Thanks to BHL, France Rediscovers Her Hated Sartre

Abstract

As if to mark the 20th anniversary of Sartre’s death in 1980—and there was in fact some connection—French writers, journalists, talking heads and publishers put on a Sartre extravaganza. The occasion was the publication of six books on Sartre within the span of a month in early 2000: Denis Bertholet’s Sartre (Plon), Michel-Antoine Burnier’s L’Adieu à Sartre (Plon), Benoit Denis’ Littérature et engagement (Seuil), Bernard-Henri Levy’s Le Siècle de Sartre (Grasset), Philippe Petit’s La Cause de Sartre (P.U.F.), and Olivier Wickers’ Trois Aventures extraordinaires de Jean-Paul Sartre (Gallimard).1 Sartre’s name in headlines was plastered on news kiosks all over Paris during the second half of January, 2000. Le Nouvel Observateur announced: “After 20 Years of Purgatory, Sartre Returns,”2 and Le Point proclaimed: “Sartre: The Passion for Making Mistakes.”3 The implicit warning was: “Don’t let Sartre’s mistakes return!”