and oppression, 72, 76-77, 300-307; and libera- tion, 72, 101 ; in feudal society, 82-85; in 17th century, 8 5 - 93; in 18th century, 93-103;
pretensions of independence in, 97-103, 111-120, 155-157>> 249-250; in 19th century,
103-130; in classless society, 137-140; first generation of
contemporary, 1 4 5 - 1 5 1 ; second generation of contemporary,
151-169; automatic, 153, 158, 173, 309; travel, 161-163; third generation of contempo-
rary, 169-238.
'I must recognize (and probably I am not alone among those who are not easily satisfied) that there is a divergence between my feeling of rebellion, the reality of my life, and the fields of the battle of poetry which I may be waging, which the works of those who are my friends help me to wage. Despite them, despite myself, I hardly know how to live.
'Does recourse to the imaginary, which is a criticism of the social order, which is a protestation and a hastening of history, risk burning the bridges which connect us with other men and, at the same time, with reality? I know that there can be no question of freedom for man himself (Yves Bonnefoy, Surrealism in 1947, p. 68). [Bonnefoy (la bonnefoi)--good faith, honesty. This will explain M. Sartre's play on words in the sentence immediately preceding the quotation. --Translator. ]
But between the two wars surrealism spoke in a quite different tone. And it's something quite different that I attacked above concerning the surrealists' singing political manifestoes, their bringing judgement to bear against those among them who did not stick to the line, their defining a method of social action, their entering the C. P. and leaving it with a flourish, their rapprochement with Trotsky, and their concern about clarifying their position with regard to Soviet Russia. It's hard for me to believe that they thought they were acting as poets. It may be objected that man is a whole and that he is not to be divided up into a politician and a poet. I agree, and I will even add that I am more at ease for knowing that there are authors who make poetry a product of automatism and politics a conscious and reflective effort. But after all it is a truism; it is both true and false. For if man is one and the same, if, in a way, his mark is found everywhere, that does not at all mean that the activities are identical; and if, in each case, they bring the whole mind into question, one need not conclude that they do so in the same way, nor that the success of one justifies the failures of the other. Besides, does one think that one would be flattering the surrealists by telling them that they have been carrying on political activity as poets?
Still, it is reasonable for a writer who wants to mark the unity of his life and his work to show by a theory the community of aims of his poetry and his practice. But the fact is that this theory can itself only belong to prose. There is a surrealist prose, and that is the only thing I was considering in
? Notes to Pages 164-174 \ 345
the pages that are under attack. But surrealism is hard to pin down; it is Proteus. Sometimes it presents itself as completely involved in reality, struggle, and life; and if you call it to account, it starts screaming that it's pure poetry and that you're murdering it, and that you don't know what poetry is all about. This is shown rather clearly in the following anecdote which everyone knows but which is pregnant with meaning: Aragon had written a poem which rightly appeared as a provocation to murder; there was talk of legal prosecution; whereupon, the whole surrealist group solemnly asserted the irresponsibility of the poet; the products of autom- atism were not to be likened to concerted undertakings. However, to anyone who had some experience with automatic writing, it was apparent that Aragon's poem was of a quite different kind. Here was a man quivering with indignation, who, in clear and violent terms, called for the death of the oppressor; the oppressor was stirred to action, and all at once he found before him nothing more than a poet who woke up and rubbed his eyes and was amazed that he was being blamed for his dreams. This is what has just happened again: I attempted a critical examination of the totality of the fact 'surrealism' as a commitment in the world, in so far as surrealists were attempting, by means ofprose, to make its meanings clear. I was answered that I am harming poets and that I misunderstand their contribution' to the inner life. But really, they didn't give a rap about the inner life; they wanted to shatter it, to break down the walls between subjective and objective, and to wage the Revolution on the side of the
proletariat.
To conclude: surrealism is entering a period of withdrawal; it is breaking with Marxism and the C. P. It wants to demolish the Christian-Thomist edifice stone by stone. Very well, but I should like to know what public it expects to reach. In other words, in what souls it expects to ruin western civilization. It has said over and over again that it could not affect the workers directly and that they were not yet accessible to its action. The facts show that they are right: how many workers visited the 1947 Exhibition? On the other hand, how many bourgeois? Thus, its purpose can only be negative: to destroy the last remnants of the Christian myths in the minds of the bourgeois who form their public. That was what I wanted to show.
26. Which has particularly characterized them for the last hundred years because of the misunderstanding which has separated them from the public and has obliged them to decide upon the marks of their talent themselves.
27. Pre? vost declared, more than once, his sympathy for Epicureanism as revised and corrected by Alain.
28. If I did not speak of Malraux or Saint-Exupe? ry earlier, it is because they belong to our generation. They were writing before we were and are doubtless a little older than we. But whereas we needed the urgency and the physical reality of a conflict in order to discover ourselves, Malraux had the immense merit of recognizing as early as his first work that we were at war and of producing a war literature when the surrealists and even Drieu were devoting themselves to a literature of peace. As to Saint-Exupe? ry, against the subjectivism and the quietism of our predecessors he was able
? 346 I Notes to Pages 174-187
to sketch the chief features of a literature of work and tool. I shall show later that he is the precursor of a literature of construction which tends to replace the literature of consumption. War and construction, heroism and work, doing, having and being--it will be seen, at the end of this chapter, that these are the chief literary and philosophical themes of today. Consequently, when I say we, I believe that I can speak of them too.
29. What are Camus, Malraux, Koestler, etc. now producing if not a literature of extreme situations? Their characters are at the height of power or in prison cells, on the eve of death or of being tortured or of killing. Wars, coups d'e? tat, revolutionary action, bombardments, massacres. There you have their everday life. On every page, in every line, it is always the whole man who is in question.
30. Of course, some minds are richer than others, more intuitive, or better qualified for analysis or synthesis. Some of them are even prophetic and some are in a better position to foresee because they hold certain cards in their hand or because they discern a broader horizon. But these differences are a posteriori and the evaluation of the present and the near future remains conjectural. For us too the event appears only through subjectivities. But its transcendence comes from the fact that it exceeds them all because it extends through them and reveals to each person a different aspect of itself and of himself.
Thus, our technical problem is to find an orchestration of conscious- nesses which may permit us to render the multi-dimensionality of the event. Moreover, in giving up the fiction of the omniscient narrator, we have assumed the obligation of suppressing the intermediaries between the reader and the subjectivities--the viewpoints of our characters. It is a matter of having him enter into their minds as into a windmill. He must even coincide successively with each one of them. We have learned from
Joyce to look for a second kind of realism, the raw realism of subjectivity without mediation or distance. Which leads us to profess a third realism, that of temporality. Indeed, if without mediation we plunge the reader into a consciousness, if we refuse him all means of surveying the whole, then the time of this consciousness must be imposed upon him without abridge- ment. If I pack six months into a single page, the reader jumps out of the book.
This last aspect raises difficulties that none of us has resolved and which are perhaps partially insoluble, for it is neither possible nor desirable to limit all novels to the story of a single day. Even if one should resign oneself to that, the feet would remain that devoting a book to twenty-four hours rather than to one, or to an hour rather than to a minute, implies the intervention of the author and a transcendent choice. It will then be necessary to mask this choice by purely aesthetic procedures, to practise sleight of hand, and, as always in art, to lie in order to be true.
31. From this viewpoint, absolute objectivity, that is, the story in the third person which presents characters solely by their conduct and words without explanation or incursion into their inner life, while preserving strict chronological order, is rigorously equivalent to absolute subjectivity. Logically, to be sure, it might be claimed that there is at least a witnessing consciousness, that of the reader. But the fact is that the reader forgets to
? Notes to Pages 187-216 \ 347
see himself while he looks and the story retains for him the innocence of a virgin forest whose trees grow far from sight.
32. I sometimes wonder whether the Germans, who had at their disposal a hundred means of knowing the names of the members of the National Writers' Committee, did not spare us. We were pure consumers for them too. Here the process is inverted. The diffusion of our newspapers was highly limited. It would have been more inexpedient in regard to the supposed politics of collaboration to arrest Eluard or Mauriac than dangerous to let them whisper in freedom. The Gestapo doubtless preferred to concentrate its efforts on the underground forces and the members of the Maquis whose acts of real destruction troubled it more than our abstract negativity. Doubtless, they arrested and shot Jacques Decour. But at the time Decour was not yet very well known.
33. See particularly Wind, Sand and Stars.
34. Like Hemingway, for example, in For Whom the Bell Tolls.
35. But don't let us exaggerate. In gross, the situation of the writer has
improved. But, as will be seen, chiefly by extra-literary means (radio, cinema, journalism) which were not available formerly. He who can't or won't have recourse to these means must practise a second profession or have a tough time of it. 'It is extremely rare for me to have coffee to drink and enough cigarettes,' writes Julien Blanc ('Grievances of a Writer', Combat, April 27, 1947). 'Tomorrow I won't put any butter on my bread, and the chemist's price for the phosphorous which I lack is preposterous . . . since 1943 I have undergone five serious operations. Very shortly I am going to have a sixth, a very serious one. Being a writer, I have no social security. I have a wife and child. The state remembers me only to ask for excessive taxes on my trifling royalties. . . . It is going to be necessary for me to take steps to reduce my hospital expenses. . . . And the Society of Men of Letters and the Authors' Fund? The first will back me up; the second, having given me a gift last month of four thousand francs . . . Let's forget it. '
36. Aside, of course, from Catholic 'writers'. As for the so-called Communist 'writers', I speak about them later on.
37. I admit without difficulty the Marxist description of 'existentialist' anguish as a historical and class phenomenon. Existentialism, in its contemporary form, appears with the decomposition of the bourgeoisie, and its origin is bourgeois. But that this decomposition can disclose certain aspects of the human condition and make possible certain metaphysical intuitions does not mean that these intuitions and this disclosure are illusions of the bourgeois consciousness or mythical representations of the situation.
38. The worker has joined the C. P. under the pressure of circumstances. He is less suspect because his possible choices are more limited.
39. In Communist literature in France, I find only one genuine writer. Nor is it accidental that he writes about mimosa and beach pebbles.
40. They have caused Hugo to be read. More recently they have spread the work of Giono in certain areas.
41. I except the abortive attempt of Pre? vost and his contemporaries. I have spoken of them above.
? 348 I Notes to Pages 220-330
42. This contradiction is met with everywhere, particularly in commu- nist friendship. Nizan had many friends. Where are they? Those he was most fond of belonged to the C. P. These are the ones who revile him today. The only ones who remain faithful are not in the Party. The reason is that the Stalinist community with its excommunicative power is present in love and friendship which are person-to-person relationships.
43. And the idea of freedom? The fantastic criticisms that have been made of existentialism prove that people no longer mean anything by it. Is it their fault? Here is the P . R. L. , antidemocratic and antisocialist, recruiting former fascists, former collaborators and former P. S. F. 's. Yet it calls itself the Republican Party of Freedom {Parti re? publicain de la liberte? ). If you are against it, it means that you are therefore against freedom. But the communists also refer to freedom; only it is Hegelian freedom, which is an assumption of necessity. And the surrealists too, who are determinists. A young simpleton said to me one day, 'After The Flies, in which you spoke splendidly about the freedom of Orestes, you betrayed yourself and you betrayed us by writing Being and Nothingness and by failing to set up a deterministic and materialistic humanism. ' I understand what he meant: that materialism delivers man from his myths. It is a liberation, I agree, but in order the better to enslave him. However, from 1760 on, some American colonists defended slavery in the name of freedom: if the colonist, citizen, and pioneer wants to buy a negro, isn't he free? And having bought him, isn't he free to use him? The argument has remained. In 1947 the proprietor of a public swimming pool refused to admit a Jewish captain, a war hero. The captain wrote letters of complaint to the newspapers. The
papers published his protest and concluded: 'What a wonderful country America is! The proprietor of the pool was free to refuse admittance to a Jew. But the Jew, a citizen of the United States, was free to protest in the press. And the press, which, as everybody knows, is free, mentions the incident without taking sides. Finally, everybody is free. ' The only trouble
is that the word freedom which covers these very different meanings--and a hundred others--is used without anyone's thinking that he ought to indicate the meaning he gives it in each case.
44. Because, like Mind, it is of the type of what I have elsewhere called 'detotalized totality'.
45. Camus's The Plague, which has just been published, seems to me a good example of a unifying movement which bases a plurality of critical and constructive themes on the organic unity of a single myth.
Black Orpheus
1. Ste? phane Mallarme?
, "Magie," in Oeuvres comple`tes (Paris: Ple? iade, 1945), p. 400.
2. Aime? Ce? saire, "Tam-Tam II," in Les Armes miraculeuses, 2nd e? d. (Paris: Gallimard, 1946), p. 69.
3. Ce? saire, "Et les chiens se taisaient," in Les Armes miraculeuses, p. 156.
? A Note on the Texts
"Qu'est-ce que la litte? rature? " was originally published in six installments in Les Temps modernes 17-22 (February-July
1947). It subsequently appeared in Situations II (Paris: Gallimard, 1948), along with "Pre? sentation des Temps modernes" and "La Nationalisation de la litte? rature," and was published separately by Gallimard in 1964. The translation used here, published by the Philosophical Library (New York) in 1949, was the first to appear in English and has been reproduced with a small number of corrections. The final section of the essay, "Ecrire pour son e? poque," was first published in Alexandria in the periodical Valeurs 7--8 (October 1946-January 1947), and was reprinted in the
June 1948 issue of Les Temps modernes. English translations appeared in late 1946 and early 1947 in several periodicals, including Virginia Quarterly Review 23 (Spring 1947).
"Pre? sentation des Temps modernes' was published in the inaugural issue of Les Temps modernes on October 1, 1945. It appeared for the first time in English as "The Case for Responsible Literature" in Horizon (London) 2 (May 1945), and in Partisan Review 12 (Summer 1945). The translation used here was commissioned especially for this volume.
"La Nationalisation de la litte? rature" appeared in the second issue of Les Temps modernes, on November 1, 1945. It is published here in English for the first time.
"Orphe? e Noir" appeared originally as the preface to an anthology of works by African and West Indian poets, Anthologie de la nouvelle poe? sie ne`gre et malgache de langue
franc? ais, edited by Leopold Se? dar-Senghor (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1948). Excerpts were also pub- lished in Les Temps modernes yi (October 1948) and Pre? sence africaine 6 (April 1949), and the whole was reprinted, with
? 350 I A Note on the Texts
a supplementary note, in Situations III (Paris: Gallimard, 1949). It first appeared in English in Pre? sence africaine
(1951). Its first American publication was in the Massachusetts Review 6, no. 1 (1965), and it is that text which has been reprinted here.
? Adorno, Theodor, 16-17, 18 Aesthetic joy, 39, 63-65, 219 Africa, 2 9 8 - 2 9 9
Alain (Emile Chartier), 165, 167,
172, 3451127; The Citizen versus the Powers That Be, 262
Alienation, 56, 72, 73, 134-137, 192
temporary, 166-168, 195-204, 214-215, 218-224, 253-254. See also Public; Reading
Augier, Emile, 108
Author: remuneration of, 8, 80--
130, 164, 249-250, 347n33; class origins of, 8, 93, 99-103,
141-145, 155-156, 187-188, 204, 223-224, 249-250; histo- ricity of, 9, 68-69, 70-80, 134-137, 175-178, 180, 182- 187, 251-255, 277-279; com- mitment of, 34-41, 46-47, 68-69, 77- 8o, 192-196, 215- 238, 243-245, 251-255, 265- 267, 286-287; function of, 38-39, 228-235, 255; relation of, to reader, 50-58, 60-63, 65-68, 70-75, 78; freedom of, 58, 60-69, 72> 77>> 92> IOO> 191-192, 195, 213-214, 222- 224; bad conscience of, 82,
135; in feudal society, 82-85; cooption of, 82-93; in 17th century, 85-93, 96-97; in
18th century, 93-103; and
the bourgeoisie, 96, 99-100, 103-109, 113-130, 223-224; pretensions of, to class indepen- dence, 97-103, 111-120, 155- 157, 249-250; in 19th
century, 103-130; and the pro- letariat, 109-113, 121-122, 130-132; situation of contem- porary, 132-140, 184-192, 195-196, 279-280, 287-288;
Alquire? , Ferdinand,
Anouilh, Jean, 197
Aragon, Louis (Louis Andrieux),
144, 284, 338n25; Aure? lien, 219
Aristotle, 254
Arland, Marcel, 151; L'Ordre,
150; Terres Etrange`res, 150 Aron, Raymond, 5
Art: formai, 6 2 ; realistic, 6 2 , 66y
67, 78, 119, 249. See also Lit- erature; Poetry; Poetry, black; Writing
Artistic creation, 25-28, 48-52. See also Author; Writing
Art object: as appeal to freedom, 16-17, 56-69; as absolute end, 55-56, 104, 191, 213, 221, 249; in bourgeois society, 1 0 5 - 107. Seealso Literature; Poetry;
Poetry, black; Writing Assouline, Pierre: L'Epuration des
intellectuels, 5n
Audience: historicity of, 15,
7 0 - 8 2 - 85; in 17th century, 85-93; in 18th century, 93-103; in 19th
75, 222; in feudal
century, 103-130, 250; con-
Index
3 3 8 ^ 5
society,
? 352 I Index
Author {continued)
American, 141, 148, 186, 194; contemporary British, 142; con- temporary Italian, 142; rallie? , 147, 169, 170-171; and Com- munist Party, 207--214; "impli- cation" of, 251; in contempo- rary criticism, 276-277; social- ization of, 280-281; situation
of black, 294-299, 306-307. See also Journalism; Literature; Poetry; Poetry, black; Writing
Aveline, Claude, 164
Baboeuf, Gracchus, 225
Bach, J. S. , 43
Balzac, Honore? de, 114, 252 Barbey d'Aurevilly, J. , 114, 125 Barbie, Klaus, 5n
Bariler, Etienne: Les Petits Cama- rades, 20
Barre? s, Maurice, 146, 147 Barthes, Roland: Mythologies, 16;
Writing Degree Zero, 16 Bataille, Georges, 173-174, 302,
330, 333^3, 338n25 Baudelaire, Charles, 80, 114,
115, 157; The Glass Maker, 117 Beaumarchais, Pierre, 91
Beauty: artistic, 39, 55-56, 187;
natural, 55-56, 59; in bour- geois society, 92, 117, 120-
121, 172, 221
Beauvoir, Simone de, 4, 5; The
Prime of Life, 4; L'Invite? e, 275 Beckett, Samuel, 17
Be? dier, Charles: La Chanson de
Roland, 279
Behan, Brendan: The Hostage, 219 Being, 48, 63, 187, 192, 193-
194
Being and Nothingness, 5, 14 Benda, Julien, 10, 70, 84; The
Treason of the Intellectuals, 9; The Great Betrayal, 6()n
Be? ranger, Pierre Jean, 284 Bergson, Henri, 23, 31, 156,
237, 316, 317, 320
Bernanos, 281
Bernard, Claude, 277
Beucler, Andre? , 164
Between Existentialism and Marxism,
16
Bevin, Ernest, 236
Billy, Andre? , 144
"Black," 304-306
"Black Orpheus," 7, 12-13, 15,
291-330
Blanc, Julien, 347n35
Bloch, Marc, 182
Bloch-Michel, Jean, 182
Blum, Leon, 146
Boccaccio, 124 Boileau-Despre? aux, Nicolas, 172 Bonaparte, Napoleon, 285,
335ni3
Bonnefoy, Yves, 338n25 Bordeaux, Henri, 108, 122, 281 Boschetti, Anna: The Intellectual
Enterprise, 7, 18
Bost, Jacques-Laurant, 4
Bost, Pierre, 275; L'Imbe? cile, 164,
167
Bourgeoisie: guilty conscience of,
81, 199-204; as rising class, 94-96, 100; as privileged class, 103-130, 146-148; utilitarian- ism of, 104-107, 108, 147; petty, 166--169; class ignorance of, 255-260
Bourget, Paul, 108, 280
Breton, Andre? , 13, 33, 120, 143,
144, 154, 156, 159-161, 172, 329, 338n25; The Communicat- ing Vessels, 338n25; Nad]a, 338n2 5; Le Point du Jour, 338n25
Brierre, Jean, 322
Brod, Max, 237
Brunschvig, Le? on, 167, 177
? Burget, Charles, 122 Byron, Lord, 145
Caillois, Roger, 130
Camus, Albert, 5, 346029, 348043 Capitalism. See Bourgeoisie; Class;
Marxism; Proletariat Carnaedes, 155
Carrouges, Michel, 319 Cartier-Bresson, Henri, 19-20 Caterus, 254
Ce? line, Louis-Ferdinand, 91, 244 Cendrars, Blaise: Rhum, 101 Cervantes, Miguel de, 115, 124 Ce? saire, Aime? , 306, 308-309,
310, 311-313, 314. 315, 3i6,
telleau), 281
Chateaubriand, Franc? ois de, 44 China, 175, 176
Chips Are Down, The, 15 Christianity, 82-85, 87, 94, 98,
323
Churchill, Winston, 236
Clark, Terry Nichols, Prophets and
Patrons, i^n
Class: proletariat, 73, 107, 109- 113, 121-122, 130-132, 166, 199-201, 204-207, 257, 263, 295-299, 329; noble, 87, 95, 101 ; bourgeoisie, 94--96, 100, 103-130, 147, 166-169, 199- 204, 255-259; and poetry,
294-295, 303, 329; and race,
295-299, 326-330 Claudel, Paul, 127, 146, 151,
220, 280
Cocteau, Jean, 144, 151, 174,
197
Cohen-Solal, Annie: Sartre: A Life,
5"
Index I 3^3 Colonialism, 12, 295-297, 3 0 1 -
304, 323
Combes, Andre? , 157
Comite? National des Ecrivains, 5,
8
Commitment, 15-18, 34-41, 69,
77-80; in writing, 14-16, 18-19, 34-41, 66-69, 251- 255, 265-267; author's, 34-
41, 46-47, 68-69, 77-8o, 192-196, 215-238, 243-245, 251-255, 265-267, 286-287.
See also Litte? rature engage? e Communist Party, 4, 6, 7, 203,
205-214, 220, 221, 231, 236, 240, 283, 338n25; and surrealism, 157-160, 174; conservatism of, 205, 207- 212, 214; opportunism of, 212-213
Comte, Auguste, 157, 177, 264 Condorcet, Jean-Antoine, 101 Conta^t, Michel: The Writings of
Sartre, 5n
Corneille, Pierre, 85, 108 Courier, P. L. , 91
Criticism, 82, 224-228, 229,
233--235, 237; critiqued, 41 -- 45; contemporary, 272-288; as prediction, 274-287; histori- cized, 279-280, 287-288
Critique of Dialectical Reason, 14 Croisset, Francis de, 251 Culture industry, 18
Dali, Salvador, 153
Damas, Le? on, 301, 322
Dante Alighieri, 115
Daudet, Le? on, 127-128, 211 Davies, Howard, I4n
Debray, Re? gis, 18, 19; Teachers,
Writers, Celebrities, 6 Decour, Jacques, 284, 347n32 Denoe`l, Robert, 8n De? roule`de, Paul, 284
318-319, 320, 322,
Ce? zanne, Paul, 62
Chack, Paul, 203
Chamson, Andre? , 164, 167, 172 Chardonne, Jacques (Jacques Bou-
32 4-32 5
? 354 I Index
Derrida, Jacques, 11
Descartes, Rene? , 60, 85, 254-
255, 277
Descombes, Vincent: Modern
French Philosophy, 15 Desmoulins, Camille, 225 Desnos, Robert, 161, 338n25 Dho^tel, Andre? , 174
Diderot, Denis, 97, 101, 159, 188
Diop, Birago, 301, 308
Diop, David, 306
Dirty Hands, The, 15
Disclosure: in poetry, 11-12; in
prose, 11-12, 16, 19, 37-38,
65-67; in reading, 52
Dos Passos, John, 186
Dreyfus, Alfred, 208
Drieu la Rochelle, Pierre-Euge`ne,
6, 8n, 68, 161, 163, 244,
281, 345n28
Duchamp, Marcel, 153, 306,
338n25
Duhamel, Georges, 146; The Pos-
session of the World, 192 Dullin, Charles, 272 Durkheim, Emile, 167, 220
Ecole Normale Supe? rieure, 4, 5
Education europe? enne, L', 277 Einstein, Albert, 280
Eluard, Paul (Paul-Euge`ne Grin-
del), 274, 347*132 Empiricism, 236 Engels, Friedrich, 212 Epictetus, 156 Epicureanism, 168 Eros, 319
Esprit, 323
Estaunie? , Edouard, 148 Estenne, Charles, 333n2 Ethics. See Morality Etiemble, Rene? , 76, 335n9 Eurydice, 300
Evil, 178-181, 185
Existentialism: and Marxism, 5, 7, 274, 347n37
Exoticism, 162
Faulkner, William, 186 Feelings, 34, 56, 57-58, 259-
260, 314
Fe? nelon, Franc? ois de, 93, 272 Fernandez, Ramon, 41, 281 Flaubert, Gustave, 8 - 9 , 12, 16,
112, 113-114, 117, 118, 151,
186, 250, 251, 252, 335n l 4 Fontanin, Daniel de, 280
Forces Franc? aises de l'Inte? rieur,
254
Form, literary, 39--40
Foster, Hal: The Anti-Aesthetic, 7 Fouchet, Max-Pol, 3 3 8 ^ 5 Fournier, Alain, 150, 174; Le
Grand Meaulnes, 53
France, Anatole, 121
Francis, Claude: Simone de Beau-
voir, 8n
Fraternity, bourgeois, 256-258 Freedom, 70, 287; writing an
appeal to, 16-17, 54-58, 60- 69, 103; and alienation, 56, 72, 73, 134-137, 192; author's, 58, 60-69, 72, 77, 92, 100, 191-192, 195, 2 1 3 - 214, 222-224; a n d beauty, 59-60, 63-65; historicized,
72, 219, 221-223, 259-265, 276-279; meaningless, 348n43
Frehtman, Bernard, 4n
French Academy, 87
Freud, Sigmund, 23, 280 Fromentin, Euge`ne: Dominique,
125
Gallimard, 8n
Garaudy, Roger, 208
Gard, Roger Martin du, 73 Gassendi, Pierre, 254 Gaullism, 229
? Gautier, The? ophile, 57, 117 Genet, Jean, 16, 57
German occupation of France, 12,
71-72, 73-75, 177-189, 274,
282
Gide, Andre? , 6, 46, 117, 119-
120, 145, 151, 172, 198, 220,
250; Fruits of the Earth, 73,
192, 219, 280
Giono, Jean, 347n40 Giraudoux, Jean, 40, 146, 174,
282; Bella, 271; Eglantine, 271 Gobineau, Arthur, 44
Goncourt, Edmond de, 9, 117,
250, 252
Gontier, Fernande: Simone de Beau- voir, 8n
Good will; abstract, 218-219, 221; historicized, 219, 2 2 1 - 223
Gracq, Julien (Louis Poirier): Au Cha^teau d'Argol, 273; Un Beau Te? ne? breaux, 273
Grasset, Bernard, 8n
Great Britain, 230, 236, 284,
285
Green, Julien, 174
Greuze, Jean-Baptiste: "Prodigal
Son," 28
Groult, Marius, 174
Gyp (Marie-Antoinette de Ri-
Index | 355
Historicity: author's, 9-10, 6 8 - 69, 70-80, 134-137, 175- 178, 180, 182-187, 251-255; and freedom, 72, 219, 221- 223, 259-265, 276-279; con- temporary discovery of, 174-- 178, 182-188, 259-262, 277- 279; and good will, 219, 2 2 1 - 223; and race, 325
Hitler, Adolf, 34, 75, 261, 277 Hittites, 252
Hollier, Denis: The Politics of
Prose,3
Homosexuality, 259-260
Hugo, Victor, 109-110, 347n40 Humanism, 167
Humanite? , L', 207, 219
Human nature, 107
Human project, 64-65
Ideology: religious, 86-87, 89, 94, 111; revolutionary, 100
In Camera, 198 "Introduction to Les Temps
modernes," 8-9, 10, 13, 249-
267
Iron in the Soul, 15
Jaloux, Edmond, 108 Jameson, Fredric: Marxism and
Form, 5
Janet, P . , 128
Janke? le? vitch, Vladimir, 5n Jaspers, Karl, 327, 338n25 Jeremiah, 80
Jouhandeau, Marcel, 3 3 8 ^ 5 Jourdan, P. , 34
Journalism, 10, 13, 272-276 Joyce, James, 346n30
Juare? s, Jean, 146
Kafka, Franz, 17, 53, 186, 209,
237
Kant, Immanuel, 54, 55-56,
218-219, 221, 235
quetti de Mirabeau),
337m9
Hachette, Louis, 251
Hamp, Pierre, 191
Hayman, Ronald: Sartre: A Biogra-
phy, 5n
Hegel, G. W. F. , 29, 126, 252,
280, 338n25
Heidegger, Martin, 14-15, 49,
194, 202, 279, 314
Heine, Heinrich, 151 Hemingway, Ernest, 186, 194 Hermant, Abel, 281, 337m9 Hesiod, 191
? 3$6 I Index
Koestler, Arthur, 74, 3461129; Spanish Testament, 267
Ku Klux Klan, 158
La Bruye`re, Jean de, 87, 93, 3361115
Lalande, Andre? , 227
Laleau, Rene? , 301, 317
Lalou, Rene? , 275
Lamarck, Chevalier de, 277 Language: de? signa^tive function
29, 35; pragmatic, 295; and oppression, 300-307. See also Poetry; Poetry, black; Prose; Writing
Lanson, Gustave, 279
Larbaud, Vale? ry, 337m9
La Rochefoucauld, Franc? ois de,
90, 336ni5
Larousse, Pierre, 225 Lautre? amont, comte de, 306 Lavedan, Pierre, 3 3 7 m 9 League for Human Rights, 167 Leconte de Lisle,
Charles-Marie-Rene? , 280 Le? gitime De? fense, 309-310 Leibniz, Gottfried, 178
Leiris, Michel, 5, ion, i4n, 32 Lenin, V. I. , 212
of,
of production, 80, 104-110, 118, 146-147, 149, 191, 195, 249; of negativity, 82, 98,
131, 151-152, 157-158, 224- 228, 229, 233-235, 237;
abstract, 98, 131, 134; as festival, 130, 149; alienated, 134-137; first generation of contemporary, 1 4 5 - 1 5 1 ; second generation of contemporary,
1 5 1 - 1 6 9 ; third generation of contemporary, 169-238; total,
195; use of mass media by, 198-199, 216-218; as
propaganda, 213, 285-286; of construction, 224, 228-231, 233; of praxis, 224-231, 233- 235, 237, 239-245; descrip- tion in, 233-234; nationali- zation of, 2 8 5 - 2 8 8 . See also Poetry; Poetry, black; Prose; Writing
Litte? rature engage? e, 4, 7, 10, 1 3 - 15, 16-18, 19; revision of,
1 2 - 1 3 ; Adorno's critique of, 16-18. See also Author; Com-
mitment; Literature; Poetry,
black; Writing
Littre? , Emile, 225, 227 Lottman, Albert: The Purge, 5n L'Ouverture, Toussaint, 324 Love: bourgeois, 148-149; in
Proust, 2 5 8 - 2 5 9 ; dialectical, 259-260; ne? gritude as, 328- 329
Lucretius, 320 Lyce? e Pasteur, 4
Maistre, Joseph de, 208 Mallarme? , Ste? phane, 16, 118,
143, 251, 301, 303, 308 Malraux, Andre? , 5, 8n, ion, 42,
46, 196, 244-245, 345^38,
346n29
Mankind: bourgeois conception of,
Le? ro, Etienne, 309-310
Le Sage, Alain: The Devil on Two
Sticks, 336m 5
Lessing, Gotthold, 112
Lettres Franc? aises, Les, i o n Le? vi-Strauss, Claude, i 4 n Liberation, the, 13, 14, 72, 101,
261, 262
Literary inflation, 2 8 0 - 2 8 1 Literature: alibi, 11, 150;
representation in, 16; and other art forms, 25-27; as message, 41, 171-172; of consumption, 80, 87-91, 96-97, 116, 149,
195, 249; gratuitousness of, 80, 97, 104, 146, 191, 192;
? 255--259; Sartre's conception
of, 259-263
Marat, Jean Paul, 225
Marcel, Gabriel, 7, 138 Marianne, 167
Maritain, Jacques, 178, 282 Martin, Henri, 15
Marx, Karl, 5, 112, 196, 212;
The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bona- parte, 10; Theses on Feuerbach,
14; Capital, 2 0 9
Marxism, 7, n o , 156, 178; and
Existentialism, 5, 347n37; and literature, 132, 198-199, 216- 218; scientistic, 212; inadequa- cies of, 263-264; and race, 297-298, 329-330; and Surre- alism, 338n25. Seealso Com- munist Party; Socialist Party
Maupassant, Guy de, 117, 125- 127, 280; Le Horla, 336ni8
Mauriac, Franc? ois, 144, 146, 171, 186, 3381125, 3471132
Index I 337 Montherlant, Henry de, 281
Morality, 167, 221-222, 245 Morand, Paul, 161; Gallant Eu-
rope, 161-163; Nothing But the
Earth, 161-163
Morgan, Miche`le, 199
Mosca, Gaetano, 38
Mouloudji, Marcel: Enrico, 275,
276
Music, 25, 27
National Front, 189 "Nationalization of Literature,
The," 7, 9, 10, 271-288 Nature, 315-316, 320
Nausea, 5, 275
Nazism, 74-75, 175, 229, 261 Negativity, literature of, 82, 98,
131, 151-152, 157-158, 224-
228, 229, 233-235, 237 Ne? gritude, 297-330; revolution-
ary potential of, 297-298, 303, 307, 311, 329-330; impris- oned, 2 9 9 - 3 0 0 ; and language, 301-307; objective vs. subjec- tive, 307; denned, 314; an- drogyny of, 318-319; a Passion, 319-320; status of,
3 2 5 - 3 3 0 ; dialectic of, 3 2 9 -
330
Negro. See Ne? gritude
Neo-Surrealism, 274
Nerval, Ge? rard de, 4 6 , 145; Syl-
vie, 46
Newton, Isaac, 277
Nicole, Pierre, 90
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 116, 136,
320
Niger, Paul, 320
Nizan, Paul, 283-284, 348n42;
Le Soir, 210; The Conspiracy,
220; The Trojan Horse, 220 Nouvelle Revue Franc? aise, 6, 8n Novel, 65-66, 124-129, 272-
Maurois, Andre? , 146, Maurras, Charles, 208,
281
338nn23,24
Meaning: in prose, 10, 28-29,
30, 31-32, 34, 38, 52, 267; in poetry, 28--33; representation vs. expression of, 30-31, 34
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice, 4, 5, 18, 338n25; The Phenomenology
of Perception, 25
Mersenne, Marin, 254 Michelet, Jules, 109
Miller, Henry, 144
Minotaure, Le, 311
Miro, Joan, 176
Miserabilism, 274
Molotov, V. M. , 210
Monnier, Adrienne, 151 Montaigne, Michel de, 44, 46,
161
Montesquieu, The Persian Letters,
243
274, 336m6; rejection of tradi-
? 3$8 I Index Novel (continued)
tional, 182-183, 185. See also Literature; Prose; Writing
Occupation. See German occupa- tion of France
Oeuvre, L ', 167
Ohnet, George, 108
Ollivier, Albert, 5
Oppression: and writing, 12, 72,
76-77, 300-307; and inner
censorship, 3 3 8 ^ 5
Order, 125-127, 149, 150, 273-
274
Orpheus, 300 Other, the, 79, 92
Pailleron, Edouard, 108
Painting, 26, 27-30, 62-63, 274 Parain, Brice, 38, 127, 227, 228,
295
Pascal, Blaise, 46, 85, 108, 272,
3 2 2 ; Provincial Letters, 4 0 Pastoureau, Henri, 338n2 5 Paulhan, Jean, 5, 135, 250; The
Flowers of Tarbes, 1o-11 Pe? guy, Charles, 146 Peret, Benjamin, 161 Pe? tain, Henri, 75, 203 Philo, 155
Philoctetes, 328 Philosophy, 14-15 Phrase-object, 32
Picasso, Pablo, 28, 31, 32 Plato, 42
"Plea for Intellectuals, A," 18-19 Pluto, 300
Poe, Edgar Allan, 114
Poetry, 28-35, J43> i73> 250,
293-295> 308, 313, 319; non- instrumental language of, 11-- 12, 28-34, 333n4, 335n5; and commitment, 12-13, 34-35, 258, 333n4; and subjectivity, 295, 297-298. See also Poetry, black
Poetry, black, 2 9 7 - 3 3 0 ; revolu- tionary potential of, 297-298, 303, 311, 329-330; subjectiv- ity in, 297-298, 303, 329- 330; mystical geography in, 298-299; theme of exile in, 298-299; theme of slavery in, 298-299, 321-323; Orphic, 300; tam-tam, 307-308; epic, 308, 324; Nature in, 315-316, 320; sexual imagery in, 316- 319; Passion imagery in, 3 1 9 - 321; Dionysian, 320-324; anti-Christian, 3 2 2 - 3 2 3
Poincare? , Henri, 273
Politzer, Georges, 156, 212 Pouillon, Jean, 4
Praxis, 12, 194--196, 204, 295;
literature of, 14-16, 19, 233-
234
Pre? vost, Marcel, 108, 164, 167,
193, 283, 345n26, 347n4i Proletariat, 73, 107, 121-122,
130-132, 166, 199-201, 211, 257, 265, 295-296, 329; emergence of, 109-111; culture- lessness of, 112-113; and Sur- realism, 158--160; as revolutionary public, 204-207, 263
Propaganda, 226-228, 232; liter- ature as, 213, 227, 258, 2 8 5 -
286; of fraternity,
2 5 5 - 2 5 8 ;
Nazi, 261-262
Prose: instrumentality of, 11 --12,
28, 30, 31-32, 34-40, 46-47; remnants of poetry in, 335n5. See also Literature; Writing
Proudhon, P. -J. , 5, 112, 196 Proust, Marcel, 8-9, 12, 51,
146, 151, 258-259, 280 Psychoanalysis, 116, 152, 165-
166, 338n25
Public, reading: real, 82, 85, 93,
95, 136; virtual, 82, 88, 112, 137, 204, 209, 215-216; in
? feudal society, 82-85; in 17th century, 85-93; m J8th cen- tury, 93-103; in 19th century,
103-130, 250; ideal, 136; con- temporary, 166-168, 195-204, 214-224, 253-254; disappear- ance of, 195-204, 214-215; revolutionary, 204; formation of new, 218-224
Queneau, Raymond, ion, 144
Rabe? arivelo, Jean-Joseph, 301, 317, 31(R)
Rabelais, Franc? ois, 115 Rabemananjara, Jacques, 308 Race: and oppression, 13, 2 9 7 -
330; and Marxism, 297-298, 329-330; and historicity, 325; and class, 326-330. See also Ne? gritude
Racine, Jean-Baptiste, 40, 99, 115, 143, 272; Phe`dre, 133
Radical Socialism, 167-169, 170-- 171, 262-263
Rallie? author, 147, 169, 170- 171, 172
Rationalism, 294
Reader. See Audience; Public Reading: relation of, to author,
50-58, 60-63, 65-68, 70-75, 78; creativity of, 52-54, 64; and responsibility, 66-67; c o n _ textuality of, 7 0 - 7 2 , 7 8 - 8 0 ; and oppression, 72, 76-77. Seealso Audience; Author; Pub- lic
Realism: artistic, 62, 66, 67, 78, 119, 249; metaphysical, 124;
political, 178; temporal,
3 4 6 n 3 0
Reed, John: Ten Days That Shook
the World, 267
Reformation, 102
Relativism: moral, 177; historical,
Index I 359 182-184, 187; literary, 254-
255
Renan, Ernest, n o
Renard, Jules, 117 Resistance, French, 188-189,
275, 277, 282, 283 Revolution, socialist, 7 - 8 , 2 0 5 -
207, 226, 253, 261
Re? volution Surre? aliste, La, 3 1 0 - 3 1 1 Ribbentrop, Joachim von, 210 Ribot, The? odule, 280
Rigaut, Jacques, 158
Rimbaud, Arthur, 33, 41, 44,
145, 149, 154, 285 Rimbaud, Isabelle, 41 Rolland, Romain, 282; Jean
Christophe, 145
Romains, Jules, 146, 281 Romanticism, 86, 109 Rougemont, Denis de, 259 Roumain, Jacques, 327
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 40, 101,
138, 263; Letter on the Theatre, 44; The Spirit of the Laws, 44; Social Contract, 44, 51; Emile, 243
Rudel, Geoffrey, 274
Rybalka, Michel: The Writings of
Sartre, 5n
Sachs, Maurice, 121
Sade, Marquis de, 44
Said, Edward, 7 Saint-Exupe? ry, Antoine, 182,
194, 316, 345n28
Saint Genet, 9, 13, 15
Salacrou, Armand, 197
Sand, George, 109
Satire, 90-91
Schalk, David L. , The Spectrum of
Political Engagement, 4 n Schlumberger, Jean, 244;
Saint-Saturnin, 2-1^--2-f^
Schnitzler, Arthur, 3 3 7 m 9 Schopenhauer, Arthur, 193
? 360 I Index
Seignobos, Charles, 254 Senghor, Leopold, 12, 15, 310,
314, 326
Shakespeare, William, 42 Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 145 Significance, 25-26, 27, 28. See
also Meaning
Signs, 25-26, 29, 30, 34-38. See
also Language; Meaning Situation, 36-37, 72, 79, 260-
261, 264-265; author's, 132- 140, 184-192, 195-196, 279- 280, 287-288; in travel
writing, 162-163; contempo- rary discovery of, 175-178; and oppression, 188-189; and love, 259-260. See also Historicity
Socialism, 5; bourgeois, n o ; and race, 296-297. See also Bour- geoisie; Class; Proletariat
Socialist Party, 158
Society: bourgeois conception of,
255-259; Sartre's conception
of, 259-263
Soday, Paul, 198
Solidarity, 76, 167, 258, 287 Soviet Union, 158, 287; and
United States, 205, 234, 235- 236; internal problems of, 205-- 207; violence in, 230, 231
Spinoza, Baruch, 132
Sprinker, Michael: Imaginary Rela- tions, 14
Steinbeck, John, 141
Stendhal, 45, 114; Armance, 53 Stoicism, 168
Subjectivity, 124-125, 151-152,
295, 346n3o; black, 297-330 Surrealism, 120, 151-164, 176,
250, 273, 279, 303, 306, 311, 312-313; and the Communist Party, 7, 157-160, 174; failure of, 12, 13, 120-121, 154- 157, 312-313, 338n25; subjec- tivity and objectivity in, 152-
154; the marvellous in, 155; violence in, 159, 163-164, 206; gamma point in, 161,
163; language in, 228; and Marxism, 338n2 5; and psycho- analysis, 338n25
Switzerland, 285
Synthetic anthropology, 13-15,
261
Talent, 105, 275, 294
Tam-tam poetry, 307-308
Temp modernes, Les, 3, 6-7, 12,
18, 28
Terre des hommes, 6
Terrorism, literary, i o - n , 135,
271
The? rive, Andre? , 281
Thibaudet, Albert, 151 Tintoretto, 27
Tito (Josip Broz), 144
Torncelli, Evangelista, 182, 236 Torture, 178-181
Truth, 94, 98, 306
Turenne, Henri de La Tour d'Au-
vergne, vicomte de, 285
United States of America, 206, 228, 230; and Soviet Union, 205, 234, 235-236; and Euro- pean literature, 274, 284, 285
Utilitarianism: bankruptcy of,
104, 147-148, 231; surreal- ism's rejection of, 151 ; in Com-
munist Party, 213
Vache? , Jacques, 158
Vale? ry, Paul, 35, 42, 285, 335^5 Valle`s, J. , 91
Van Gogh, Vincent, 63 Vauvenargues, Luc de Clapiers,
108
Vercors (Jean-Marcel Bruller),
144; The Silence of the Sea, 7 3 - 75, 137
? Verlaine, Paul, 143
Vermeer, Jan, 62
Violence, 192, 232, 338n23; and
language, 229; in Soviet Union,
230, 231. Seealso Surrealism Voltaire, 97, 159, 188, 224, 252
West, Nathanael: Miss Lonely- hearts, 338n2i
"What Is Literature? " 7, 11-12, 13>> ! 9> 23-246
"White," 304-305 Winckelmann, Johann, 112 Words, The, 18
Wright, Richard, 78-80, 101,
J37> I 9 5 - I 9 6 , 222; Black Boy, 79
Writing: critical function of, 7 - 8 , 10, 15, 16-18, 19, 81, 101- 103, 155-156, 228-235, 251- 255, 265--267; revolutionary
potential of, 7-8, 14, 18-20, 274> 297-298, 303, 311, 329- 330; remuneration of, 8, 8 0 - 130, 249-250, 347^35; historicity of, 9-10, 70-80, 132-140, 175-178, 182-187, 239-245, 251--255; prose vs. poetry, 11-13, 28-34; and commitment, 14-16, 18-19, 34-41, 66-69, 251-255, 265- 267; audience of, 15-16, 70-
Index I 361
80, 82-93, 103-130, 195- 204, 214-215, 218-224, 250, 253-254; as appeal to freedom, 16-17, 54-58, 60-69, I O 3 ; reference in, 25, 30-31, 34- 35; significance in, 27, 28; dia- lectic of reading in, 50-54, 58, 62, 64; and oppression, 72, 76-77, 300-307; and libera- tion, 72, 101 ; in feudal society, 82-85; in 17th century, 8 5 - 93; in 18th century, 93-103;
pretensions of independence in, 97-103, 111-120, 155-157>> 249-250; in 19th century,
103-130; in classless society, 137-140; first generation of
contemporary, 1 4 5 - 1 5 1 ; second generation of contemporary,
151-169; automatic, 153, 158, 173, 309; travel, 161-163; third generation of contempo-
rary, 169-238.
