This article explores Jean‐Paul Sartre’s short story “Érostrate,” in Le mur (1939), through sociology—an area of inquiry he apparently neglected or so misjudged by the critique, at least until Critique de la raison dialectique (1960). However, his early fictions are infused with perceptive views of selfhood creation and role relationships that present intriguing avenues with interactionist sociology and staged socialization. Role models opted for by Sartre’s antihero, Paul Hilbert, stem from publicized faits‐divers (“news items”) and the dark perpetrator from Antiquity, Erostratus. The study goal is aimed at existential situations anticipated in Sartre’s interwar writings and later theorized by Erving Goffman and Anthony Giddens. It is directed toward the comprehension of deviant individuals who resort to violence for life resolution and public attention.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.