French Literature Reviews - 2026

Sartre as a Literary Critic
Literary Theory, Linguistics and Stylistics

Jean-Paul Sartre as a Literary Critic

studies compiled by
Nourredine Lamouchi

Year: 2006
Series:
Au coeur des textes - No. 3
Publisher: Academia-Bruylant

ISBN: 2-87209-805-4
Pages: 212
Price: 24 € (VAT included)

Is there truly a Sartrean theory of literary criticism? What is its relationship to his own creative writing? How does Sartre critically read other authors? How does his critical discourse function? These are the central questions addressed in this volume.

One of the key contributions of this book is that it does not simply restate what Sartre expressed so well regarding his own conception of literary criticism in his theoretical writings and essays on other creators. Instead, it reflects upon the place and function of aesthetics, poetics, and ethics within his literary criticism. Indeed, the book highlights the philosophical and literary foundations underlying the historical evolution of Sartre's thought.

This volume collects the proceedings of the international conference "Jean-Paul Sartre: Criticism and Creation," held in December 2003 and organized by the Higher Institute of Languages of Gabès with the support of the French Cooperation Institute in Tunis.

Featuring contributions by:
Thomas Cazentre, Jean-François Gaudeaux, Christophe Halsberghe, Helge Vidar Holm, Mohamed Jaoua, Francis Lacoste, Noureddine Lamouchi, Jeppe Nielsen, Thierry Ozwald, Josette Pacaly, Jean-Pierre Picot, Pierre-Victor Verstraeten, and Serge Zenkine.

Noureddine Lamouchi is Director of the Higher Institute of Languages of Gabès.

Jean-Paul Sartre occupied a central position in twentieth-century French intellectual life, where literature, philosophy, and political commitment were frequently intertwined. Within this broader landscape of existentialist thought and engaged writing, the relationship between an author's creative output and their critical reflections has long been a subject of scholarly inquiry. This volume collects the proceedings of the international conference Jean-Paul Sartre: Criticism and Creation, held in December 2003. Readers interested in twentieth-century French literature and existentialist criticism may find it relevant.

Academic research on Sartre often investigates the transition from theoretical manifestos to concrete literary analyses, questioning whether a unified methodology governs his critical practice. By collecting conference proceedings from international scholars, studies of this nature contribute to the ongoing reception and reevaluation of existentialist aesthetics within literary theory. This volume gathers contributions by numerous scholars to examine the place and function of aesthetics, poetics, and ethics within literary criticism.