Tomichan Matheikal's blog

Jean-Paul Sartre [1905-1980] A writer is the conscience of his time, Jean-Paul Sartre wrote in his foundational essay What is Literature? (1947). India today is a country that does not love writers who possess conscience, unless their conscience aligns with the ideology of the dispensation. Dissent is suppressed, critical voices are intimidated, and conformity is rewarded. What would Sartre do if he were living in India today? Silence is complicity , Sartre would assert. For him literature was an act of communication, not just about beauty or style. Not for him concepts like ‘art for art’s sake’. Writing is commitment, commitment to reflecting on and shaping of social and political realities. If we leave the construction of our social and cultural life to our politicians, we will soon be doomed. Intellectuals should do such things, not politicians. Politicians are mere administrators; writers are philosophers and visionaries. If writers choose to be silent or to conform, who will ...

Russian Dostoevsky and French Jean-Paul Sartre are both great writers. The latter is more of a philosopher than a novelist, I’d say. Both have left indelible marks in the world of literature. But both have diametrically opposite attitudes towards human society. Sartre apparently hated people (except beautiful women). Hell is other people, he said. Dostoevsky, on the other hand, upheld love as the greatest virtue. Hell, for Dostoevsky, is the suffering caused by a person’s inability to love.  Jean-Paul Sartre Sartre thought of love as conflict. People in love try to control each other, he said. Lovers get trapped in vicious circles of sadomasochistic power games which are meant primarily for keeping the other from leaving you. Love is vulnerable precisely because the other person is free to leave you. Love cannot be forcibly extracted from anyone. But many people do just that: extract it. That’s why love becomes power games. Dostoevsky would look upon Sartre with commiseration. ...