{"product_id":"literature-and-existentialism-by-jean-paul-sartre","title":"'Literature and Existentialism' by Jean-Paul Sartre","description":"\u003ch4 data-start=\"54\" data-end=\"644\"\u003eA compact, argumentative little grenade of postwar literary theory.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"54\" data-end=\"644\"\u003eOriginally published as \u003cem data-start=\"190\" data-end=\"211\"\u003eWhat Is Literature?\u003c\/em\u003e, it asks what writing is for, why one writes, for whom one writes, and whether literature can ever be separated from history, politics, responsibility and the world that produces it. Sartre shows how writing becomes an ethical and political act, a form of disclosure, a way of choosing one’s position in relation to freedom, oppression, class, audience and historical circumstance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"646\" data-end=\"1176\"\u003eIt is a particularly good Sartre for readers who don’t necessarily want the full machinery of \u003cem data-start=\"740\" data-end=\"763\"\u003eBeing and Nothingness\u003c\/em\u003e, but do want the pressure of existentialism applied to art, language and commitment. A useful bridge between philosophy and literary criticism: less “what does this novel mean?” and more “what does it mean to write at all?” Good for readers interested in existentialism, engaged literature, postwar French thought, Marxism-adjacent criticism, political aesthetics, and the writer’s responsibility to the present.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1178\" data-end=\"1568\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCitadel Press paperback, sixth paperbound printing, 1972. Published by Citadel Press, a subsidiary of Lyle Stuart, Inc. Originally titled \u003cem data-start=\"1344\" data-end=\"1365\"\u003eWhat Is Literature?\u003c\/em\u003e Copyright 1949 by Philosophical Library. Acceptable to good second-hand condition.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"bower studio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45705308274771,"sku":null,"price":16.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/0268\/2707\/files\/thebowerbooker-2026-06-16T184347.722.png?v=1781599483","url":"https:\/\/bowerbooks.com\/products\/literature-and-existentialism-by-jean-paul-sartre","provider":"bower books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}