One of the first times in which

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...

discussed the concept of ''situation'' (french: situation) was in his 1943 ''

Being and Nothingness ''Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology'' (french: L'Être et le néant : Essai d'ontologie phénoménologique), sometimes published with the subtitle ''A Phenomenological Essay on Ontology'', is a 1943 book by the philosoph ...

'', where he famously said that Earlier in 1939, in his short story '' The Childhood of a Leader'', collected in his famous ''

The Wall ''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imp ...

'', referring to a fake

turd Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relat ...

, he said that in

prank A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...

s "There is more destructive power in them than in all the works of Lenin." Another famous use of the term was in 1945, in his editorial of the first issue of ''

Les Temps modernes ''Les Temps Modernes'' (''Modern Times'') is a French journal, founded by Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. It first issue was published in October 1945. It was named after the 1936 film by Charlie Chaplin. ''Les ...

'' (Modern Times); arguing the principle of the responsibility of the intellectual towards his own times and the principle of an engaged literature, he summarized: "the writer is in a situation with his epoch." An, influential use of the concept was in the context of theatre, in his 1947 essay ''For a Theatre of Situations''. A passage that has been frequently quoted is the following, in which he defines the ''Theater of Situations'': He then published his series ''Situations'', with ten volumes on ''Literary Critiques'' and ''

What Is Literature? ''What Is Literature?'' (french: Qu'est-ce que la littérature?), also published as ''Literature and Existentialism'',) is an essay by French philosopher and novelist Jean-Paul Sartre, published by Gallimard in 1948. Initially published in frees ...

'' (1947), the third volume (1949), ''Portraits'' (1964), ''

Colonialism and Neocolonialism ''Colonialism and Neocolonialism'' by Jean-Paul Sartre (first published in French in 1964) is a controversial and influential critique of French policies in Algeria. It argues for French disengagement from its former Overseas Empire and controv ...

'' (1964), Problems of Marxism, Part 1 (1966), Problems of Marxism, Part 2 (1967), ''The Family Idiot'' (1971-2), ''Autour de 1968'' and ''Melanges'' (1972), and ''Life/Situations: Essays Written and Spoken'' (1976).

Guy Debord, Letterist and Situationist International

Sartre's concept of ''Situation'' was reprised by

Guy Debord Guy-Ernest Debord (; ; 28 December 1931 – 30 November 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic of work, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situationis ...

at least since the times of the

Letterist International The Letterist International (LI) was a Paris-based collective of radical artists and cultural theorists between 1952 and 1957. It was created by Guy Debord and Gil J. Wolman rejoined by Jean-Louis Brau and Serge Berna as a schism from Isidore I ...

.Hussey, Andrew (2002
''The game of war: the life and death of Guy Debord''
p.105Touza, L. Sebastian (2008)
Antipedagogies for liberation politics, consensual democracy and post-intellectual interventions
' p.171Kaufmann, Vincent (2011
''Guy Debord''
for the ''

Institut français The Institut Français (French capitalization, Institut français; "French institute") is a French public industrial and commercial organization (EPIC). Started in 1907 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for promoting French, francophone as ...

''. English translation
Guy Debord
' by Martin Richet In January 1954, the ''Letterist International'' declared: "The new beauty will be that of THE SITUATION, that is to say, ''provisional'' and lived." Sheringham, Michael (2006
''Everyday life: theories and practices from surrealism to the present''
p.162 Claire Gilman called Sartre a "father figure" for the

Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...

, and wrote that "Sartre and his philosophy of the situation are fundamental to the SI's notion of everyday life authentically experienced". The relationship between Sartre's philosophy of the situation and the Situationist International is clarified by

Peter Wollen Peter Wollen (29 June 1938 – 17 December 2019) was a Film theory, film theorist and filmmaker. He studied English at Christ Church, Oxford. Both Political journalism, political journalist and film theorist, Wollen's ''Signs and Meaning in the ...

in his essay ''Bitter victory''.

''Bitter Victory: The Art and Politics of the Situationist International'', published in Elisabeth Sussman (1989) ''On the passage of a few people through a rather brief moment in Time: The Situationist International 1957-1972''

Guy Debord, Letterist and Situationist International

References

Further reading