Here is a summary of Sartre's work that I did as a weekly homework. This summary was made in a hurry so I believe that it is not good enough. I am open for any discussion on this topic, so it can broaden our knowledge about literature and commitment.
***
In
this essay Sartre elaborates the role of a (prose) writer in describing the
world and experience of his readers in his writing. In writing a literary work,
a writer must have (intentionally or unintentionally) chosen a group of people
as his readers. Usually a writer will choose the same group to which he belongs
to (entre nous), for example Richard
Wright chose to dedicate his writing to the cultivated black slaves of the
North (and the white Americans of goodwill). Sartre assumes Wright and other
writers will choose the people of their group because they “… have lived
through the same events, who have raised or avoided the same questions, have
the same taste in their mouth; they have the same complicity, and there are the
same corpses among them” (Sartre in Walder, 1990:84). Therefore, people of the
same group (period of time and community) usually prefer to, fight against, and
understand the same things.
According
to Sartre, a writer’s task is to put in words the world and experiences that
are felt by and happen to their readers. In Wright’s case, Wright put in words
the misery that has to be endured by his fellow black slaves. The literate
black slaves that read his books, e.g. Black
Boy, understand the things Wright mentioned and omitted in his writings. The
readers then will reflect what they read to their very life, and they will see
themselves as the subject written in the story. Not only that they see
themselves, the black slave readers will see themselves seen by other readers who read the same story.
Wright’s
stories are also intended to be read by white people who are against slavery.
In this case, Wright’s writing will confirm what they believe and what they
consider to be the truth. Black Boy also
can be read by an acute negro-phobic. In this case, the negro-phobic will see himself
as a ‘bare-naked’ antagonist. He also will realize that he is also seen ‘bare-naked’-ly by other readers. The
wanted effect is that he feels guilty to the black slaves and changes his
attitude towards them. The other probability is that the book makes him aware
of what the blacks think towards him and his group, but he continues his
anti-negro attitude whatsoever. However, white readers are the Others in Wright’s case, because his
writings are only can be fully understood by those who belong to the same
period and community as he did.
Besides
presenting the world and the experiences of the real people of the real world
in his writing, a committed writer is also aware that his writing can changes
things (for example the attitude of an anti-negro). A piece of writing can
cause guilty conscious to the whole
society by putting in words the acts, ideology, and facts inside the society
into a writing for them to read. The writers may say that by writing they are
serving the community’s interests, but the conservative governing class may see
them as long-lasting antagonists. The conservatives try to preserve the
balance, while a piece of writing may bring about the chaos of change. However,
writers earn their living from those who buy their writings, and it is only the
governing class who can pay such luxury (of what Sartre defines as an
unproductive and dangerous job). Sartre says that the writers and the governing
elites are always in mutual opposition, but in the same time, they need each
other.
***
This discussion is actually followed by Adorno's Commitment, but I did not finish reading the essay.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar