Sartre on reading and writing

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Dinesh ^club

The requisite discussion of the relationship of the reader to the text could consist of a development of some key points of Sartre's study of literature. For example, Sartre contends in 'What is Literature?' that reading is neither a mechanical registering nor an impartial contemplation of marks printed on paper. Thus if one were to read each word of a text separately, its meaning would fail to emerge because the latter is not the sum of words but rather, the organic whole. Writing and reading are dialectically correlated and constitute the two moments of what is effectively a joint venture. In seeking to disclose some truth, the prose-writers embarks on a project of communication which requires the reader's participation for its realization. Only writing and reading together can bring it about that something as revealed, as a revelation is only such for someone. Consequently, the writer implicitly appeals for the reader's collaboration. In order to comply, the reader must go beyond a merely 'abstract consciousness' or what the writer is saying. Reading is therefore 'directed creation'; but the reader is free to reject the writer's appeal by refusing to take part. Such a refusal prevents the text from actually becoming a disclosure -- at least as far as that reader is concerned. As Sartre puts it, 'to write is thus both to disclose the world and to offer it as a task to the generosity of the reader.

7 years ago. Edited 4 years ago.

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Sartre on reading and writing

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