Что такое литература?

Сартр Ж.-П. asks what writing means and why people write. He also asks whom they write for. This essay takes up questions for writers and those who study thought or literature. He wrote it in 1947. It draws on his work in fiction and philosophy.

He answers critics who saw a threat in firm political views. They feared these views would harm literature as art. His answers have sparked debate from one age to the next. Writers and scholars have backed his ideas, argued against them, and thought them through anew.