Sartre’s Conception of the Reader-Writer Relationship

Abstract

The genius of Jean-Paul Sartre has ranged over a variety of topics, which he has discussed in philosophic treatises and exhibited in novels, plays, and short stories. In these writings, Sartre has sought totality not only in the creation of his essence but also in the rendering of human possibility. Yet twentieth- century trends toward specialization have generally led critics to deal with his conceptions in a fragmentary manner by focusing either on his philosophical or literary writings. On the other hand, I will endeavor to integrate ideas in these seemingly diverse writings in an effort to understand Sartre’s contention that he has been impotent as a writer1 even though he claims that the prose writer writes to provoke guilt in the reader. 2 I will formulate my argument by showing that Sartre’s conception of the reader as inventing the writer is ontologically analogous to the love relationship and that the reflection of the ontological assumptions underlying these relationships in his novels, short stories, and plays might very well give Sartre the impression that he has been an impotent author.