Jean-Paul Sartre, a world-renowned intellectual representing the 20th century
A problematic work that clearly and briskly states the essence of literature with surprising insight.

“A person becomes a writer not because he chooses to say something,
Because that's how you choose to say it.
For us, writing is
“It is a prayer.”

"What is Literature?" is an important work by Sartre, a world-renowned philosopher of the 20th century who coined the term "existentialism," in which he presents his literary theory.
However, the book has never been properly introduced in Korea, to the point where its value and fame are insignificant.
What is Literature?, published by Minumsa, is the result of over a decade of dedication to translation and interpretation by Professor Jeong Myeong-hwan, a leading figure in the field of French literature in Korea.
Professor Jeong Myeong-hwan translated the original text completely, including the fourth chapter, “The Author’s Situation in 1947,” which was mostly omitted from previously published translations.
In addition, it helps to understand the work through detailed footnotes of up to 500.
In this book, which consists of four chapters: 'What is Writing?', 'What is Writing for?', and 'For Whom Do We Write?', Sartre emphasizes that the mission of literature lies in its participation in transforming political and social reality.

Since the exercise of the art of prose is for discourse, its material is naturally semantic.
In other words, words are not objects in the first place, but rather referents of objects.
The first problem is not whether words are in themselves pleasurable, but whether they can accurately designate certain objects or ideas in this world.
That is why we often hold onto some idea we have learned through words, yet we cannot recall a single word of the words that conveyed that idea.
Prose is above all an attitude of mind.
To put it in Valery's terms, prose exists when words pass by our eyes, like sunlight passing through glass.
When people are in danger or in a difficult situation, they grab whatever tool they can find, but once the danger is over, they don't remember whether it was a hammer or a piece of firewood.

--- p.28