NYT: To Honor Sartre, France Buffs a Pedestal the Writer Rejected

[DeepModem Mom]

To Honor Sartre, France Buffs a Pedestal the Writer Rejected
By ALAN RIDING

Published: March 16, 2005


PARIS, March 10 - A century after his birth, 25 years after his death, Jean-Paul Sartre has not been forgotten, but he is also not remembered altogether fondly. For many American conservatives suspicious of French thinkers, he still typifies the Left Bank intellectual spouting obscure philosophy amid clouds of smoke. Even for many French people, his embrace of Communist causes placed him on the wrong side of history.

That said, anniversaries are hard to resist. So, as the final resting place of great French literature, the French National Library is celebrating the occasion with a major exhibition on Sartre the philosopher, novelist, playwright and "intellectuel engagé." And in doing so, it is nudging him toward a place alongside Voltaire, Hugo and Zola in the pantheon of France's politico-intellectual heroes....

***

....there is no underestimating Sartre's influence over French intellectual and political life for three decades after World War II. Indeed, many who grew up in his shadow, as supporters or opponents, are now among the politicians, intellectuals and journalists who shape public opinion here. And in that sense, traces of Sartrism still flow through the country's veins.

What Sartrism actually means, though, is hard to pin down because of the many Sartres, not only the fiction writer who won and refused the 1964 Nobel literature prize, but also the existentialist philosopher, the political activist whose positions frequently changed and the intellectual celebrity who won headlines as a Left Bank ambassador to the likes of Mao, Tito and Fidel Castro....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/16/books/16sart.html

[lala_rawraw]

1. What about Simone?

Hmmm, this is a bit annoying, but at least Sartre's No Exit proves that "hell is other people" ;)