Not Merely a Newsworthy Commodity: Jean-Paul Sartre's Engagement in the Struggle Against Apartheid

Abstract

Jean-Paul Sartre's renown and intellectual celebrity grew as a function of his engagement in Third World struggles. Sartre's public image as champion of the oppressed is so entrenched that it might seem self-evident that he played a leading role in the anti-apartheid struggle. However, his actual contribution to the South African struggle appears to be at odds with the way it is inscribed in collective memory. This article examines the incongruity between Sartre's actual involvement in the struggle against apartheid and his enduring image as a champion of the anti-racist struggle in South Africa. Archival research into Sartre's publications, public appearances and travels in France and abroad, note only three occasions on which Sartre made a direct reference to apartheidthe first in June 1963, the second in October 1964, and the third in November 1966. Tracing Sartre's involvement chronologically, the paper seeks to map more precisely the nature of Sartre's contribution, commitment and responsibility to the French anti-apartheid movement, to uncover different facets of Sartre as a celebrity and a public intellectual, and to offer a better understanding of the period following the Algerian War in France with regard to Third World struggles.