Sartre, De Martino e la magia

Abstract

It is renowned how Ernesto De Martino was a careful reader of Jean-Paul Sartre's literary and philosophical work, but I maintain that the two scholars share many other specific affinities. In this article, I outline possible theoretical correspondences between Sartre's theory of emotions and De Martino's idea of magic. Besides their specific focuses and the different goals, Esquisse d'une theorie des emotions, one of the earliest essays written by the philosopher, and Il mondo magico, the densest work by the anthropologist, trace a common thesis: in front of a dangerous and uncontrollable reality, individuals resort to an alternative reality, which stands out for being a magic world. Through a contextual analysis of both works, I show how they eventually result in a brave, strong, and direct challenge to the concept of the givenness of reality, and its rationalist construction.